In the past five years, 15 Danish municipalities have adopted comprehensive smoke-free policies in public workplaces to the extent they are banning employees from lighting up if they are working at home!
These 15 municipalities totally prohibit the use of tobacco during working hours, inside or outside the office. This could include attending classes and working from home.
Nevertheless, while most public employees (at the 83 other municipalities) are not allowed to smoke anywhere in the workplace, they are still offered smoke breaks.
“I think you have to be very careful when introducing smoke-free working hours,” Mads Samsing from the workers’ union HK told Politiken.
“What comes next? Will employers also interfere in what employees eat or how much they sleep at night?”
Healthier
The ban currently affects over 85,000 employees, according to Politiken. Three more municipalities are scheduled to introduce total smoking bans during working hours in 2018, according to Kræftens Bekæmpelse, the Danish cancer society.
READ MORE: Ban on smoking in cars pointless, says cancer society
According to the society, 68 percent of all smokers want to quit, and comprehensive bans help them stick to their decision. It also provides a healthier working environment and the opportunity for a new and healthier break culture.
