Vaping ban: how to help employees overcome nicotine addiction
- Janet O'Neill
- Mar 30
- 4 min read
Help employees overcome nicotine addiction before the Government’s ban on single use vapes comes into effect this summer.
As part of the Government’s efforts to create a smoke free UK and reduce nicotine addiction, single use vapes will be banned from 1st June 2025.
With half of all vapers already keen to quit, due to health, finance and addiction worries, now is the ideal time to support employees to overcome their nicotine addiction altogether.
Critical to success is helping employees find their personal motivation, bringing individuals together to create positive support groups and providing insights on overcoming cravings.
Five ways to help employees overcome nicotine addiction:
1. Help employees find their personal motivation
Even though one in two smokers will die from smoking, with one death every five minutes, it’s addictive and generates a rush of endorphins. Individuals know they’re doing something that’s killing them, but it feels good.
Similarly, although vaping has been promoted as the ‘safe option’ emerging data suggests links to chronic lung disease as people are still inhaling cancer-causing chemicals, flavourings and heavy metals, such as nickel, tin and lead.
By sharing lots of different reasons to quit, from the health arguments to the impact on financial wellbeing, the aging process, the environment and role modelling for future generations, you can help employees to find a personally meaningful motivation for them.
2. Support employees to replace the habit
Many people will still struggle to give up nicotine, long after the physical cravings have left them, because they still need to break other habits associated with vaping or smoking.
Perhaps it was part of their coffee break or their only opportunity to chat to colleagues outside. It might even have been what kept them going when they had to work long hours.
Critical to supporting employees is helping them to change their habits and think about what else they can do, whether that’s going on a short brisk walk instead of taking a cigarette break or snacking on a vegetable stick or lolly pop, instead of putting their vape in their mouth.
3. Encourage people to quit together
Given the social aspects of smoking or vaping, it can be much easier for people to give up, if groups of colleagues decided to give up together than by themselves. It’s also much harder for most people to let other people down than themselves, so by encouraging employees to publicly announce their decision to give up, you can boost their commitment.
By providing a group smoking cessation workshop and setting up support groups for employees to share tips and encourage each other, you can make it easier for everyone.
As with coming off any addiction, there will be tough days ahead, so the more people they can turn to for encourage and support the more likely they are to succeed.
4. Get managers to help
Once an employee has expressed a desire to quit, managers can then play an invaluable roll in signposting employees towards any resources in place, such as any smoking cessation toolkits, professional addiction support via an Employee Assistance Programme or Occupational Health.
If employees are struggling to quit, for example feeling agitated or distracted, managers can also offer moral and practical support. For example, by making sure employees know it’s okay for them to take a short break to distract themselves if they’re struggling with a craving.
Managers can also help employees to think through how they can handle situations at work differently. For example, if they were used to smoking during stressful deadlines, what else can they do to alleviate stress at work in more healthy ways? The aim isn’t to tell employees what to do but listen and signpost to resources while they try to come up with a new approach for themselves.
5. Help employees find healthy alternatives
When giving up smoking, it can be tempting for employees to replace this with unhealth alternatives, such as drinking a lot more coffee or overeating, which can cause other issues.
By putting in place other wellbeing initiatives, such as encouraging all employees to have more movement breaks, nutrition workshops and stress management courses, you can help employees replace smoking with heathier habits.
All of which means encouraging employees to give up smoking, in keeping with the current public health drive to do this, can help you boost the health of your workforce in other ways.
Employee Poster: Ways to overcome nicotine addiction
Help employees to overcome nicotine addiction with our free poster, featuring top tips on how to quit smoking or vaping.
How can PAM Group help?
Our experienced team can support individuals and groups to overcome nicotine addiction in the following ways:
Employee workshops – expert clinical support to help employees identify personally compelling reasons to quit smoking and equip them with the practical tools and insights needed to succeed. Four-part programme to support employees each step of the way.
Employee Assistance Programme – to connect employees with emotional counselling and addiction support to help them start and sustain their journey towards a nicotine free future. Managers can also call the helpline for expert tips on supporting employees affected.
Health Coaching – individual and group support to help employees identify health goals and quit smoking as part of a holistic approach to boosting their overall wellbeing and reducing their individual health risks.
If you would like to know more about supporting your organisation to reduce nicotein addiction, please email info@pamgroup.co.uk to arrange a call at a time that works for you.
Get our free and fresh insights
