An employee at one of our outlying facilities has serious health issues. A few years ago he had triple bypass surgery. A recent medical report showed a hole in his heart. In a few weeks he's scheduled to have an examination to see if there's anything that can be done about the hole. This came to my attention recently when his supervisor came to me with a request.

He asked that we give the man several weeks off work and have someone substitute in his place. This change would require us to give him free rent for several weeks. And, we would have to compensate the fellow who would be replacing him. But having known this fellow for several years I had a question for his supervisor.

"Is the man still smoking? " I asked his supervisor.

"I think so," said his supervisor.

"Then we're probably not going to help him unless he quits smoking," I told him.

While this might seem to be an extreme response it has been our policy for some time. Several years ago we had a few employees with serious health problems. When they would ask for time off we came to realize that their health problems might be exacerbated by their smoking. Finally, we developed a policy where we wouldn't give people a lot of time off for health reasons if they were still smoking.

While some might find this to be a harsh reaction, it has helped a few people stop smoking. In fact one them, who'd had a heart attack while with us, has now been smoke free for more than four years.