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Sorry Workers, But Companies Have Rights Too

By Jeff Jackson (02/10/05)

Books of Interest

The recent flap over companies refusing to hire smokers and even going so far as to terminate workers that smoke has caused a knee jerk reaction among many in America. Cries are being bandied about by those that believe that their rights to do certain things trumps the rights of others to do certain things. Workers are complaining about how unfair it is that they are being punished for things that they chose to do even when those things are not done in the workplace itself.

I hate to break it to you complainers, but companies have rights too. And no, it is not an invasion of your privacy.

Let’s get it straight from the start. A “company” is nothing more than a legal entity comprised of people that work together to make a product or provide a service. Usually these are run by a person or a small group of people. And that person or group of people want to make money; just like the employees want to. “Companies” a legal fictions that at their base are nothing more than a person or group of persons that have the same rights you do.

Long time readers of my work know where I stand on what is a “right” and what is not. A “right” is something that cannot be denied to you by anyone or anything. A “right” is something that you have regardless of the situation except in the cases of convicted criminals who can have their rights (such as to pursue happiness, liberty and life) removed. And your “rights” cannot interfere with my “rights”.

And I am going to tell anyone that that thinks these companies don’t have the “right” to hire who they want when they want and for however long they want that you are wrong. You don’t have a “right” to work for XYZ Corp. XYZ Corp does not have an obligation to hire you; to pay you the salary you want; to give you a 401k package; to give you 2 weeks of vacation; or give you any other perk you can dream up.

Why? Because that “company” is at its base a person. And you see that person has certain rights. They have the right to liberty and to pursue happiness and to own, acquire property and manage that property as they see fit as long as they are not infringing upon your rights. That company is their property. Remember, you don’t have a right to work for XYZ Corp. If you want to prove otherwise please show me in the United States Constitution where it is mentioned or where in the Declaration of Independence or the other founding documents of this nation it is implied.

You don’t have a right to work for XYZ Corp because this is America and not the former Soviet Union. The “company” has the right to hire who they please when they please to do whatever job they please to have done. If you think otherwise how would you feel if the government were to come to you and say that you, as a home owner (property owner), have to hire a maid and pay them? Bet you wouldn’t like that very much now would you? But you want the government to force someone else to hire you? Come on, don’t be a hypocrite.

That last example is what we refer to as Socialism. It is where you own your property but the government controls what you do with it. In socialism the government orders you to hire a maid and pay them out of your pocket even if you don’t want a maid. This is what the smokers that are in a tizzy are trying to make companies around America stuck with higher healthcare costs because of over regulation and said smokers are attempting to do.

How do smokers believe that they have the “right” to force a company (i.e. another person) to pay for them? The answer is that we have been overrun with socialism for so many years; with people so used to the government telling companies what they can and cannot do that the vast majority of Americans have come to accept socialism as a way of life. And every time they don’t get what they want from another person they simply demand that government make the other person give it to them.

Welcome to 21st Century America. Hope you like it. Because this what we are currently reaping from years of sowing socialism in our society.

If you don’t like the company’s policy against smoking you are not being discriminated against. You can either quit smoking and continue to work there or you can go work somewhere else. If you chose to work somewhere because you make the choice to keep smoking yes, you may make less money. Yes, you may have to move. Yes, you may suffer a financial burden. But that is your choice. But to demand that XYZ Corp. allow you to continue to work for them because you don’t like those two exercises of your liberty and to demand that the liberty and private property rights of the owner(s) of XYZ Corp be infringed for your own selfish reasons is highly unAmerican.

That’s right. I said you are unAmerican. Because those of you that think that you have a right to tell other people what to do and infringe upon their rights might as well just admit that you prefer socialism to freedom.

If you want to keep smoking go work somewhere else. And yes, that applies to other “vices” as well. If a company wants to start letting people go because they eat at McDonalds so be it. If a company wants to start letting people go because they don’t work out three times a week I don’t care. If the government starts mandating that people must do these things to be employed however, now we have a problem. Because government does not have this power. But citizens that own businesses and private property do. If these businesses fail because of such decisions then so be it but the free market will decide. If they think they can hire enough non-smokers to do the job then that is their right.

Are there other solutions available? Perhaps dropping the whole corporate provided “health” package idea and forcing the employees to deal with their own medical costs? Sure. How about simply making smokers pay their higher premiums themselves? Sure. But the question is will those that feel aggrieved accept either of those two options? Not without a vicious court battle I assure you and if you doubt that you need to pay more attention to the frivolous litigations clogging our courts these days.

The fact of the matter is that the owners of the companies in this country have rights too. They shouldn’t have the give up their rights just to form a legal entity. Something about these rights being unalienable and granted by God seems to ring a bell. They want to let smokers go and you don’t want to quit smoking? Tough luck.

Believe me, if they torque off enough people with this decision they will not be in existence much longer. The free market will decide the fate of such actions and those that take them.