Quit@Work
Tobacco Control Program
Smoking Affects Everyone
While the adult smoking rate has gone down over the last 10 years, nearly 20% of Vermont adults still smoke. And for certain groups – like young adults and lower-income Vermonters – those figures are even higher.
Smoking puts people at risk for many diseases, can worsen chronic conditions like asthma and heart disease, and exposes non-smokers to secondhand smoke. The result is that over 800 Vermonters die each year from tobacco-related diseases, which also affect the quality of their lives, as well as that of their families and friends.
Smoking impacts Vermont’s businesses through increased costs — approximately $5,324 per year, per smoker.
- Healthcare Costs – smokers’ healthcare costs are higher than those of non-smokers: $2,284 per year, per smoker
- Smoking breaks – lost work time, compared to non-smokers work time: $2,574 per year, per smoker
- Absenteeism – smokers are absent more than non-smokers and ex-smokers: $466 per year, per smoker
Smoking also costs employees
A pack-a-day smoker spends at least $7 per day on cigarettes. That adds up to $210 per month and over $2,520 per year. For an employee making $30,000 per year, quitting smoking is like getting an 8.4% pay increase.
Why Quit@Work?
Vermont employers play an important role in the lives of their employees. The QUIT@WORK Tool was created because, while each employer-employee relationship is different, employers have an opportunity to provide information to their employees – information that can benefit both parties.
QUIT@WORK Tool
QUIT@WORK is a comprehensive and easy-to-use tool that provides employers with information to share with their employees about the range of quit smoking services and resources available to all Vermonters – all of which are free of charge.
QUIT@WORK also provides information about the cost of smoking, tools for employees who are ready to quit, and other resources for employers, including:
- Information on Vermont smoking laws
- Ideas for setting policy
- Sample model policy
- Printed samples and other materials for employers
- Information about Vermont’s free quit smoking services
- Sample text for communicating with employees
Get the QUIT@WORK Tool 
QUIT@WORK Templates:
Quit Smoking Services – The Vermont Quit Network
The Vermont Quit Network (formerly Quit Line and Ready, Set…STOP) is a gateway to free tools, information, and personal counseling to quit tobacco. We understand how hard it is to quit, which is one of the reasons why we remind smokers that Every Try Counts!
The Network puts smokers in control with a choice of proven quit smoking strategies that includes in-person, phone counseling, online support from Quit Online and Quit Your Way tools for independent quitters.
To help increase the chances of success, the Vermont Quit Network also offers access to free or reduced cost nicotine replacement therapies – patches, gum and/or lozenges – to smokers using quit counseling (while supplies last).
For more information visit the Vermont Quit Network.
For more information
For more information about the Vermont Department of Health’s Tobacco Control Program or Vermont’s quit smoking services:
Call: 1-866-331-5622 (toll free)
Email: tobaccovt@state.vt.us
For additional resources and information go to http://www.healthvermont.gov/prevent/tobacco/.