HR Dilemma: Should staff be given time off work to quit smoking?

Employers should consider allowing staff to use e-cigarettes instead of traditional tobacco-based products, a public health official has said.

At a recent meeting of the Nottingham City Health and Wellbeing Board, John Wilcox, insight specialist at Nottingham City Council, explained that there is a major difference between allowing staff to smoke cigarettes at work and allowing them to inhale e-cigarettes.

The Nottingham Post reports that Wilcox said: “It is important that organisations take time to consider those differences and how they relate to the health of their employees."

He also suggested another more progressive idea - that smokers should be given time off to quit.