10 facts about smoking at work (#1: Smokers have a harder time getting hired)

The link between tobacco and the workplace goes far beyond whether people can smoke on the job (see #7). For Labor Day, take a look at these 10 facts about tobacco and employment.

10 facts about smoking at work

1. Smokers have a harder time getting hired. The chances of getting a job within a year reduced 24 percent for unemployed job seekers who smoked when compared to non-smokers—even when other factors like substance abuse and criminal history were taken into account.
2. An employee’s smoke breaks cost his or her employer an estimated $3,077 dollars a year in lost productivity.
3. Smokers earn 20 percent less money compared to non-smokers.
4. The food preparation and service industry has the highest rate of smoking among full-time workers at 45 percent.
5. When more workplaces go smoke-free, more homes do too.
6. Smoke-free workplaces also help encourage people to quit smoking.
7. 30 states have adopted smoke-free workplace laws
8. State and local smoke-free workplace policies protect more than 227 million people, or 74.2 percent of the U.S. population.
9. Smoke-free restaurant laws may  help to prevent youth from starting smoking.
10. Smoke-free workplace policies are the only way to protect workers from secondhand smoke. Cleaning, ventilating or creating separate areas for smokers is not a substitute.