2015 APHA Annual Meeting & Expo

Home Events & Meetings Annual Meeting Schedule & Program

Recorded Annual Meeting Presentations (RAMP) are now available for purchase.
Only $90 for presenters, $140 for registered attendees and $200 for non-attendees.

Online Program

321614
Smoking or my job: Media coverage of employers who won't hire smokers


Tuesday, November 3, 2015

Naphtali Offen, BS, Department of Social & Behavioral Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
Patricia A. McDaniel, PhD, Department of Social & Behavioral Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
Brie Cadman, MPH, Department of Social & Behavioral Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
Ruth Malone, RN, PhD, FAAN, Department of Social & Behavioral Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
Background:  Although the ethics of employer policies against hiring smokers have long been debated by public health advocates, no studies have examined media perspectives on this contentious issue. Media coverage both reflects and shapes public opinion. We analyzed media coverage about employers who decide against hiring smokers in order to understand what types of employers enacted such policies, reasons given for and against doing so, and how the issue was portrayed overall.

Methods: We systematically searched three media databases for news items published from 1995-2013, coding retrieved items through a collaborative process. We analyzed the volume, type, provenance, prominence, content, and slant of coverage.

Results: We found 1,129 news and opinion items addressing the issue, the majority (78.6%) in local newspapers. Health care institutions were the most frequently mentioned type of employer with this policy (44.5%). The primary reasons favoring the policy were to reduce health care costs (68.6%) and to ensure a healthier workforce (52.1%). The main arguments cited in opposition were that the policy was discriminatory (60.7%) or invited future restrictions (a “slippery slope”) (36.0%). Overall, most news items (40%) conveyed a neutral or mixed impression of the policy. However, employee or public reaction, when mentioned, was overwhelmingly negative, as were the opinions expressed in editorials and letters.

Conclusion: Media coverage does not suggest emerging consensus that employer policies against hiring people who smoke are normative, although healthcare institutions may have unique reasons for enacting such rules. Research exploring the perspectives of affected employees might be valuable in considering whether such policies are likely to be effective or create unintended consequences.

Learning Areas:

Public health or related public policy
Public health or related research

Learning Objectives:
Evaluate the extent and content of media coverage of employers with policies prohibiting the hiring of smokers. Discuss the controversial nature of this tobacco control policy, the most common arguments cited for and against the policy, and the categories of employers most likely to adopt the policy. Analyze this largely employer-driven tobacco control measure in order to help advocates respond to requests for comments from the media.

Keyword(s): Tobacco Control, Media

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am one of the primary authors of this research and have been studying the behavior of the tobacco industry for 14 years.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

Back to: 4179.0: Second- and third-hand smoke: successes and lessons learned