General Assembly |
File No. 506 |
January Session, 2011 |
Senate, April 13, 2011
The Committee on Public Health reported through SEN. GERRATANA of the 6th Dist., Chairperson of the Committee on the part of the Senate, that the bill ought to pass.
AN ACT CONCERNING SMOKING IN WORKPLACES.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 31-40q of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2011):
(a) As used in this section:
(1) "Person" means one or more individuals, partnerships, associations, corporations, limited liability companies, business trusts, legal representatives or any organized group of persons.
(2) "Employer" means a person engaged in business who (A) has employees, including the state and any political subdivision thereof, or (B) is self-employed irrespective of whether or not such self-employed person has employees.
(3) "Employee" means any person engaged in service to an employer in the business of [his] an employer.
(4) "Home" means any dwelling house, tenement house, rooming house, apartment house or other residential building.
[(4)] (5) "Business facility" means a structurally enclosed location or portion thereof at which employees perform services for their employer. The term "business facility" does not include: (A) Facilities listed in subparagraph (A), (C) or (G) of subdivision (2) of subsection (b) of section 19a-342; (B) any establishment with a permit for the sale of alcoholic liquor pursuant to section 30-23 issued on or before May 1, 2003; (C) for any business that is engaged in the testing or development of tobacco or tobacco products, the areas of such business designated for such testing or development; or (D) [during the period from October 1, 2003, to April 1, 2004, establishments with a permit issued for the sale of alcoholic liquor pursuant to section 30-22a or 30-26 or the bar area of a bowling establishment holding a permit pursuant to subsection (a) of section 30-37c] an employer's home.
[(5)] (6) "Smoking" means the burning of a lighted cigar, cigarette, pipe or any other matter or substance which contains tobacco.
[(b) Each employer with fewer than five employees in a business facility shall establish one or more work areas, sufficient to accommodate nonsmokers who request to utilize such an area, within each business facility under his control, where smoking is prohibited. The employer shall clearly designate the existence and boundaries of each nonsmoking area by posting signs which can be readily seen by employees and visitors. In the areas within the business facility where smoking is permitted, existing physical barriers and ventilation systems shall be used to the extent practicable to minimize the effect of smoking in adjacent nonsmoking areas.]
[(c)] (b) (1) Each employer [with five or more employees] shall prohibit smoking in any business facility under said employer's control, except that an employer may designate one or more smoking rooms.
(2) Each employer that provides a smoking room pursuant to this subsection shall provide sufficient nonsmoking break rooms for nonsmoking employees.
(3) Each smoking room designated by an employer pursuant to this subsection shall meet the following requirements: (A) Air from the smoking room shall be exhausted directly to the outside by an exhaust fan, and no air from such room shall be recirculated to other parts of the building; (B) the employer shall comply with any ventilation standard adopted by (i) the Commissioner of Labor pursuant to chapter 571, (ii) the United States Secretary of Labor under the authority of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, as from time to time amended, or (iii) the federal Environmental Protection Agency; (C) such room shall be located in a nonwork area, where no employee, as part of his or her work responsibilities, is required to enter, except such work responsibilities shall not include any custodial or maintenance work carried out in the smoking room when it is unoccupied; and (D) such room shall be for the use of employees only.
[(d)] (c) Nothing in this section may be construed to prohibit an employer from designating an entire business facility as a nonsmoking area.
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections: | ||
Section 1 |
October 1, 2011 |
31-40q |
PH |
Joint Favorable |
The following Fiscal Impact Statement and Bill Analysis are prepared for the benefit of the members of the General Assembly, solely for purposes of information, summarization and explanation and do not represent the intent of the General Assembly or either chamber thereof for any purpose. In general, fiscal impacts are based upon a variety of informational sources, including the analyst's professional knowledge. Whenever applicable, agency data is consulted as part of the analysis, however final products do not necessarily reflect an assessment from any specific department.
OFA Fiscal Note
Explanation
Extending the ban on smoking in the workplace has no fiscal impact on the state or municipalities as employers. Additionally, the bill results in no costs to the Department of Labor for enforcement.
The Out Years
OLR Bill Analysis
AN ACT CONCERNING SMOKING IN WORKPLACES.
This bill bans smoking in the workplace regardless of the number of employees in the business facility. Under current law, the smoking prohibition applies only to business facilities with five or more employees. The bill applies to a self-employed individual, whether or not he or she has any employees. But it does not apply to an employer's “home,” defined as any dwelling, tenement, rooming, or apartment house or other residential building.
As under current law, the employer may designate one or more smoking rooms but the bill eliminates a provision requiring employers with fewer than five employees to establish nonsmoking work areas upon request.
EFFECTIVE DATE: October 1, 2011
COMMITTEE ACTION
Public Health Committee
Joint Favorable
Yea |
19 |
Nay |
9 |
(03/28/2011) |