New Smoking Ordinance Affects KCMO Employers
June 6, 2005
by Employment & Labor Law / Employee Benefits Group
Stinson Morrison Hecker LLP
Copyright © 2005
Effective May 31, 2005, employers in Kansas City, Missouri must comply with an amended City Ordinance prohibiting smoking (including lighted cigarettes, cigars, pipes or other tobacco products) in all enclosed places of employment within the City. In addition, employers must post “No-Smoking” signs, develop a written no-smoking policy, communicate the policy to all employees, and provide a copy of its written policy upon request to any existing or prospective employee.
Smoking Prohibited in Workplace – Under the ordinance, smoking is prohibited in all enclosed workplaces, including:
- Private offices;
- Work areas;
- Conference rooms;
- Hallways;
- Classrooms;
- Employee cafeterias;
- Employee lounges;
- Restrooms; and
- Any other enclosed area under control of the employer which employees normally frequent during the course of employment.
Smoking Prohibited in Public Places – Smoking is also prohibited under the ordinance in all enclosed “public places” within the City (meaning any enclosed area to which the public is invited or in which the public is permitted), including:
- Reception areas;
- Areas serving as a place of work, including open office landscaping;
- Elevators;
- Restrooms;
- Retail stores and shopping malls;
- Retail service establishments;
- Service lines (any indoor line at which one or more person are waiting for or receiving service of any kind, whether or not such service involves the exchange of money);
- Production and marketing establishments;
- Banks;
- Theaters, concert halls and similar facilities;
- Sports arenas, including enclosed places in outdoor arenas;
- Sports pavilions, gymnasiums, boxing arenas, swimming pools, health spas, roller and ice rinks;
- Indoor places of entertainment or recreation (e.g., bingo halls, billiard halls, betting establishments, etc.);
- Health facilities, health clinics, ambulatory care facilities, hospitals, laboratories, and nursing homes;
- Doctors’ offices, dentists’ offices and waiting rooms;
- Childcare and adult day care facilities,
- Educational facilities;
- Libraries;
- Museums, auditoriums, aquariums and art galleries;
- Laundromats;
- Public transportation facilities (e.g., public areas and waiting rooms of bus and airport facilities);
- Vehicles of public transportation (e.g., taxicabs, buses, limousines for hire);
- Convention facilities; and
- Enclosed facilities owned by the City.
Smoking Outdoors – Smoking outdoors in a manner that impedes entrance to or exit from a building (where smoking is prohibited) is also unlawful under the ordinance.
Employer Obligations Under the Ordinance – An employer who controls a workplace or public place covered by the ordinance must take the following steps:
- Post "No-Smoking" Signs – An employer must clearly and conspicuously post "No Smoking" signs (or the international “No Smoking” symbol) near all entrances where smoking is prohibited by the ordinance. Click on this link for a model No-Smoking sign.
- Written Policy – Each employer having any enclosed place of employment located within the City must adopt, implement, make known and maintain, a written smoking policy. A model policy is as follows: "Policy on Smoking: Under the Kansas City, Missouri city ordinance, smoking is prohibited in all enclosed facilities within a place of employment without exception. This includes common work areas, auditoriums, classrooms, conference and meeting rooms, private offices, elevators, hallways, medical facilities, cafeterias, employee lounges, stairs, restrooms, vehicles, and all other enclosed facilities." Note: The City has developed a sample Smokefree Workplace Policy that includes additional, optional language.
- Communication of Policy – Employers must communicate its smoking policy to all employees within four weeks of the adoption of the ordinance.
- Furnish Copy of Policy Upon Request – All employers also must supply a written copy of the smoking policy upon request to any existing or prospective employee.
- Must Enforce Policy – It is the responsibility of employers to provide a smoke-free workplace for all employees. Employers may not knowingly permit, cause, suffer or allow any person to violate the ordinance within the places it controls. It will generally be sufficient if the employer has asked that the lighted cigarette, cigar, pipe or other tobacco product be extinguished, and asked the person to leave the establishment if that person has failed or refused to extinguish the lighted cigarette, cigar, pipe or other tobacco product.
Exceptions to the No-Smoking Ordinance
- Separate Ventilation – Enclosed spaces designated as a smoking area within a place of employment or a public place, from which smoke cannot infiltrate to other portions of the premises, is not subject to the no-smoking ordinance, provided that such enclosed spaces are equipped with separate heating, ventilation and air conditioning equipment that vents or exchanges air outside of the building or structure in which the designated smoking area is situated AND which prevents the mixing of air from the designated smoking area with air from the other portions of the premises where smoking is prohibited under the ordinance AND is a place where employees are not required to work.
- Hotel/Motels – Up to 25 percent of hotel and motel rooms may be permanently designated as smoking rooms (this percentage may be adjusted depending upon occupancy rate).
- Restaurants and Bars – Are not covered by the ordinance until 85 percent of all the people in the counties of Jackson, Platte, Clay and Cass in Missouri and Wyandotte and Johnson in Kansas reside in a jurisdiction where an ordinance or law has been passed which prohibits smoking in both bars and restaurants. Restaurants includes coffee shops, cafeterias, sandwich stands, and attached bars, and private and public school cafeterias which gives or offers for sale food to the public, guests, or employees, as well as kitchens and catering facilities in which food is prepared on the premises for serving elsewhere.
- Casinos and Bowling Alleys – Are also not presently covered by the no-smoking ordinance.
- Private Residences – If not serving as enclosed places of employment or enclosed public places (e.g., childcare, adult daycare or health care facility), then private residences are not subject to the no-smoking ordinance.
Penalties for Violations – A person who smokes in an area where smoking is prohibited by the no-smoking ordinance is guilty of an ordinance violation, punishable by a fine not exceeding $50. An employer (or other person) having control of a place of employment or a public place and who fails to comply with the ordinance is guilty of an ordinance violation, punishable by:
- First Violation – A fine not exceeding $100 for a first violation.
- Second Violation – A fine not exceeding $200 for a second violation within a one year period.
- Third Violation – A fine not exceeding $500 for a third violation within a one year period.
Each day on which a violation of the ordinance occurs is a separate and distinct violation. Smoking Ordinance Complaints may be submitted on-line to the City’s Health Department by completing a Complaint Form
Additional Resources – For more information, click on the City Ordinance and the City’s Complete Guide to Creating a Smoke-free Workplace.
Stinson Morrison Hecker LLP is one of the country's largest law firms with more than 335 attorneys in more than 45-industry-focused areas. If you would like more information regarding this summary, please contact one of our Employment & Labor Law and Employee Benefits attorneys.
Law at Work is designed to give general information and is not intended to be a comprehensive summary or to treat exhaustively the subjects and matters covered. The information appearing herein does not constitute legal advice or opinions. Such advice and opinions are provided only upon engagement with respect to specific factual situations. Nothing contained herein shall be considered as an admission in any matter or controversy.
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