Workplace smoking bill fails in Senate

While Indiana lawmakers are considering a statewide smoking ban, another bill aimed at tobacco users will not become law during the 2012 legislative session.

If it had been enacted, Senate Bill 91 would have allowed employers in Indiana to consider tobacco use by job applicants during the hiring process.

“Right now, when an employer interviews a prospective employee, they can’t ask them about tobacco use,” said Sen. Beverly Gard, R-Greenfield, who authored the bill. “This would allow them to ask about tobacco use and not hire somebody based on their use of tobacco products.”

But the bill, which was assigned to the Pensions and Labor Committee, did not receive a hearing and will not be considered any further.

Gard said she and the chairperson of the Pensions and Labor Committee, Sen. Phil Boots, R-Crawfordsville, have conflicting views about tobacco-related issues.
Boots was unavailable for comment.

The bill was intended to benefit employers financially, as well as the overall health of employees, Gard said.

Allowing for a smoke-free workforce would have cut down on health insurance costs for employers, Gard said.

“Usually, tobacco-related illnesses can end up being serious illnesses — lung cancer, emphysema, those kinds of things — there’s a
significant loss of work time and productivity, and it’s just the overall cost,”
Gard said.

According to the Indiana Tobacco Quitline, employees who smoke contribute to higher life insurance premiums, greater risk of occupational injuries and more disability claims, among others.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that employees who smoke cost their employers an additional $3,391 per year in direct medical costs and lost productivity.

The bill, it was hoped, would also have had personal effects, Gard said.
“First of all, it might encourage people to quit smoking if they saw this might affect their prospective employment,” Gard said. “Second, I think it would just provide for a healthier workplace.”

While employers would not have been required to hire a smoke-free workforce, Gard said she has seen a general support of the bill from employers, including the Indiana Chamber of Commerce.

“It’s a dollars-and-cents issue,” Gard said. “It’s an economic issue.”

Gard, who has served the Indiana Senate since 1988, is not seeking reelection next year and will not consider the bill again in the future.

However, she said the issue is not going away.

“Somebody else will have to deal with it,” Gard said. “I think this will continue to surface until, eventually, something passes.”

— Mark Keierleber