However, Overton cautioned that the ruling does not apply to whether employers can require employees to stop smoking once hired, and does not apply to whether employees who signed the affidavit could start smoking or resume smoking. See more ». This website uses cookies to improve user experience, track anonymous site usage, store authorization tokens and permit sharing on social media networks.
By continuing to browse this website you accept the use of cookies. Click here to read more about how we use cookies. Dori Stibolt. To embed, copy and paste the code into your website or blog:. And, Kurtz remains good law in Florida as of Send Print Report. As with off-duty smoking bans, lawyers say the legal landscape on electronic surveillance is still evolving. Complaints around these issues often settle out of court — such as a lawsuit brought by Myrna Arias, a saleswoman who was fired for turning off the GPS on her company phone while off duty.
Your off-the-job behavior should have no bearing on your employment. New California labor law AB 5 is already changing how businesses treat workers. And this can also be the case with smoking bans. Eight years later, she feels differently. All rights reserved.
Not to be redistributed, copied or modified in any way. Ships bound for L. Stocks eke out small gains but are still headed for weekly loss. All Sections. About Us. B2B Publishing. Business Visionaries. Hot Property. Times Events. Examples of such questions include:. Gone are the days of smoking in bars, the workplace, and even on airplanes. Despite smoker numbers going down, there are still some who light up a cigarette in order to satisfy their addiction, and it is well within their right to do so.
But just because there are many regulations on where smokers can light up does not mean that their rights to smoke are not protected, especially in the workplace. If they follow the rules, employers cannot discriminate against them simply because they are smokers. This goes for both employees and applicants: an employer cannot discriminate against someone just because they smoke cigarettes, assuming the smoker follows all health and safety regulations.
In the state of California, it is unlawful for employers to maintain a workplace that poses a danger to safety and health of the people who are employed under that roof.
Smoking poses a threat to both of those, and so California prohibits smoking in all enclosed workspaces. Smoking is prohibited within 20 feet of entrances, exits, windows, or ventilation systems. These laws include both private and public, inside of vehicles, parking garages, and other common areas that are shared by the public like bathrooms, stairwells, elevators, and other such spaces. The Workplace smoking laws apply to all workplaces with five 5 or more individuals.
An employer cannot allow smoking in any workplace that is enclosed and must take reasonable action to prevent nonemployees from taking out a cigarette and lighting it up. An employee can legally smoke in a workplace if the employer has designated areas, like break rooms, for smoking. These break rooms or areas cannot be in a work area. That is, an area which is inhabited by employees who perform their daily tasks in that area. No employee must be obligated to enter that room as a part of their job function and perform their necessary job functions.
For example, a nonsmoking employee cannot be required to go into that room to pick up necessary office supplies if he or she is opposed to smoking. The contaminated smoke-filled air must be vented directly to the outside with a verified fan and cannot circulate throughout other areas of the building. Employers in the state of California are not obligated to provide a smoke room for smokers if they do not wish to do so.
If employers provide such a break room, they are legally obligated to provide a break room for all nonsmokers. Employees have a right to a workplace free from secondhand smoke.
This means that there exist no legal accommodations for smokers, but employers with five or fewer employees may permit smoking in a designated area if the conditions listed below are met:. Employers are also not required to have any written or oral policies in California. Some may require employers to have a smoking policy in place, while others may not. Employers are free to adopt legal policies on smoking in the workplace if they so choose. An employer may not discharge an employee simply because they are a smoker.
The employer then decides to fire this employee simply because he or she is a smoker. The employee did nothing unlawful, and in the state of California, an employer may not terminate an employee for taking part in legal activity outside of the workday. Since smoking is legal in California, an employer cannot dismiss you from your position. Many people believe that e-cigs or vapor devices pose no threat to health and safety, but a growing body of scientific evidence says otherwise.
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