Remedy for Second Hand Smoke on the Job

If your health problems are severely aggravated by co-workers' smoking, there are a number of steps you can take. · Check local and state laws. A growing number of local and state laws prohibit smoking in the workplace. Most of them also set out specific procedures for pursuing complaints. Your state's labor or employment department should have up-to-date information about these. If you can't find local laws that prohibit smoking in workplaces, check with a national nonsmokers' rights group. · Ask your employer for an accommodation. Successful accommodations to smoke-sensitive workers have included installing additional ventilation systems, restricting smoking areas to outside or special rooms and segregating smokers and nonsmokers. · Consider filing a federal complaint. Most claims for injuries caused by secondhand smoke in the workplace are pressed and processed under the Americans With Disabilities Act. In the strongest complaints, workers proved that smoke sensitivity rendered them disabled in that they were unable to perform a major life activity: breathing freely. · Consider income replacement programs. If you are unable to work out a plan to resolve a serious problem with workplace smoke, you may be forced to leave the workplace. But you may qualify for workers' compensation or unemployment insurance benefits.