We may have left the days of smoking in the office far behind, but tobacco users still abound in Australian workplaces, taking breaks throughout the day to keep cravings at bay.

Organisations across the country are cracking down on tobacco users, with some even considering placing restrictions on hiring smoking candidates.

Restricting the recruitment of smokers has become a trending topic over the last week, following the World Health Organisation (WHO) declaring they will no longer hire candidates who smoke, or reject assistance to stop smoking.

The measures aren’t surprising considering the organisation’s hard line on tobacco use, however the ban on recruiting steadfast smokers has upped the ante in terms of smoke-free workplace policy.

As the United Nation’s Public Health Arm, WHO defends its recruitment policy, reiterating that an estimated 5.4 million people die from tobacco use every year.

Their policy on non-recruitment of smokers states that WHO “is at the forefront of the global campaign to curb the tobacco epidemic. The organisation has a responsibility to ensure this is reflected in all its work, including in its recruitment practices and in the image projected by the Organisation and its staff members.”

WHO’s recruitment process includes a series of screening questions including whether the candidate is a smoker, and if they would continue to smoke if they were employed by the organisation. If the answer to both questions is yes, the candidate will not progress to the next round for consideration.

So we know the World Health Organisation’s stance, but is it possible for Australian employers to determine smokers need not apply for roles in their businesses?

The major issue is whether precluding a candidate from the recruitment process amounts to discrimination.  So far, this argument hasn’t been settled in Australia. In the US, courts have determined not hiring a candidate based on their smoking habit is not discriminatory and is well within an employer’s rights.

The issue is yet to be tested in Australia, and currently no legislation exists to prohibit employers from excluding smokers from their workforce.

While a smoke-free workforce might be a new concept, the smoke-free workplace is not.  Employers have largely adopted non-smoking workspaces, and providing employees with access to smoking termination support is on the rise.

Designated smoking areas are being pushed further and further away from office buildings and managers are cracking down on designated break times.

And when you consider the figures it’s easy to understand why an employer would prefer to have non-smoking employees.  Statistics show the average Australian smoker takes two more days off per year than a non-smoker and, while at work, loses up to an hour out of each day on smoke breaks.  This lost productivity translates to an $800 million dent in the Australian economy.

For now, organisations wishing to advertise for ‘non-smokers only’ are free to do so, but they should know they will be eliminating a tenth of the talent pool straight off the bat, and in an increasingly tight labour market, that’s a large slice of candidates to rule out.