A previously announced ban by the Department of Veterans Affairs on smoking at its medical facilities will now apply to employees as well as patients and other visitors, VA officials announced last week. The VA's "smoke-free" policy at hospitals and clinics, announced June 10, applies to patients, visitors, volunteers, contractors and vendors and will go into effect Oct. 1. It bars non-employees from using cigarettes, cigars, pipes, e-cigarettes and vaping devices at VA medical campuses. But employees were exempt from the policy, based on an agreement between the VA and the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), the union that represents VA workers, allowing them to continue lighting up in designated smoking areas. Read more on Military.com.
Smoking Ban at VA Hospitals Will Soon Apply to Employees, Too
