Snubbing Smokers At Work

Time reports:

s it the boss's business if you have a cigarette after dinner? After an Irish job ad stipulated that "smokers need not apply," that


question was put to the European Commission, which decided that employers refusing to hire smokers do not breach European antidiscrimination laws.

"The Commission can legislate on age, disability, sexual orientation, religion, race and gender," says Commission spokesperson Katharina von Schnurbein. "For all other areas, it's the member state's responsibility." Critics fumed that though some countries, such as France and Belgium, have laws requiring employers to hire on qualifications alone, the Commission is doing nothing to stop growing numbers of employers from prying into the lifestyles of potential recruits.

If smoking is so bad why are European budgets financed by it.