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Westgate Timeshares Serious About No-Smoking Rule

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Orlando’s Local 6 TV News stirred up an old issue this past November when they interview David Siegel, founder and CEO of Westgate timeshares, regarding the company’s no-smoking policy for employees.

But this is not “news”. Westgate Resorts timeshares put their no-smoking ban in place in 2003. Westgate Resorts timeshares is part of the behemoth corporation, Central Florida Investments Inc, a conglomerate that includes hotels, magazines, travel services, insurance, real estate, internet companies, oil and even cattle, and is the largest single employer in the Orlando area. And Westgate timeshares in not alone in its crackdown on employee smoking. Other Florida companies have made similar moves. Thanks to the 2002 Florida Clean Indoor Act, smoking is already prohibited in restaurants, malls, workplaces and most interior areas. Many Florida employers prohibit smoking anywhere on company property while other companies also charge employees who smoke higher rates for their health insurance premiums. Westgate timeshares simply took its opposition to smoking a step further by saying: if you smoke, you won’t work for Westgate Resort timeshares.

Legal?

In the state of Florida it most certainly is. And from the perspective of companies, always watching their bottom-line, you have to see their side of it. Smokers increase insurance premiums across the board for all employees. As a general rule, they have lower productivity simply because of the time lost to smoke breaks. Where smoking is permitted on property, cleaning and repair costs to carpet, upholstery, and painted surfaces escalate.

On the other hand, does your employer ethically have the right to tell you that you cannot smoke off property and on your own time?

Dicey questions, and you can count on David Siegel to (pardon the pun) fan the flames of controversy with one of his straight to the point comments. As quoted in the Orlando Sentinel, Siegel says, “When I found out it was legal to discriminate against smokers (in 2002), those were my marching orders.”

Westgate Resorts is the third largest timeshare company in the world, with resorts throughout the US. To learn more about Westgate timeshare resales and Westgate timeshare rentals, visit Sell My Timeshare Now.