Employers in Tennessee must comply with these state rules regulating smoking in the workplace.
In Tennessee smoking is prohibited in enclosed public places.
Employers covered: Employers with one or more employees.
Written policy requirements: The prohibition on smoking must be communicated to all existing employees and prospective employees upon application for employment.
Posting requirements: No smoking signs, or the international no smoking symbol, which consists of a pictorial representation of a burning cigarette enclosed in a circle with a bar across it, must be prominently and conspicuously posted and properly maintained at every entrance to a public place or place of employment where smoking is regulated by law. No smoking signs or no smoking symbols must be prominently displayed throughout the building to ensure that the public is aware of the restriction.
No smoking areas: Smoking is prohibited in enclosed public places, including areas available to and customarily used by the general public in businesses and non-profit entities patronized by the public.
Other areas where smoking is not permitted include the following places:
Permitted smoking areas: The smoking prohibition does not apply to private businesses with three or fewer employees where, in the discretion of the business owner, smoking may be allowed in an enclosed room not accessible to the general public. Smoke from such a room must not infiltrate into areas where smoking is prohibited.
Additional areas where smoking is not prohibited include:
Public facilities must provide at least one area indoors in each building where smokers are permitted to smoke.
If a policy is established that permits smoking in the workplace the policy must also provide a nonsmoking area in the workplace.
Facilities, including medical facilities and those with children, may provide adult staff members with a designated smoking area, as long as children are not allowed access.