Smoking breaks soon to be banned.

Thousands of employees of Nottinghamshire County Council have been left furious this week, and rightly so because they have just found out that they will no longer be permitted to smoke during working hours.

The employer has announced that from May, around 9,000 of its workers will be barred from smoking regular and electronic cigarettes during work time. 

The ban will be enforced in all of its council buildings, land and vehicles meaning that the employees will only be allowed to smoke if they are well away from the companies premises.

I can understand that the council is trying to help improve the health of their employees, however, is this not slightly unfair?

Joyce Bosnjak, chair of Nottinghamshire County Council’s Public Health Committee told ITV:

We have a responsibility to protect the health of our employees. Giving up smoking is recognised by health professionals as the single biggest behaviour change a person can make to improve their health.

We are therefore offering support and advice to staff who want to quit, to help them make this positive lifestyle change.

So what do you think? Should more employers be following in their footsteps, or should they stop making employees lives unnecessarily difficult?

Let me know in the comments on Facebook!