Can I get in trouble for smoking on a video call while working from home?

Question

Everybody in our office is still working at home due to COVID.

The other day, I had a Zoom call with several people in the organization. Not thinking about it, I was smoking a cigarette while my video was on. Somebody joked about it, and I apologized and put out the cigarette.

Today, I got a formal notice from HR that I was receiving a citation for smoking in the office. They emphasized that the company has a strict tobacco free policy. They also attached a long list of all of the health consequences of smoking (which of course, I'm already aware of).

I called HR and asked for clarification, because I was not in the office. In fact, I've started this job recently and have NEVER been in the office. They said that because everybody is working from home, my home counts as my office while I'm working.

Is this actually a thing? Can a company really get me in trouble for this? It's not like I was drunk on the job; I was merely smoking a cigarette from my own home while on a work call.

Answer 1

Is this actually a thing? Can a company really get me in trouble for this?

Since you are living and working in the US, yes they can. Chances are, they can fire you for any reason or none at all (depending on your local state laws).

Their "your home is our office" argument is absurd, but being a smoker is not a protected class and doing it on company time, whether it's in your home or their office, might get you reprimanded even in countries with worker protection laws that live up to their name.

Answer 2

You also

• were naked at the office
• slept overnight at the office

and possibly

• made an overly fragrant lunch at the office
• brought your pet to the office
• had sex or masturbated at the office

The argument that context doesn't matter is clearly absurd. None of the reasons they presented to you make any sense. (some people in the comments pointed out some slightly more compelling potential reasons but given that HR did not present you with them, I wouldn't consider them)

But this is not a battle you can win, regardless of whether you're right or not. Push it enough and you will either get fired or get a reputation as being unreasonable and difficult.

You clearly offended someone, enough for them to report you, even after your apology. Maybe it was the person who called you out, or maybe someone else.

It doesn't sound like the culture of somewhere I'd like to work: at least one intolerant idiot in your team, and a tactless HR who jump straight to the formal procedure for the first "violation" of a new joiner in an unprecedented situation. But maybe there are positives which counterbalance these things; only you can decide. If you decide to stay, you'll have to suck it up and try to move past it.

Answer 3

I am rabidly anti-smoking, but I find their argument, as presented, absurd. To say that your office is a smoke-free workplace and since you are now working from home, your home is the office is outrageous.

Offices have non-smoking policies in their buildings to avoid polluting the indoor air in the workplace, and I'm glad they do. Back in the 1980's I worked in an office that allowed smoking at your desk, and it was awful. The building had poor air quality to begin with, and the cigarette smoke made it much worse.

However, when you work from your own home, the air quality of your home is your call. If you choose to smoke the health consequences are yours to deal with.

Had they said that smoking during video meetings is not allowed it would be a much more honest and legitimate argument. I am a manager, and would complain if any of my people smoked during a video conference because it is now considered unprofessional in the workplace, and projects a bad image. I would talk to the person and frame it that way, and ask the person to refrain from smoking during video meetings in the future. I would never presume to tell them that they could not smoke in their own house however.

(I'm friends with most of my co-workers, and might push on them to stop "driving nails into their coffins" since cigarettes kill a significant portion of their users over the years, but that would be a person-to-person message, not a manager to employee message.)

I don't know if your employer has legal grounds for their position or not. I'd suggest talking to a lawyer before deciding to fight it.

As a new employee, it's probably safest to just respond by apologizing, saying that you were not aware of the rules, and ask for documentation on those rules in order to avoid future accidental violations.

Answer 4

Can a company really get me in trouble for this?

Depending on your State and contract yes this could get you in trouble, and they could fire you if the laws apply.

Check your local laws and contract to be sure. I also suggest you check your employee's handbook to see what are the politics about smoking.

Is this actually a thing?

Well... they sent you a citation so yes this seems to be a thing to them.

Yes, it's a stretch to say that your home equals your office.

Regardless, smoking while on a Zoom meeting with your coworkers or clients is not professional, as you are on working hours and the video stream depicting you smoking is going through your company's channel.

I suggest that you avoid smoking while on Live meetings, or perhaps wait for the meeting to finish to go for a smoke. You could even turn off your video if you really can't wait for your smoke (just be sure that turning it off is allowed for that meeting).

Answer 5

I can think of two reasons why they are completely justified in their reprimand:

1. You receive any amount of "home office" materials/technologies/reimbursement: Yes, your computer you work on, your internet connection, and maybe even the room itself may be "theirs" in a loose sense if you take their money each month as a reimbursement for having your own home office. Cigarette smoke adheres to just about anything, and if you are using their equipment, they have a right to expect it be kept in a smoke-free environment.

