The Clean Indoor Air Act
Chicago’s Clean Indoor Air Ordinance, effective since 1988, prohibits smoking in virtually all enclosed public places and enclosed places of employment. These places include bars, restaurants, shopping malls, recreational facilities (e.g., enclosed sports arenas, stadiums, swimming pools, ice and roller rinks, arcades, and bowling alleys), concert halls, auditoriums, convention facilities, government buildings and vehicles, public transportation facilities, coin laundries, meeting rooms, private clubs, lobbies, reception areas, hallways and other common-use areas in public buildings, apartment buildings, and condominium buildings. The Ordinance also prohibits smoking within 15 feet of the entrance of these establishments and encourages owners and managers of buildings and other spaces not covered by the Ordinance to declare their buildings and other spaces to be smoke-free. The new Chicago ordinance will apply the Clean Indoor Air Ordinance’s restrictions related to smoking tobacco to e-cigarettes.
What are e-cigarettes?
Promoted as a healthier alternative to smoking cigarettes, e-cigarettes are battery-powered devices that resemble traditional cigarettes and simulate smoking tobacco. Electronic cigarettes generally use a heating element that vaporizes a liquid solution. Some solutions contain a mixture of nicotine and flavorings, while others release a flavored vapor without nicotine. Chemicals are emitted from e-cigarettes when the users exhale. Research is still needed to determine the health effects of e-cigarettes; some researchers claim the vapor emitted contains chemicals that can harm people who inhale them secondhand.
With no consistent evidence and no guidance as yet from the Food and Drug Administration, city councils across the country are making their own decisions about the electronic substitute.
Former tobacco smokers often use e-cigarettes as an alternative. The popularity of e-cigarettes among young users is a public concern; the new Chicago ordinance also prohibits sales to minors, and gives Chicago retailers six months to move e-cigarettes behind a counter, like cigarettes.
Practical Impact
Employers with employees working in Chicago should update their smoking polices to include a ban on the use of e-cigarettes. An update to an existing policy banning smoking can be made by indicating that the use of e-cigarettes / vaping is also prohibited. Employers in jurisdictions that do not have a similar ban on the use of e-cigarettes may also wish to amend their policies to prohibit the use of e-cigarettes given the uncertainty regarding potential health risks. Employers should also consider the impact to employee morale and employees’ reaction to permitting or banning the use of e-cigarettes.
As always, please contact your Human Resource Business Partner if you have any questions.