(HARRISBURG) - Harrisburg Mayor and avid smoker Stephen Reed has signed an executive order that requires all city employees to smoke at least a half of a pack of cigarettes during each eight-hour workday.
Reed calls the move, which came days after a city smoking ban was ruled illegal by a state labor relations panel, "an attempt to swing the pendulum in the other direction."
He said any employee found to be smoking less than ten cigarettes in a day will be placed on probation. Failure to meet the threshold the following workday will result in a suspension, with a third offense punishable by dismissal.
One city councilwoman, who asked not to be named in this article, said she planned to introduce an amendment that would allow employees to smoke crack instead of cigarettes.
Reed calls the move, which came days after a city smoking ban was ruled illegal by a state labor relations panel, "an attempt to swing the pendulum in the other direction."
He said any employee found to be smoking less than ten cigarettes in a day will be placed on probation. Failure to meet the threshold the following workday will result in a suspension, with a third offense punishable by dismissal.
One city councilwoman, who asked not to be named in this article, said she planned to introduce an amendment that would allow employees to smoke crack instead of cigarettes.