2. The minute you join a company provided meeting link, you and your office are represented to the other employees. Regardless of your position, other employees rely on you to accomplish their day-to-day work, and it sets a bad example to be seen smoking when all employees agreed to their rules before starting the position. HR can and must crack down on even the slightest of slipups.

The good news, you still have a job, and this will likely only be an real issue if it happens again. Put your head up high, and know you have a snitch on your team, so be careful!

Answer 6

Is this actually a thing? Can a company really get me in trouble for this?

There may not be a right or wrong answer for this. Or maybe this isn't even written in any rulebook. But we are also currently living in an unusual time.

In this situation, I think the best approach would be to own it up and ensure to the HR and everyone else involved to make sure not to repeat something like this in future (at least not while you are on a video call).

A polite admittance and apology would actually look good on your side and it would make it easy for everybody else to accept it as you are in your home and this occurrence would no longer look as bad on you.

In fact, I've started this job recently and have NEVER been in the office.

It becomes more important as you have possibly not had a chance to interact with and build up an in-person relationship with the rest of the staff yet.

Answer 7

Another possible aspect might be health and safety at work. I think some of the recent legislation has been to protect employees from the dangers of smoke while working. This applies obviously to table staff in pubs etc but probably applies to any working environment.

In this case, the company is employing you to do work and if you were to become ill due to a smoke-filled office you might want to sue them.

I know it's a bit of a stretch but it might be part of the reasoning behind their position.

Answer 8

Instead of smoking, let's suppose you were assembling a Lego puzzle while on video call. Would it be acceptable? It does not matter what you were doing if it was not work related. Eating, drinking, watching TV. They just found a legal reason to go after you in this case. Trust me, they will find legal explanation for issues no matter how small, that do not fit company standard.

The solution for you is having a virtual meeting in the same way you would have a normal one. Rested, seated, comfortable, well groomed, dedicated and focused. Not looking at your phone/emails, your slack/chat window or code (for software engineering). Even if all this could be work related.

Exceptions:

• Fine to have water/coffee/tea during prolonged meetings. Keep your throat hydrated to make you sound well and energized.
• If your video meeting is outside of work hours (after hours support).
• Taking a walk inside or outside the house if you are not in the meeting.
• Taking a walk inside a house if you are on audio and have a good wireless headset with noise cancellation, so they don't hear steps and/or unrelated conversations in your household. The assumption is that you can get back to your workstation/laptop within a minute or so, if needed.

All of the above guidelines are especially important if you were just hired. Wait for a few months or years and they will allow you some slack (term depends on performance).

Answer 9

Firstly, their verbal reasoning is a bit misguided.

They said that because everybody is working from home, my home counts as my office while I'm working.

What they should have said was:

When you are representing the company you must follow company rules.

Smoking while on the job during a visual meeting never-the-less is certainly jarring for the other guests. It's like you don't respect that they follow the rules.

Since you're working from home you wouldn't start dropping loads of F-bombs during a meeting would you? You wouldn't hang lewd posters behind you on the wall for everyone to see would you? You wouldn't take your shirt off because the room was too warm would you?

Receiving a citation for this gray area of working from home does seem a bit extreme and unwarranted but "it's their circus so these are their rules." You probably don't have the funds to fight this legally but I do think you should request a one-on-one session with an HR rep. Genuinely express that you are sorry for the way you represented the company and in no way were you trying to break the rules on purpose.

Answer 10

Your employer is in a position to forbid or require you doing one thing or another (within reasonable limits - like to wear an uniform, not to use tobacco, alcohol or drugs, not to swear, to speak only some specified language, etc) in office hours, no matter where exactly you are (you may be on a field trip, and the place may be an actual field).

In my country (Bulgaria) an employer is even required (by law) to ban smoking at the workplace and to enforce the ban. Both the employee and the employer will be fined for a violation (well, in a rare occurence when an inspector appears surprisingly).

I think this perfectly extends to the "home office".

Answer 11

Probably not. It depends on the state.

"However, 29 states and the District of Columbia do prohibit discrimination based on legal activities outside the workplace, which includes smoking tobacco."

Taken from https://www.workplacefairness.org/smoking-rights-workplace

Answer 12

In the US, it would be completely, totally normal and legally acceptable that a company might have a policy:

"You may not smoke while on video calls."

However. It sounds like they have never told you this policy and indeed they probably do not have such a policy. Your email response should be:

"Hello. Immediately completely remove the reprimand from my record. Reply with written confirmation that this has been done. Secondly, please provide me with full documentation showing the company policy which prohibits smoking on video calls. In fact, I believe such policy does not exist? Thirdly, if it does exist, please provide me with full documentation on when this policy was enacted, by who, and most specifically how I was notified about it. Again immediately remove the reprimand from my record - and confirm that this has been done - until points 2 and 3 are addressed.

(Of course, again, if they do have such a policy on file - and it was communicated to you specifically or generally - they're in the right.)