At the canton of Vaud level, two laws regulate smoking in the workplace: the federal law on passive smoking and its ordinance, and the Vaud law on smoking bans in public places.
- Protection of workers in general
Every employer must protect the health of their employees. Therefore, they must take technically feasible and company-adapted measures to achieve this goal.
The federal law regulates passive smoking in enclosed spaces that are open to the public, as well as in workplaces shared by several people. Therefore, individual offices and private homes are not affected. This law sets a framework that applies to the entire Swiss territory (federal law) but allows the cantons to establish stricter rules. This is the case for the canton of Vaud via the law on smoking bans in public places (LIFLP).
- Exceptions
Both federal and cantonal laws allow for exceptions to the general framework.
The federal law allows employers to provide smoking areas if they are identified as such, no one works there, and they are ventilated and hermetically separated from non-smoking offices. The federal law also allows for smoking restaurants and bars with prior authorization.
The cantonal law does not allow for smoking restaurants and bars. However, it does allow for these establishments to have a smoking room under certain conditions.
- Sanctions
Sanctions can range from a fine of CHF 1,000 to the administrative closure of the establishment intentionally or negligently violating the laws on smoking bans.
- E-cigarettes
This case is not covered by the law and has not yet been decided by jurisprudence. Therefore, the employer is free to establish their own rules regarding this practice within their company.
