Do employers have to provide smoking breaks or outside smoking areas?
No on both counts. By law, employers must give staff an uninterrupted rest break of 20 minutes when their daily working time is more than six hours. (For staff under 18 this is one half hour break after four and a half hours). Staff can, of course, smoke during their rest period if they choose, but they must not smoke in an enclosed or substantially enclosed area. As an employer you must decide whether or not to permit smoking elsewhere on your premises e.g. in open car parks, grounds, or shelters and you should indicate where smoking is allowed in your smoking policy.
