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Can you ask if a person smokes before hireing them?

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I’ve just taken back over one of my stores after my manager quit on me. I had originaly had a no smoking policy for employees for the previous four years at this store. My manager smoked, and had complained about not being able to smoke (she was smoking anyways from what I heard). I told her that she could implement a policy where if you smoked, you could smoke one cigaret if your shift was 5 or more hours long, and you had to go to the back of the building, and only one person at a time could be on a smoke break. Well, apparantly she was letting everyone smoke at the same time, and as many times as they wanted if the store wasnt busy. The first day I took back over, I had crew members out almost every 45 min to smoke a cigaret.
Im reimplementing the smoking ban in this store again, and im sure that theres 2 or 3 that will quit because of it. Anyone know if I can legally ask on an application now if a person is a smoker or not? The smokers in my stores are the least productive of the crew. Every once in a while I’ll get a person that smokes and does a very good job, but usually they just worry about getting their next cigaret.
Someone had mentioned to me a while back that you could now legally ask if a person was a smoker before hireing them. Was wondering if this was true.

nakedbulldog
 
Hold on, lemme put down my cigarette before answering this…

Okay, here’s the deal. If the store scheduling is accurate, then they wouldn’t have time to smoke. There’s a time and a place for everything and if they’ve got time to go to the back and light up, then that means they’ve got too much time on their hands and shouldn’t be there in the first place.

Instead of looking at the whole “smoking” picture, look at the operations of the store and schedule accordingly. Put a manager (or you) in the store that will demand performance from the crew and this problem won’t happen.

Don’t look at the problem itself, but the cause of the problem. Hope this helps. -J_r0kk
 
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It really dosnt matter if they have time or not, they will smoke. Just this past friday night, two of my cooks dissapeared for almost 5 min so they could go smoke. we had 3 tickets up, and they thought they could smoke a cigaret fast enough that they wouldnt get behind. We ended up playing catch up for the next 30-45 min because of this.
I personally dont think that the scheduling has anything to do with smoking, even if i do over schdule so theres not a lot to do, I’m still paying them to clean or prep, not smoke. I think they can go home and smoke for the next 16 hours straight, but for the time that im paying them to work, they need to be working, not puffing on ciggs.
Most of the employees only work 4 hour shifts anyways. Shees, if you cant go 4 hours with out a drag, you need to go see a doctor and get professional help.

nakedbulldog
 
Just this past friday night, two of my cooks dissapeared for almost 5 min so they could go smoke. we had 3 tickets up, and they thought they could smoke a cigaret fast enough that they wouldnt get behind. We ended up playing catch up for the next 30-45 min because of this.
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Now, bulldog, I’m not attacking you in any way, but:
Put a manager (or you) in the store that will demand performance from the crew and this problem won’t happen.
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Don’t let 'em disappear on you, and if they do need to go get their nicotine fix, have them ask first. It’s just an operational issue I know you can fix. Just stay on top of the situation and you’ll come out fine. But, seriously, you’re hiring blue collar-type help and unfortunately, most blue collar-type people smoke. It’s the nature of the business you’re in. Hope this helps. -J_r0kk
 
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I don’t think you can ask a person if they smoke without possibly discriminating against smokers. I used to own a sports bar and it was a huge problem!!! I have to agree with j_r0kk here, it is totally an operational thing that you can fix. I wound up setting up smoking rules and then set them in stone. I never let more than one person go smoke at a time because it is not social hour after all, it is just getting their dose of nicotine. The store and the customers have to come first or soon there won’t be enough customers for the store and their jobs to survive. If the rules were violated they were warned/documented twice and fired on the third violation. I am really hoping that my new place won’t have such a problem with it being non-smoking and all, but I guess time will tell. I guess worse case they could slap on a nicotine patch, or suck on a commit lozenge, for their shift! LOL! Good luck.
 
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Is there a law preventing discrimination of smokers. I am familiar with situations where discrimination due to race, sex, age or sexual preference have become relevant, but not any due to smoking preference.
 
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There is no federal statute designating smokers as a protected class, but from what I understand there are “lifestyle” anti-discrimination laws in 30 states + D.C. If you are in one of those states with lifestyle statutes, they could be used in a discrimination lawsuit against you should you refuse to hire a person simply because they are a smoker. What you can do is put restrictive smoking policies in place to prohibit smoking while the employee is on the clock, on store property or in uniform. Trying to regulate what legal activities employees can engage in on their own time is tricky at best, illegal at worst. You can usually find what laws are in place for your area by checking out the state and/or municipality Department of Labor websites.
 
Believe it or not every single one of us is in a “protected” class! some protected groups stand out more than others, but we are all protected against discrimination! Even if your state does not have anti-discrimination laws in place be ready for a lawsuit if you don’t hire someone because they are a smoker.
 
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I tell the I just quit and ask them if they happen to have an extra cigarette. I generally get the anwer I am looking for without even asking the question. Anywaym it works for me.
 
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What would it look like if non smokers disappeared for 5 minutes all the time???

Smokers get to :oops: and drain 5-10 minutes off the clock while non-smokers are holding the fort down.

Make your policy simple when you hire people. Tell them they have x amounts of breaks and if they smoke, they have to use that time only…PERIOD. Be up front and if they can’t go without a puff, they will move on to the next neighborhood pizzeria. You know, the one that the cooks are outside puffing away when you pull up and walk inside along side you, grab a pen and take your order.

Let the local dive neighborhood pizzeria have these people while you expand your loyal customer base.

pizzatime
 
I heard Bill Marvin speak about this once. He claims that it is legal to ask if prospective employee is a smoker. The reason is that in foodservice smoking is a health hazard and therefore you can protect yourself against this possible hazard. I would check with a lawyer first though.

But, why bother with banning smokers. Just make it a rule that employees are not allowed to leave the shop during shift. If they can’t leave they can’t smoke.
 
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