NY No Smoking
scottorr
599 Posts
On July 24, 2003, New York will become a smoke free work place state. I am trying to find the specific requirements so that I will be in compliance. I even went to the New York state DOL website and they haven't updated their requirement list since 2/15/2001. Does anyone know or do they know of a resource I could use?
Comments
If you subscribe to New York Employment Law Letter, the lengthy lead article in the May 2003 issue was on this very topic. The headline was, "Be careful where you decide to 'light up.'" It was written by Melissa Katz with the law firm Epstein Becker & Green, P.C., which writes and edits the New York newsletter. If you can't find your hard copy, you can go to the home page on this website and log in to the newsletter archives. A search of the archives for "smoking" in the state of New York will pull up the article online. Hope this helps. tk
Tony Kessler, director of editorial
M. Lee Smith Publishers LLC
(615) 661-0249 ext. 8068
Thanks for your help. I read the article. It was useful for basic information. However, I was at a seminar on legal updates and an attorney told us that the law went so far as to not allow smoking in areas outside, if there was a roof, he felt that that included enterance ways to the buildings. I haven't been able to find any information that outlined the exact changes or an interpretation of the exact changes. Everything I have read only gives bits and pieces not the whole picture. I can not even find a copy of the law itself.
"owner-operated bars, which are bars in which all of the duties relating to the preparation, serving, cleaning, shelving, stocking, and maintenance of the food and drink are performed by the owners of the bar" All of this applies to our business, but the County Health Department said this is not so and should never been printed in your news letter. My question is; would our establishment the exempt from the new law that takes effect July 24, 2003? Please let me know as soon as possible. Thanks
According to Michael Kalish, one of the lead editors for New York Employment Law Letter, the exemption that you cited is to the New York City statute (which went into effect at the end of March) -- not the new state law that goes into effect later this month. Hope this clears up the confusion. Here is Michael's contact info. tk
Michael A. Kalish
Epstein Becker & Green, P.C.
250 Park Avenue
New York, NY 10177-1211
(212)351-3738 (phone)
(212)661-0989 (fax)
[email]mkalish@ebglaw.com[/email]
From the newsletter article, it appears we are in compliance already with the exception of no smoking in the company van - used by maintenance.
-- On the upper-right corner of the home page, log in with your password.
-- Then click on the line that says "Search for articles, statutes, regs, policies."
-- In the top line of the search form, type "smoking restrictions."
-- About midway down the page, click the "Laws and Regulations" box.
-- If you're a New York newsletter subscriber, the search will automatically search for New York laws. If you're checking this law from another state, select "New York" from the list located immediately below the "Laws and Regulations" box that you just checked.
-- Now you're ready to scroll down a little further and click the "Display Results" bar. You'll see both the current and the July 24 versions of the law listed.
-- Click on the one that says "Effective July 24, 2003" to call up the text of the law.
If you have any questions about locating the law, please e-mail Tammy Binford, our resident expert on state laws and regulations -- she's been working to update them on the website for all 50 states during the past year -- at [email]tbinford@mleesmith.com[/email]. She's the one who called my attention to the fact that we already had this new law in our system. Thanks, Tammy! Hope this helps. tk
Tony Kessler, director of editorial
M. Lee Smith Publishers LLC
(615) 661-0249 ext. 8068