WHO puts a stop to the hiring of smokers

Financial Times
Dec. 03, 2005

The World Health Organisation yesterday became the largest international employer to ban the hiring of smokers in an effort to promote its public health campaign against tobacco use.

In a memo circulated to its 8,000 staff this week, the WHO stressed that it had "a responsibility to ensure that this [its campaign] is reflected in all its work, including recruitment practices".

The move is an escalation of action taken against smokers. Several countries have introduced legislation banning smoking in pubs, restaurants and public places, while some employers ban smoking on their premises.

The WHO has taken the lead in the fight against tobacco, which it says kills 5m people a year.

Its job advertisements now carry the statement "WHO has a smoke-free environment and does not recruit smokers or other tobacco users". Applicants will be asked if they are smokers and if so, if they would continue to smoke if employed by the WHO.

The ban will not apply to existing WHO staff or those on temporary contracts who apply for permanent jobs for the next two years. But the agency said it was already offering programmes to help staff to stop smoking.

In the US, a number of employers have recently launched recruitment bans, driven by concern about rising health insurance premiums for smokers.

As a United Nations agency, the WHO has fewer employment constraints than many national companies. But in the UK and other countries, experts said there were no specific anti-discrimination clauses that protect smokers.

Simon Clark, director of Forest, a pro-smoking group, said: "This is very discriminatory. It could mean a loss of jobs for what is a perfectly legal habit."

Amanda Sandford, research manager at ASH, the UK anti-smoking lobby, said: "We don't think this is a very good way of tackling the issue." It was better to help people quit, she said.