Tennessee’s Public Smoking Ban Takes Effect On October 1, 2007

Tennessee’s new law banning most public smoking, dubbed the “Non-Smoker Protection Act,” takes effect on October 1, 2007.  P.L. 410 (2007). 

Nearly all Tennessee businesses and employers are subject to the requirements of the law.  This new law prohibits smoking in all public buildings and enclosures (with few exceptions), including restaurants, schools, health care facilities, hotels, shopping centers, sports arenas, restrooms, elevators and child care facilities. 

The law applies to employers in Tennessee, which is given a broad definition of any entity that employs four (4) or more individuals.  It specifically bans smoking in any “enclosed area under the control of a public or private employer that employees normally frequent during the course of employment, including, but not limited to, work areas, private offices, employee lounges, restrooms, conference rooms, meeting rooms, classrooms, employee cafeterias, hallways, and vehicles.”  This list of designations is not specifically limited to areas where the public is actually invited, but is broader in scope and applies to any general enclosed area at the worksite. 

Under the new statute, employers and businesses must communicate the law’s protections to all employees and prospective employees.  Moreover, at the entrance of every place of employment where smoking is prohibited, employers must place a “No Smoking” sign.  Any employer (or other covered entity) who violates the new law’s provisions is subject to a written warning for the first violation, a $100 penalty for the second, and a $500 penalty for each subsequent violation within a 12-month period. 

Exceptions to the smoking ban exist for private residences, non-enclosed public venues and private businesses with there or fewer employees.  (For these small business, smoking may be allowed at the discretion of the business owner as long as it is confined to an enclosed room that is not accessible by the public.) 

Thus, nearly all employers in Tennessee will be affected by this new law.  The traditional “smoking room” will need to be eliminated.  Instead, employers will either have to designate a smoking area in a non-enclosed area, e.g., outside, or make their place of employment smoke-free.  If an employer chooses to designate a smoking area in a non-enclosed place, it will need to take steps to ensure that any smoke does not infiltrate work areas or other non-smoking areas.  All covered employers must take steps to ensure that compliance with the law’s provisions is made before October 1, 2007.

Posted by: Mekesha H. Montgomery

Categories: Legislation & Regulation, Tennessee