UAB Medicine Institutes Tobacco-Free Policy
UAB Medicine to Potential Employees: Not If You Smoke
UAB Medicine is instituting a new tobacco-free hiring policy. Starting July 1, 2013, all new hires will have to be tobacco abstainers — no smoking, sucking/dipping, chewing or snuffing any tobacco product. Prospective employees will be tested for nicotine use as part of their pre-employment drug screening following a job offer. Those who test positive for nicotine use will not be hired. The policy includes jobs with the UAB Health System, UAB Hospital, University of Alabama Health Services Foundation, The Kirklin Clinic, The Kirklin Clinic at Acton Road, UAB Callahan Eye Hospital, University of Alabama Ophthalmology Services Foundation, Triton Health Systems L.L.C./VIVA Health Inc. and UAB Health Centers. The policy does not apply to the University of Alabama at Birmingham as a whole.
“We care deeply for all members, and prospective members, of the UAB Medicine family, and as health-care providers we wanted to take a major step toward providing a healthier environment for employees, patients and hospital visitors,” says UAB Health System CEO Will Ferniany, Ph.D. “Our intent is not to eliminate people from applying for positions with UAB Medicine, but rather to send the message that as the largest health-care provider in the state, we are committed to the health of our employees and all Alabamians.”
Each year in Alabama, 7,500 people die from tobacco-related illnesses and more than 800 non-smokers die from illnesses related to secondhand smoke, according to the Alabama Department of Public Health. More than 20 percent of Alabamians smoke and nearly 10 percent use smokeless tobacco.
The policy does not apply to current UAB Medicine employees or individuals hired prior to July 1, 2013. For current employees, UAB Medicine is ramping up efforts to provide smoking and tobacco-cessation programs.
Legal experts and others warn caution
UAB Medicine is not the first health-care organization to adopt this type of policy. Hospitals and health systems in Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts, Missouri, Ohio, Tennessee and Texas also have stopped hiring people who use tobacco, according to the Society for Human Resource Management. This includes several nationally ranked health-care providers, such as the Baylor Health Care System, whose policy went into effect earlier this year, and Cleveland Clinic, which has had a tobacco-free hiring policy since 2007.
Laws vary state to state, but employment law experts caution that employers need to be careful when instituting policies like this as they could be considered “lifestyle discrimination.” For a list of states that provide employment protections for smokers (Alabama is not on the list) and an overview of the pros and cons of smoking bans, click here.
How Alabama Power kept bills up and opposition out to become one of the most powerful utilities in the country
In one of the poorest states in America, the local utility earns massive profits producing dirty energy with almost no pushback from state regulators.
No more Elmo? APT could cut ties with PBS
The board that oversees Alabama Public Television is considering disaffiliating from PBS, ending a 55-year relationship.
Nonprofit erases millions in medical debt across Gulf South, says it’s ‘Band-Aid’ for real issue
Undue Medical Debt has paid off more than $299 million in medical debts in Alabama. Now, the nonprofit warns that the issue could soon get worse.
Roy Wood Jr. on his father, his son and his new book
Actor, comedian and writer Roy Wood Jr. is out with a new book -- "The Man of Many Fathers: Life Lessons Disguised as a Memoir." He writes about his experience growing up in Birmingham, losing his dad as a teenager and all the lessons he learned from various father figures throughout his career.
Auburn fires coach Hugh Freeze following 12th loss in his last 15 SEC games
The 56-year-old Freeze failed to fix Auburn’s offensive issues in three years on the Plains, scoring 24 or fewer points in 17 of his 22 league games. He also ended up on the wrong end of too many close matchups, including twice this season thanks partly to questionable calls.
In a ‘disheartening’ era, the nation’s former top mining regulator speaks out
Joe Pizarchik, who led the federal Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement from 2009 to 2017, says Alabama’s move in the wake of a fatal 2024 home explosion increases risks to residents living atop “gassy” coal mines.
