b'TheADAprohibitsemployersfromaskingquestionsaboutWhat Should I Do:disabilitiesinadvanceofanemploymentoffer.ItcouldbeGood: Not everyone has a problem with employees smoking interpreted that the company wants to find out about smokersin the workplace. If you dont, you simply have to watch out to avoid dealing with nicotine addicts and people who may haveforthecomplaintofadisability,likeasthma,aggravatedby other health issues. So, Angie cannot ask the question beforesmoking and reasonably accommodate the employee if a claim anofferofemployment.Pre-hirescreeningsarealsoillegalis made. If you want to stamp out smoking in your workplace, under the ADA except under certain circumstances. If Angie caninstituteno-smokingpoliciesoncompanypremisestoclear provide a legitimate business - and position - related reasonout the atmosphere. Dont connect these policies to reducing for the screening, she may do so after a conditional offer ofhealthcare costs or claims.employment is made.Better: If a clear atmosphere is not enough, consider stepping Residualwhat:Red,theownerofRedsBBQPit,simplythe policy up to prohibit tobacco residual so that smokers are cannot stand the smell of smoke. Of course, he has a rule thatnot allowed to have the smell of smoke on their clothes, hair, employees may not smoke during work hours, but Red wants toorbreath.Again,avoidconnectingthepoliciestoreducing take it a step further and institute a regulation that employeeshealthcarecostsorclaims.Consider,also,eliminatingthe may not come to work with tobacco residuals on their clothing,availability of smoking breaks during the day.i.e., they cannot smell of smoke. Has Red gone too far? Nope. There is no law preventing an employer from requiring thatBest: Institute a workplace wellness program where voluntary employees present to work free of tobacco smells. In fact, ininformationismadeavailabletoallemployeesregarding a workplace with a particularly sensitive asthmatic, it may be asmoking with the hope that some of the smokers will make their reasonable accommodation for that person to implement suchown decision to stop smoking.a rule.Smokingawayfromwork:CancerHospitaldecidesthat regulating smoking is not enough to promote its image as a cancer-fightingorganization. Thehospitaldecidestorequire employees not to smoke in their off-duty hours. Is this legal? If it is very clearly to promote an image, the restriction is probably legal in Texas. A number of states have adopted laws ranging from preventing discrimination based on lawful off-duty activities tospecificprohibitionofdiscriminationbasedonsmoking. Texas is not one of those states, having no laws at the state level regulating smoking. The risk will be that the restriction is a HIPAA violation, so Cancer Hospital must be careful. As long as the hospitals goal is to promote its image and not to drive down its insurance premiums, there is not anything preventing Hospital from creating such a rule.46'