U-Haul Will Stop Hiring Smokers: Employee Rights

U-Haul International announced that it will stop interviewing nicotine users in over 20 U.S. states on February 1 2020.

The truck rental company said that they are trying to promote a healthier corporate culture. The ban will include not only cigarette users, but people who use e-cigarettes and vaping product as well.

The new policy will not affect employees hired before February 1. In the states that it will be enacted, the law allows companies to refuse to hire people who use nicotine. Some of those states also allow employers to test employees for nicotine use.

Can Canadian employers refuse to hire smokers or nicotine users?

The reality is that an employer, like U-Haul, can do what it wants as long as there is no law prohibiting it from taking said action,” said Lior Samfiru, an employment lawyer in Toronto and partner at Samfiru Tumarkin LLP. “If there is no law that says you can’t refuse to hire somebody because they are a smoker, you can decide to say no to an applicant who smokes or uses vaping products.”

Samfiru notes that it is a policy that most employers in Canada do not observe. Those who do follow such policy do so to save on the costs that would be incurred through benefits plans and medical leaves.

“The issue is still open to a decision by a human rights tribunal,” said Samfiru. “The Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario, for instance, could find that nicotine addiction is in fact a disability, much like drug or alcohol addiction. Once the tribunal makes that decision, employers would not be allowed to discriminate based on a potential employee’s smoking habits.”

Lior spoke to Kelly Cutrara on Global News Radio 640 Toronto about an employer’s right to not hire smokers in Canada.

Employment lawyer Jon Pinkus also discussed this topic on Global News Radio 900 CHML in Hamilton.