More companies are taking action against employees who smoke off-duty, and, in an extreme trend that some call troubling, some are now firing or banning the hiring of workers who light up even on their own time.

The outright bans raise new questions about how far companies can go in regulating workers' behavior when they are off the clock. The crackdown is coming in part as a way to curb soaring health care costs, but critics say companies are violating workers' privacy rights. The zero-tolerance policies are coming as more companies adopt smoke-free workplaces.

Source/Read more at: [1] USAToday

I personally don't smoke, and I try to avoid second hand smoke as much as possible. However, if this trend continued to hospitals/EMS agencies, then a large majority of the workforce would be eliminated. It also sets up a dangerous trend: Are we going to start firing people because they don't exercise, eat poorly, or have a BMI of greater than 25? These are choices an individual makes, yet the entire society bears the burden of that individual choice because the society has to pay for the increasing health care costs of treating the known disease sequelae of that choice. The only fair solution I can think of is let the workers keep their jobs, but they should also be responsible for the choices that they make. Those that choose to impact their health in a negative way should be responsible for the increased cost to society to treat their preventable diseases by paying increased health insurance premiums.