Tobacco drug testing for Humana employees

similar stories over the last couple of years, so it’s no surprise to see a healthcare giant like Humana following suit. The health insurer said on Wednesday that it will no longer hire workers in Arizona who smoke or use other tobacco products. There are several different types of drug testing, but tobacco testing is still quite rare in most industries. Humana representatives say it makes sense for a company in the health-care field to lead by example. Smoking’s harmful effects on human health are well-documented, and Humana seeks to promote health and wellness – starting with its workers through this form of staff testing. “Humana is dedicated to helping our employees take charge of their own health,” said Dr. Charles Cox, Humana vice president and market medical officer for Arizona, Nevada and Utah. Humana is part of a growing number of employers seeking to ban smoking among new hires. The Cleveland Clinic stopped hiring smokers in 2007, and hospitals in several states have stopped hiring tobacco-using employees. No Arizona hospital has announced plans to reject applicants based on nicotine use, but several Arizona hospitals have adopted “tobacco-free” policies that prohibit smoking at work. Some might think that it is illegal to discriminate against individuals in this way, but Lisa Coulter, an attorney with Snell and Wilmer in Phoenix states that “being a smoker is not a category that is protected under the law”. Coulter said more and more employers are seeking to regulate employees’ conduct outside the workplace, such as prohibiting what an employee can post on a social-media websites such as Facebook or Twitter. Humana implemented a tobacco ban for its new employees in Ohio two years ago. The Ohio program did not test for nicotine use among new hires like the Arizona program will, but the company said the effort has worked. In Ohio, 78 percent of Humana’s employees report being tobacco-free. Cox, the Humana vice president, said it selected Arizona to roll out the new program because state laws allow employers to require tobacco-cessation programs. The state’s smoking rate, 13.1 percent, is also among the lowest in the nation, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services. “Our new hiring process is how we are going to lead by example,” Cox said. While it is an obvious path to take for employers in healthcare, it seems less likely that we will see similar programs run out across other industries. For now at least. There are certainly very solid efforts across the nation to reduce smoking, and programs like these will no doubt help us reach that goal. If you have any further questions regarding drug testing in the workplace, feel free to leave a comment on this blog and we will do our best to help!]]>