1st post

[Bertrand]

Wow! Time for a new job?

[nicowolf]

Wow! Time for a new job?

Yeah, it is time for a new job. I just can't seem to find one that pays like the hospital does. Even with a college degree, good jobs are hard to come by in this economy.

My degree would help much more in other parts of the country, but I just can't seem to let go of the cold, wet winters and hellishly hot and humid summers. Not to mention, my family and friends all exist here - I don't say live because that would imply more liberty than we all currently have.

I don't mean to be negative. I am just horribly frustrated with the whole job situation. You are right. I do need a new job. I just have to FIND one.

[TropicalBob]

Do not miss the point that a corporate policy might state "tobacco free area" but the test for employee use of tobacco will turn up positive if you e-smoke. It is nicotine that creates cotinine in your body -- and that's the test virtually all employers will use. You have cotinine? You're fired. E-liquid has nicotine, so e-smokers do have cotinine.

Read more about it on Wikipedia or Google "cotinine" or even "continine".

Companies can talk all day about going tobacco free, but the test will damn e-smoking as surely as it will a 2-pack a day cigarette smoker. To the test, we're all the same if we ingest or inhale nicotine. If your company does drug tests, and bans tobacco use, be aware that you will not be able to e-smoke.

And, yes, it has been tested in court in Miami Beach -- and it's legal. They can indeed fire you for cotinine in urine against company policy.

[yo han]

They told we CAN smoke in our cars but were not allowed to got to our cars on break so we have to go 8+ hours without a smoke

What? You're not allowed to leave the building during your lunch break? I doubt if they're allowed to do that.

No cigs. No pipes or cigars. No smokeless. And no e-cigs. Look for more and more companies to start testing for cotinine along with other mandatory drug tests for employees. It's all to save on insurance.

But they're happy to employ people who drink a bottle of Jack Daniels each night?

[sixstring]

T
The antis at this hospital judge EVERYTHING. They have felt the need to try and enlist my mother's help in admonishing me about my coffee drinking when I have tried to have breakfast in the cafeteria with her.

.

Coffee? WTF???

Nazi basta*rds!

Are they fricking INSANE???

Next they'll invent a test to see if you've eaten at McDonalds in the last year, and fire you for that.

Jeebus!!!!!

[nicowolf]

Wow! Time for a new job?

.

Coffee? WTF???

Nazi basta*rds!

Are they fricking INSANE???

Next they'll invent a test to see if you've eaten at McDonalds in the last year, and fire you for that.

Jeebus!!!!!

That is only the beginning. In order to get health insurance this year we had to answer a 83 item questionnaire. Some of the questions on this were: Do you drive faster than the speed limit? If so, how often do you drive more than 5 miles an hour above the limit? How often do you drive more than 10 miles an hour above the limit?

This whole process also required blood tests and a physical so they can tell you just how obese you are, how much more exercise you need, which vices you need to cut back on, etc. Each individual was given a copy of their report so they could "improve for next year".

The answers are "anonymous" in that the company isn't provided with a list of what an individual's answers were, but the answers are linked to the employee ID number to track progress from year to year.

Needless to say, I did not answer their invasive questions, did not let them near me with any needles or scales, and will not be covered under their hospitalization plan. Big Brother has gotten MUCH too big for his breeches.

The next step for them from here is to deny coverage to anyone who does not comply with their "plan to reduce the cost of insuring employees". That means not covering the obese unless they lose weight, not covering computer junkies until they exercise, not covering smokers - including esmokers, remember cotinine testing - until they are nicotine free, not covering diabetics until they control their sugar, etc. They are slowly - but surely - taking over my decisions as an informed adult regarding my health. This is not just where I work. It is a growing trend. It was actually an outside agency that administered the questionnaire, so other companies are paying for this same service. Contracting with an outside agency is WAY more expensive than their potential insurance savings, so it really has nothing to do with insurance costs although the official story is that they want to cut insurance costs.

Big businesses more closely resemble politicians than they do small businesses. What they say is only a fraction of the truth, that is why anyone working in a bureaucracy with tell you that common sense does not apply there - trying to apply common sense in that environment will only confuse and frustrate you.

We have GOT to stop backing down as corporate leaders keep eroding our personal liberties.

Wow, now I'm all worked up. I think I need a conspiracy theory forum - or maybe I just need my new drug delivery system to arrive so I can better numb out like the rest of the thinking world seems to be doing.

[TropicalBob]

This is not just where I work. It is a growing trend.

Sorry to have to agree, Nicowolf. It began with government and big business, but will weasel its way to even small businesses at what will seem like warp speed as the economy sours. An owner hoping to avoid firing employees will seek to stem insurance costs first. Then the employees most likely to need insurance benefits will be fired first.

That's exactly how it went down at the company where I worked. Smoking was banned anywhere on the property. They made note of who DIDN'T quit and made smokers punch a clock so they wouldn't be paid for smoking. They identified who we were.

Then, if you were over 55, you were on the chopping block first (if you smoked and were over 55, well, goodbye). If you'd had an insurance claim in the past five years, you knew you would soon pick up your buyout check. It's gotten worse since, but, yes, the obese will be next, along with anyone who rides a motorcycle, got drunk at the Christmas party or is known to sleep around. Risky behavior, tsk tsk. Companies can't pay for that!

[taz3cat]

This should not suprise anyone. I bet the cavemen had moral cops too. History is full of people trying to control other people. I beleive that not just obese people will be next it is anyone who is 10lb overweight.

Well after all it's not good for you. It's for your own good. I know what is best for you. Being around fat peoples makes other people fat (same as second hand smoke kills other people).

I am being nasty I know. I used to live in the land of liberty and had the right to presue happiness.

[nicowolf]

Thanks, TB, for the validation. I was starting to feel like one of those lunatics always spouting off a conspiracy theory about how the government or some other BIG evil monster is out to squash them.

I really feel persecuted out there in the real world as a smoker - still waiting for my "fogger" - and with baited (literally) breath.

[Mommyshann]

No worries everyone! Change is coming! Once we're all under the new government healthcare plan we won't have to submit to anymore of these questions and tests from the healthcare companies! Businesses won't have to worry about paying healthcare costs and we'll all live in happy bunny land forever...lalala!