UK companies face legal action if they fail to protect their employees from tobacco smoke, warned anti-smoking charity Action on Smoking and Health (Ash).
Ash, which is campaigning for bars, clubs and restaurants to be made smoke-free zones, said all employers should now be well aware of the dangers posed by cigarette smoke, revealed a report.
In an open letter to the hospitality trade, Ash warned that a so-called "date of guilty knowledge", the point at which an employer could no longer claim to be unaware of the health risks of passive smoking, was long past.
It said any employer not taking steps to protect staff vulnerable to court action under the Health and Safety at Work Act.
Ash director Deborah Arnott said: "The time is long past when employers should have known that second hand smoke is bad for their staff, and bad for the general public."
According to the report, the charity has teamed up with a firm of personal injury lawyers to send letters to the hospitality industry setting out their legal duty.
John Hall, of Thompsons, the legal firm involved, said: "Bosses are no more entitled to allow smoke in the workplace as they are to allow asbestos or coal dust.
"They need to give the order to stub out or they will face the growing threat of legal action."
