Smoking And Drinking In The Workplace

Employees who are addicted to smoking are a dying breed in more ways than one.

86,500 people die every year from a smoking related disease and according to one expert, two non-smokers die each day from exposure to secondary smoking in the workplace.

Half of all workplaces are now completely smoke free and many employers who allow smoking are reviewing this policy.

So do smokers have any rights? The short answer is no.

Disability discrimination laws specifically exclude from protection those who are addicted to nicotine because it is self-inflicted.

The Human Rights Act offers no protection either. Your right to smoke is not as important as the rights of your colleagues to a pollution free and safe working environment.

So, if your employer is planning to introduce a smoke-free environment and you are a smoker, see it more as an opportunity to give up rather than an opportunity to claim compensation.

That being said, employers who want to go smoke-free should be sensitive to those staff who do smoke. A process of consultation with the workforce makes sense and if the decision is to have a smoking ban, a period of notice is a good idea. Offering to help smokers give up while not compulsory, probably represents best practice. After all it is not in your interests to have staff working inefficiently because they are worrying about when they can have their next cigarette.

Some employers are even going so far as not employing job applicants because they smoke, some employers think people who smell of smoke put off clients and frequently take more work breaks than their non-smoking colleagues.

So, if you can no longer smoke at work what about a drink? This normally depends on the nature of the employer’s business and the employer’s policy on alcohol in the workplace. There is a world of difference between the barman sharing a drink with one of the locals and a worker in a safety critical industry, such as the railways, having a pint at lunchtime.

Employees should make sure that they are aware of their employer’s policy on alcohol and drugs and that they comply with it.

Increasingly employers set blood and breath alcohol limits and have the contractual right to test employees. Breaking these limits can lead to disciplinary action and dismissal.

Employers who want to introduce alcohol and drugs policies need to take a balanced approach weighing up, for example, the risks to health and safety of employees being under the influence at work against the right to privacy.

However, as with all policies the most important thing is to ensure that all staff know what the policy means and are reminded of it on a regular basis and certainly just before Christmas!

Published 27/09/2006.