total smoking ban at work

foreverskint

Hi Everyone,

Don't know if this has been asked before as i'm fairly new to the site.
My DP employer hasjust announced that from the 1 april 2-005, there will be a total smoking ban at work, inside outside and whilst out on the road too.
Can they do this this quickly? There appears to have been no consultation with the employees, just a verbal notice that this will happen.
Any one out there know what his rights are?

I know that there are issues regarding passive smoking, and I can understand if smoking outside the buildings gives a bad image, but they are on an industrial unit miles from anywhere.

Savvy_Sue

I don't know about the legalities, but if they haven't at the same time offered help to people to quit smoking they are not being particularly helpful. It may be worth googling for employment law about no smoking policies: I'm sure there has been at least one case where a smoker started a job with a no smoking policy, never smoked while at work or in his co. car, but trouble flared when he lit up away from work and was seen by the boss's wife. Something like that.

Is there a union?

But maybe this will spur your DP on to give up?

nearlyrich

I used to work in a small office where everyone came to smoke, I've never been a smoker but I used to go home smelling like an ashtray. The company moved into a new building and they banned smoking inside. They put a smokers bus shelter type thing in the corner of the warehouse yard to prevent people standing outside the front door and dropping cigarette ends everywhere. They also said anyone who smoked could have 2 smoke breaks per day but any more they had to cut their lunch. It used to annoy me a little when smokers went off leaving me to deal with their customers but I consoled myself with the thought thatI wasn't paying a fortune to smell disgusting.
Hope your DP manages to give up..

JCL

No discerning MSE would smoke - what a waste of money and why improve your chances of getting cancer. Madness!

jockettuk

JCL wrote:

No discerning MSE would smoke - what a waste of money and why improve your chances of getting cancer. Madness!

im a non smoker who doesnt like being smoked around but its freedom of choice if people want to smoke.

Cymraeg_2

Don't quote me on this , but I'm pretty sure that they have to provide a smoking area that is not detremental to the previous smoking enviroment , i.e. the bus shelter thingy mentioned is so that you don't have to stand in the rain if you have to stand outside .
Worth double checking tho' .
Most decent employers offer a 'quit smoking' programme for assistance to those that want it .

fairenoughclough

I'm a non-smoker and hate the smell of cigarettes, particularly on my clothes the morning after a night out in a smoky environment.


However, until smoking is made illegal people should be allowed to do it where it does not affect others.

What next, no drinking coffee at work because somebody doesn't like the smell!

JCL

jockettuk wrote:

im a non smoker who doesnt like being smoked around but its freedom of choice if people want to smoke.

Very true but the reason most people choose to visit this site is to save money - why waste it on fags!

stuwilky

Cymraeg wrote:

Don't quote me on this , but I'm pretty sure that they have to provide a smoking area that is not detremental to the previous smoking enviroment , i.e. the bus shelter thingy mentioned is so that you don't have to stand in the rain if you have to stand outside .
Worth double checking tho' .
Most decent employers offer a 'quit smoking' programme for assistance to those that want it .

No they dont!!

The employer may be acting a little quickly if they havnt consulted on this with unions/staff reps/staff etc. However what they are doing is commendable so unlikely to be on the end of any successful claim.

ashmit

Speaking as someone who works for the Department of Health, no, an employer doesn't have to provide anywhere to smoke at all, and if they do provide a 'bus shelter' kinda thing they can only get the silver level of the national clean air award rather than the gold. But see here for the best way to introduce a no smoking policy, which doesn't seem to be what has happened in this case.

Savvy_Sue

JCL wrote:

No discerning MSE would smoke - what a waste of money and why improve your chances of getting cancer. Madness!

well on that basis no discerning MSE would drink alcohol, drive a large car, take foreign holidays, have children, buy clothes other than from jumble sales or charity shops, eat out in good restaurants etc etc etc! These are all dreadful wastes of money.

I agree that smoking is a waste of money and detrimental to health, and I am not and never have been a smoker, but let's stick to the question here!

And anyway, it's the OP's PARTNER who is the confessed smoker. Hands up all the MSE regulars whose partners are spendthrifts in at least one way! Or all the MSE regulars whose moneysaving in one area finances extravagance in another! That's what it's all about, isn't it?