Most large bay area employers pushed smokers outside years ago; the new law changes little.
By BENITA D. NEWTON
Published July 2, 2003
When Melissa Arnold felt a craving for a cigarette Tuesday at her job at Superior Marble and Granite in Clearwater, she didn't hesitate to light one up. Although the new statewide smoking ban has made her resolve to drastically reduce the time she and her family spend in restaurants, it hadn't occurred to her that the law would waft into her workplace.
"Just about everyone who works here smokes, so I have no idea what my manager is going to do," Arnold said. "Sometimes, I'm the only one here during the day. If I have to step outside to smoke, there won't be anybody here to answer the phones."
But it appears that businesses like Superior that might get burned by the ban are few. Most Tampa Bay area businesses had no-smoking policies in place long before the new law went into effect Tuesday. Many companies moved their smoking areas outdoors after the Florida Clean Indoor Air Act was passed in 1985. Officials at some of Tampa Bay's biggest employers - including Jabil Circuit, Tampa Electric, Sypris Electronics, Maxxim Medical, Home Shopping Network and Medco Health - said the new law just means business as usual for them.
Raymond James Financial of St. Petersburg has had a no-smoking policy since 1987. Christine Lindaman, senior vice president of human resources, doesn't envy anyone who has to adapt a business for the new law.
"I remember exactly when we put it into place, because I was not a popular person at that time," Lindaman said. "I think people have grown quite used to it now. It's more the common practice than the exception."
She said employees have grown very protective of their smoke-free environment at the 56-acre financial center.
"Some of the nonsmokers recently became irritated that the smokers were kind of expanding their turf, so we had to contract the smoking areas and enforce it a little more," Lindaman said.
At Banker's Insurance Group in St. Petersburg, smoking has been banned since the late 1980s, and applicants are screened for smoking preferences, spokeswoman Barbara Peat said.
"We only hire smokers as an exception," Peat said. "We have outside areas available, but it's not too often that you see people out there. We've been spoiled for a long time."
Other corporations say their smoke-free environments have little effect on company culture.
"Our associates still congregate in break rooms, snack bars, and for those who smoke, in public plazas and outdoor areas," said Mitch Lubitz, spokesman for Bank of America, which employs more than 5,000 people in the bay area. "We support having a clean-air working environment for all of our associates."
