If there haven't been enough studies published to discuss the negative effects of smoking to help sway a smoker into quitting, perhaps this article will.
The authors identify the 'cost' of smoking a respective employer will have to incur should they have an employee who chooses to smoke. This will range from actual 'hard money' in the form of covering medical bills to 'soft money' -- ie. days lost at work, lower productivity.
With this article and the many studies which have preceded it, we have observed many changes with smoking 'rules' including smoke-free restaurants, clubs and bars. It seems to be more difficult today than has been in the past to be a smoker with regard to when and where one can smoke. If we look back to advertisements, movies and even news casts from the 1960's - 1970's we see that smoking seemed to be the 'cool' thing to do. Today, the culture of smoking is changing to that of a negative rather than a positive as it had been.
The future will tell us how prospective employers will look on hiring an individual who is a smoker. Perhaps it will not make a difference, but perhaps to some employers this may have them think twice before hiring the individual. My hope would be that we can attempt to have individuals lead a healthier life by not smoking - and certainly, for those individuals who are employed in a health care industry, I think we need to actually demonstrate healthy behaviors and not just speak about them.
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