Can employers ban smoking by employees in public smoking areas?
Get Legal Help Today
Compare Quotes From Top Companies and Save
Secured with SHA-256 Encryption
Can employers ban smoking by employees in public smoking areas?
Also, banning in vehicles parked in surrounding lot.
Asked on March 16, 2011 under Employment Labor Law, Minnesota
Answers:
M.T.G., Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 13 years ago | Contributor
You hear about bans on smoking every day in the news and it seems as though smoking has become a crime in this country. Many states - Minnesota included - have enacted laws that support the rights of smokers, but these laws are meant to support rights outside the work place environment. Smokers’ rights laws do not prevent an employer you from placing a workplace smoking ban or regulating smoking in your building or factory, or at other work sites. In fact, many states impose restrictions on workplace smoking to protect nonsmokers from the health problems that may be caused by secondhand smoke. So, as a practical matter, even if your state prohibits discrimination against smokers, you can create policies to stop smoking in the workplace which ban smoking entirely and discipline any employee who violates your policy. Further, you can enforce your break rules against smokers and ban smoking breaks entirely, too.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Answer(s) provided above are for general information only. The attorney providing the answer was not serving as the attorney for the person submitting the question or in any attorney-client relationship with such person. Laws may vary from state to state, and sometimes change. Tiny variations in the facts, or a fact not set forth in a question, often can change a legal outcome or an attorney's conclusion. Although AttorneyPages.com has verified the attorney was admitted to practice law in at least one jurisdiction, he or she may not be authorized to practice law in the jurisdiction referred to in the question, nor is he or she necessarily experienced in the area of the law involved. Unlike the information in the Answer(s) above, upon which you should NOT rely, for personal advice you can rely upon we suggest you retain an attorney to represent you.