Cleveland Clinic To Implement ‘No Smoking’ Policy For New Hires
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A subject that has caused quite a bit of controversy here in Cleveland is the Cleveland Clinic’s announcement that beginning on September 1, 2007 they will not hire job applicants that smoke cigarettes. They also began giving drug tests to current employees to see who tested positive for using this (as far as I know) still legal product.
I’m sure the Cleveland Clinic also feels that it reflects badly for members of a health community to be puffing on cigarettes a half a mile away from the closest entrance to the building.
It’s hard to decide who’s right and who’s wrong in this policy change. It makes sense that a health care facility isn’t trying to promote smoking amongst the people that work there, and in fairness to them they are also offering help for current employees to quit the nasty habit.
On the other hand, it seems like it is a violation of an employees right to smoke, especially if they aren’t on the clock.
I am not defending smoking as being something good for people or society as a whole. I lost a beloved grandmother due to complications from being a lifelong smoker, so I know what it’s like to lose someone to this habit. Oddly enough, her chosen profession in life was as a registered nurse, but back in her day, nurses smoked cigarettes to help them get through long shifts at the hospital and the risks associated with this habit weren’t of public knowledge. (She was a WWII era nurse.)
Nonetheless, whenever I drive past Remington College by the Great Northern Mall there are plenty of men and women standing outside taking a drag in their medical scrubs as they educate
themselves for a career in the medical field. One has to wonder whether if these colleges should also base acceptance on a “no smoking” rule, even if technically the product is still legal and free will personal finances still allow it?
What are your thoughts on this subject? Who do you side with - Cleveland Clinic or the employees? Should cigarettes be the next personal freedom to be squelched?
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One Response to “Cleveland Clinic To Implement ‘No Smoking’ Policy For New Hires”
I AM A WORKER AT THE CLEVELAND CLINIC. CLEVELAND CLINIC POLICE/SECURITY HAS TAKEN NAMES OF MANY UNIFORMED EMPLOYEES, STANDING SOUTH OF CEDAR ROAD AND HAVE TOLD THEM,”THIS IS ONLY A WARNING, AS OF MONDAY (8/06/07)ANY EMPLOYEE (UNIFORMED OR BADGE APPARENT) WILL GET A TICKET.” THEY ALSO INFORMED CLEVELAND CLINIC SMOKING EMPLOYEES THAT THEY WILL BEING TICKETING EMPLOYEES ON ALL ADJACENT PROPERTIES AND SIDE STREETS SURROUNDING THE CLINIC. A CO-WORKER CALLED THE CLEVELAND POLICE DEPARTMENT (THE 5TH DISTRICT) AND WAS INFORMED THAT CLEVELAND CLINIC POLICE/SECURITY HAS NO JURSIDICTION OVER THIS AREA. I ALSO NO THAT THE REASONING OF SEVERAL CLEVELAND CLINIC POLICE/SECURITY HAS USED THE FACT THAT THE EMPLOYEE IS WEARING CLEVELAND CLINIC ISSUED UNIFORMS AND THEY ALSO TOOK NAMES OF EMPLOYEE WHILE THE EMPLOYEES WERE PUNCHED OUT FOR LUNCH. THERE HAVE BEEN EMPLOYEES PARKED ON 93RD STREET (SOUTH OF CEDAR ROAD) AND HAVE HAD CAR PROBLEMS BUT WERE TOLD THEY COULD NOT GET THE CLEVELAND CLINIC “AUTO EMERGENY HELP (BATTERY JUMPS, TIRE CHANGES, ETC.) BECAUSE 93RD STREET IS NOT PART OF THE CLEVELAND CLINIC, THAT THEY CAN ONLY HELP YOU IF YOU ARE PARKED IN ASSIGNED CLEVELAND CLINIC PROPERTY. THE REASON I’M REFERRING TO THIS IS 93RD STREET (SOUTH OF CEDAR ROAD) IS WHERE ALOT OF CLEVELAND CLINIC EMPLOYEES SMOKE AND ARE NOW BEING TOLD THAT CLEVELAND CLINIC POLICE ARE GOING TO TICKET THEM IN THE SAME AREA THAT THEY ARE NOT AUTHORIZED TO ASSIST “UNIFORMED WEARING CLEVELAND CLINIC EMPLOYEE.” BY THE WAY, MOST UNIFORMS ARE MADE BY COMPANIES THAT EMPLOYEES CAN PURCHASE FOR THEMSELVES. THE UNIFORMS ARE MOSTLY SCRUB STYLE OR NURSE WHITES BUT DO NOT HAVE THE “CLEVELAND CLINIC LOGO” ANYWHERE ON THEM. JUST BECAUSE A PERSON IN WEARING A SCRUB UNIFORM, DOES NOT MAKE THEM “CLEVELAND CLINIC EMPLOYEES.” THERE IS ALSO A NURSING HOME “FAIRFAX NURSING HOME” ALSO SOUTH OF CEDAR, AND THEIR EMPLOYEES WEAR SCRUBS. THE CLEVELAND CLINIC POLICE/SECURITY SAID “BEING OFF THE CLOCK, DOES NOT MATTER AS LONG AS YOU ARE WEARING SCRUBS AND “LOOK” LIKE AN CLEVELAND CLINIC EMPLOYEE, YOU WILL HAVE TO SHOW ID AND BE ISSUED A TICKET REGUARDLESS.” AT WHAT POINT DO YOU BECOME “PROPERTY” OF YOUR EMPLOYER?! IF THAT IS THE CASE, YOUR EMPLOYER SHOULD BE PAYING YOU, NOT FOR THE TIME YOU PUNCH THE TIME CLOCK, BUT FOR THE TIME YOU PUT ON “THEIR” UNIFORM. THIS SEEMS LIKE AN UNCONSTITUTIONAL PRACTICE! THEY DON’T PAY ME TO WEAR THEIR UNIFORM, THEY PAY ME PERFORM A SERVICE FOR THEIR COMPANY, FOR AN AGREED AMOUNT OF TIME, AND WHILE DOING THIS JOB THEY WANT ME TO WEAR “COLOR APPROPRIATE SCRUBS” FOR THE DEPARTMENT I WORK FOR WHILE I AM PERFORMING MAY JOB. NO WHERE THAT I AM AWARE OF DOES IT SAY IN ANY POLICY AT THE “CLEVELAND CLINIC” THAT THEY HAVE A RIGHT TO TELL ME HOW TO DRESS OR THAT WEARING SCRUBS ON MY PERSONAL TIME (PUNCHED OUT LUNCH BREAKS, OR LEAVING OR COMING TO WORK). WHAT ARE MY CONSTITUTIONAL WRITES AND WEAR CAN “CLEVELAND CLINIC EMPLOYEES” AND OTHER EMPLOYESS EXPERIENCING THE SAME ISSUES, GET SOME LEGAL HELP?
By SARA on Aug 3, 2007