|
|
A Maryland lawnmaker has proposed legislation to provide income-tax credits to companies that prohibit smoking in their workplaces.
Maryland State Senator Katherine Klausmeier recently proposed the legislation, which calls for a tax break that covers businesses that voluntarily prohibit smoking on their premises, not those that are required by law to bar smoking. The proposed law would limit the tax credit to the lesser of $5,000, or 15 percent of the Maryland income tax for that taxable year, according to reports.
Klausmeier told Baltimore media this may prove to be the incentive to ban workplace smoking. Previous state-wide efforts to prohibit workplace smoking have failed.
Banning smoking is the workplace topic de jour. Scotts Co. recently announced a strict no-smoking policy for its workers, and other companies are investigating doing the same.
According to a recent Lawn & Landscape Online Poll, the majority of green industry contractors (53 percent) already prohibit smoking on the job and have taken to hiring only non-smoking employees, while 7 percent of contractors may still hire smokers, but do not allow smoking at all during business hours. Four percent of respondents said they only allow smoking in their own shops and not at all in vehicles or on jobsites. Thirteen percent of contractors allow employees to smoke but only on breaks, while 12 percent allow smoking at any time, as long as it's outside. Eleven percent of respondents only allow smoking if the client says it's okay.