Vaping at Work: What You Should Know

It seems like every day, more and more people are picking up vapes and leaving cigarettes behind. However, there are many misconceptions regarding vaping since its long-term effects haven’t been fully discovered yet.

One way in which the public still hasn’t made up their minds is if they should allow people to vape while at work. In today’s blog, we answer the question millions of vapers have on their minds: Can I vape at work?

We’ll look at the federal and state guidelines and tell you exactly how you can find out if you can vape while working.

Table of Contents

Is Vaping Allowed Inside?
Vaping at Work at the Federal Level
Vaping at Work at the State Level
Vaping at Work: How To Tell If You Can Vape
Repercussions for Vaping at Work
Conclusion

Is Vaping Allowed Inside?

Before answering if you can vape at work, let’s first look into vaping indoor. While vaping does not leave or create ash, smoke, or tar, an excellent guideline to follow is that if smoking is prohibited in the establishment, then vaping indoors is not permitted as well. However, this is not always the case, so what it comes down to are federal and state laws, which we will look at next.

Vaping at Work at the Federal Level

As of 2020, no federal rules prohibited vaping in the workplace. Although the FDA has created many rules and regulations that have impacted the vaping industry, there are still no regulations regarding a federal law prohibiting vaping in the workplace. With that said, this does not mean that you can vape at work; you still have to consider state laws and company policies.

Vaping at Work at the State Level

When we get to the state level, things get more complicated since states have taken various actions to regulate vaping. According to Lawyers.com, these actions include: including vaping in the definition of smoking, explicitly banning vaping at work, and banning vaping in certain establishments.

Including Vaping in the Definition of Smoking

Many states have included vaping in their definition of smoking, which means that the state's rules also apply to vaping. These states include:

Colorado
California
Delaware
District of Columbia
Hawaii
Indiana
Maine
Maryland
Nevada
New Jersey
New Mexico
North Carolina
Pennsylvania
South Dakota
Utah
Vermont
West Virginia
Wyoming

However, something to keep in mind is that just because vaping has been added to the definition of smoking, it does not mean that it is not allowed at the workplace. And they don't expressly ban vaping in the same places that smoking is forbidden. However, it would help if you tread with caution since these states tend to be extremely restrictive in vaping.

Specifically Banning Vaping at Work

In the United States, there are 16 states and two districts that have banned vaping in the workplace. In the districts of Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia, there are specific smoke-free indoor laws that prohibit e-cigarettes, not only in workplaces but also in restaurants and bars. In total, the states and districts that specifically ban vaping in workplaces include:

Alaska
Florida
Utah
Hawaii
New Mexico
California
North Dakota
South Dakota
Minnesota
Oregon
Delaware
New York
Massachusetts
Rhode Island
Vermont
New Jersey
District of Columbia
Puerto Rico

Banning Vaping in Certain Establishments

While some states have banned vaping in the workplace outright, others have banned vaping in certain establishments. For example, schools, playgrounds, hospitals, colleges, and childcare facilities, are some of the most common establishments where vaping is banned. If you happen to work in these institutions, you’re most likely not going to be able to vape.

Vaping at Work: How To Tell If You Can Vape

Because not all states address vaping at the state level, the first thing you should do to know if you can vape at work is to check your local government. Many municipalities have clear rules about vaping at work or have similar laws that dictate if you can vape inside institutions like schools, churches, or playgrounds. However, these rules can get murky if they change from district to district.

The best thing to do is to reach out to your supervisor or HR person and ask them personally if there are any policies against vaping in the workplace. They are the persons that have the company policy knowledge about whether you can or can not vape at work. However, since vaping is relatively new and many companies haven’t yet updated their work policies to allow or not allow vaping, it’s possible that they might not know or that they don’t have a workplace vaping policy. In most cases, they will check local and state guidelines regarding vaping to see if they can allow employees to vape and change their handbook of work policies to reflect these laws.

Repercussions for Vaping at Work

If you find out that you can not vape after talking to your supervisor or HR person, we strongly recommend that you do not vape while at work since you can be fired just for vaping, especially if state or local guidelines prohibit vaping while at work. Even if there aren’t any state or local guidelines that do not allow vaping while working, workplace policies will be deemed legal by a court or state agency.

Conclusion

The question of whether it is illegal to vape at work depends on your state. If your state is not on our list of states that ban vaping at the workplace, we recommend checking your local government laws. If you can’t find this information, ask your HR representative or supervisor for guidance on whether or not you can vape while at work; most of the time, they will be glad you ask and give you an answer. If you find out you can’t, refrain from vaping since it could cost you your job.