Weyco, Inc., in Michigan wants to be in their employee's lives on a 24x7x365 basis. Their strict no smoking policy extends to what is supposedly the employee's "personal time". If my employer is dictating what legal activities I may or may not engage in on my own time, then it is no longer my time.
I don't necessarily have a problem with this though. The minimum wage is $5.15. That's $41.20 for an eight hour day. At time and a half, the remaining sixteen hours of the day are worth another $123.60. That's a total for the day of $164.80.
No, we're not ready to buy the vacation home on that amount just yet. However, since there is no personal time, that pay is earned all seven days of the week. $1153.60. Getting better.
At $59,987.20 per year, minimum wage becomes very livable indeed.
Now, I do believe that Weyco has the right to impose their no smoking policy as a condition of employment for any employee hired after that policy is announced. It is inherently unacceptable to unilaterally change the rules in the middle of the game. For those already employed, the policy should have either been waived or an obscene severance package paid to those who were fired.
In lieu of a satisfactory severance package, Weyco should be sued out of existence by the fired employees. And the plaintiffs should prevail.
If this is permitted to proceed unchallenged, what else will my employer have the "right" to control in my private life? Diet? Sexual practices? Marital partner?
No thanks.
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