Would you believe that the U.S. Congress has never attempted to introduce a nationwide federal smoking ban in the workplace? It’s somewhat crazy, but it’s 100% true. The people who hold power in the U.S. (kind of presuming that power lies in institutions such as Congress) prefer to leave it to individual states to decide if they want a ban or not – whether they consider smoking in the workplace constitutes an unnecessary health risk to employees – or not. Let’s just think about that, for a moment.
Excuse me, but is it not 2018? Did I just imagine the passing of the millennium? Have not the actual U.S. tobacco companies been forced to pay millions and millions of dollars to settle medical claims made against them in recent years? And in federal courts too? Get this – the most recent statewide smoking ban was ratified a mere 6 years ago. Just 6 years? Anyway, well done to North Dakota for that one. Believe it or not, the likes of Kentucky, Alaska, Alabama, and others have still to introduce outright workplace smoking bans.
My point? Don’t wait for any government to introduce legal measures to make the workplace healthier, safer, and more productive for your company and your employees. Take action yourself, as long as everything is done voluntarily. However, do it right, and everybody will want to be a volunteer. Guaranteed.
My name is Andy, I’m a digital marketing entrepreneur, with an agency that employs around a dozen first-rate people, and I totally understand that the wellness of my employees is directly related to the wellness of my business. Furthermore, and a little bit of a curveball for you, I’m a recovering alcoholic and drug addict, now clean and sober for the last 9 years, and nothing is more important to me than my own mental and physical health. I know if I don’t have those, I’ll be no good to anyone.
The activity-based wellness program that continually runs in our place of work is on a voluntary basis (there’s no pressure for employees to join in for the free yoga classes, for example), and it’s backed up by available materials on personal wellness strategies, such as quitting smoking, and quitting drinking, to name but two.
Did you know that by stopping your consumption of alcohol you will enjoy a whole host of wellness benefits, such as lowering your weight, your stress levels, your cholesterol, even your chances of Type II diabetes, and boosting your energy, your concentration, and if your workplace can’t get any happier, boosting your…
