Reynolds’ Employees No Longer Allowed to Smoke Cigarettes in the Office

Employees of Reynolds American, the nation’s second-largest tobacco manufacturer, will no longer be able to smoke cigarettes in the company’s buildings and offices starting in 2015. Use of e-cigarettes will continue to be permitted, the Associated Press reports.

Cigars and pipes will also be banned from employee desks, offices, conference rooms, hallways and elevators. Smoking is already prohibited in cafeterias, fitness centers and factory floors, the article notes.

The company will build indoor smoking areas for employees who still want to smoke indoors, according to Reynolds spokesman David Howard. “We believe it’s the right thing to do and the right time to do it because updating our tobacco use policies will better accommodate both non-smokers and smokers who work in and visit our facilities,” he told the AP. “We’re just better aligning our tobacco use policies with the realities of what you’re seeing in society today.”

In addition to e-cigarettes, moist snuff and snus (pouches of finely milled tobacco) will be permitted. The company will also allow use of Eclipse, a Reynolds-made cigarette that uses a carbon tip that heats tobacco after it is lit by a lighter.