Manager Vaping in Work

[Mortimermay]

My manager constantly vapes in the office I work in. He vapes all through meetings and quite often if you have to meet with him, it'll be in a small room with limited air flow which is full of vapour. He is aware its against company policy to do this inside as he doesn't do it in our main site where most employees work from.
I have nothing against people who vape, it doesn't bother me what they decide to do however I have asthma which is exacerbated by vapes. I have asked him repeatedly not to vape around me and explained why and he just ignores it or puts me in an awkward position in front of everyone by asking if it's OK. The last week was particularly bad as I had to have two extended meetings with him where the room was full of vapour before we even started and despite me asking him not to, he continued vaping anyway. I know that other colleagues find it irritating as well.
I really don't want to have to go to HR about this as we are a small team and he will know it was me which could make things difficult. On the other hand, I'm sick of asking him and sick of spending my evenings with a sore chest and wheezing due to spending hours confined in a vape filled room.
I can't understand why he thinks it's acceptable, aibu? And if I'm not, do I just start leaving the room every time he vapes after I've asked him not to or do I take the consequences and just report it to HR?

I absolutely love vaping but this is completely bananas.

even if you didn’t have asthma it’s completely bananas to vape in a professional setting.

never mind putting you at risk. Unacceptable!

Good to hear that you’re a member of a union - I’d contact them for advice on how to proceed.

Think about what you want the outcome to be, and what would be the best resolution for you.

Leave. The. Room.

Ham it up with coughing and spluttering if you have to. No point saying “oh this is my boundary” if you aren’t going to enforce it.

Look, he’s in the wrong, but you’re dealing with a stubborn oaf here, so you’re going to have to ramp it up,

Every time you walk out, and if he asks you if it’s ok in front of other people, you say no. He starts puffing, you loudly say, “I’m very sorry. I can’t breathe. I’ll have to leave”

Every office I've been in in recent years hasn't allowed vaping in the office - like smoking, if you want to vape, you have to be outside the building. So I'd be trying to get HR to ban it inside the building. Obviously if he's the business owner as well as your manager, that will be trickier.

How is vaping even allowed on site? You say you’re in a union and have an occupational health dept, so it must be a big organisation…..does your manager own the company?

I think maybe say once more please do not vape, it's accerbating my asthma. Then when it's ignored, go to HR. Be very factual and state this has gone on x months, you've asked him multiple times to not do it because of your asthma (including this week) and your requests are being ignored. I'd then say how bad the vaping is (continuous, multiple rooms, during meetings etc) and then the affect on you (increased wheeziness, asthma clinic etc) and that the manager is aware of this.

He's forced you in to going to HR by being a dick (and incredibly unprofessional and unempathatic), its not fair you feel wheezy every night because of his actions. So please don't feel guilty, he's brought it on himself. That said, you could always ask HR what you should do if there's any difficulties or recriminations because of you contacting them (as he's likely to realise the complaint came from you).

I’m actually surprised nobody else has ever pulled him up on it. Is it because they do the same and don’t want to ‘lose the privilege’? Why has nobody else complained!

Obviously it is completely unacceptable. When he asks you in group meetings if it's ok, and you say no does no-one step in when he carries on regardless?

can you open the windows and leave the door open
obviously what he is doing is completely wrong and selfish.
complain

Yes, the policy is that people should go outside to smoke or vape. He just chooses to completely ignore it.

It's not allowed on site. That's why he doesn't do it in our other office but feels as though he can get away with it on our other site because there are less managers around. HR and our admin team are also based at the other office so he's on his best behaviour there.

I would report him to HR you've given him a load of chances and there is a very good reason why vaping is not allowed in the office. I personally find vaping even more anti social than smoking. Smokers will generally turn away from others or huddle in one area so as a non smoker it's easy to avoid. But people who vape seem to have no care for their surroundings and will just happily engulf others in these huge clouds and they seem to be puffing constantly. I hate it.

Sadly, other people have pulled him up on it. I have one colleague in particular who comments on it regularly but he just ignores her. The difficulty is that he is actually the manager of that service so lots of people are too wary of making it an official complaint.

Sometimes other people will chime in after I've said something but he usually ignores them. It feels as though most people have given up asking him not to. Or that they feel there's no point in saying anything because he's their boss and can do what he wants it seems.

This is the thing that gets to me the most. He wouldn't smoke in the office so why is he constantly vaping? He also knows that every other staff member goes outside whether they're smoking or vaping. That's why I wonder sometimes if it's just a power trip.

“Why are you ignoring us?”

I came to say exactly this.

Go to the union first, before you do anything. You make sure that your back is covered. But fwiiw, this is what I would advise:
(a) Write him a very simple, short email, that says that his constant vaping in the office is against policy and is triggering your asthma. Tell him that it is never ok to vape in the office or around you. If he continues to do so you will report it to HR as it is endangering your health.
(b) Copy that email to the union.
(c) If he even looks at his vape wrong in the office again, you go straight to HR and his manager with that email.

That gives him one chance to comply - it doesn't matter whether he "knows you reported him" - you have rights to be safe and healthy in your workplace, and he can solve this without involving his manager and HR. It makes it non-negotiable - in effect by asking you for "permission" he is getting you to collude with his actions because you aren't saying no each and every time.

I think you have three choices:

1. send him an email reiterating your health issue and politely asking not to vape in the meeting room;
2. if that fails, report him to HR, making them aware of your previous, polite request by email
3. refuse to enter the meeting room for as long as the vaping continues on health grounds and on the grounds he's in breach of company guidelines. I cannot believe he's actually doing this. Surely, he must know how potentially dangerous asthma is?

Thank you. No I don't think he has any clue how dangerous asthma can be. I can only assume he thinks it's just a bit of fuss and if I then have to take my inhaler it'll all be fine again.

Typing uninformed comments like yours should be sackable. Sadly it's not.

All depends on company's internal regulations.

If it’s against your company policy go to HR; it’ll be a sackable offence but they might give him an initial warning.

He’s a complete arsehole for continuing. If you prefer you could send him an email requesting he stops vaping in the office/during meetings and you’ll report to HR if he doesn’t. Then follow through with this - this is ALL on him.

Do you really think HR is going to let the company face the liability from this continuing? You are right that HR doesn’t care about protecting you, but in this case, protecting you and protecting the company are aligned.

How on earth is he a manager?!

I have COPD so I empathise with your situation and if it were me, I would refuse to go into the meeting room or leave if he started vaping. I'm fortunate in that I work for a company where vaping is strictly not allowed in the office building.

I've just found this on this on the NHS website:

• Reasonable Adjustments:
• The Equality Act also requires employers and service providers to make reasonable adjustments for disabled individuals, including those with asthma. This might involve providing time off for medical appointments or making the workplace more accessible, according to NHS England.

Seriously, this manager needs to wise up!