Smoke Breaks
November 10, 2008
So I haven’t had any smokers until now. I have an employee that smokes, takes breaks regularly to smoke, instead of taking a lunch. He is supposed to take an hour lunch but instead takes a bunch of 5 minute smoke breaks. I hate having an employee leave the store a bunch of times to smoke—I’d much rather him take an hour lunch and smoke his hearts desire instead of taking a bunch of little breaks. How have you all handled such a dilemma? Can you set restrictions on how many smoke breaks an employee can take?
Posted by Shanu Singh Guliani on November 10, 2008 |
Comments (5)
November 13, 2008
In response to:
Smoke BreaksThe Smoker commented:
As the smoker in question, let me respond. Personally, I think a
smoker has no "rights" : It's an antiquated and nasty habit. I rank
"smoke breaks" (average 2-3 minutes) with stepping out to use a a
cell phone, grab a cup of coffee or retrieve something from the
car. However, if no other employee's are stepping out to make a
call, cop a smoke, get a cup of coffee or retrieve something from
their car, then "smoke breaks" technically are biased in FAVOR of
the smoker and a missappropriation of company time...but is that so
different than inappropriate internet surfing or personal phone
calls at work? If the smoker must smoke 2-3 cigarettes over a day
"on the clock" then perhaps a fair trade would be to dock
15-minutes off their time each day...i.e. clock out for an hour but
actually take 45-minutes. Or then is there an unfair bias AGAINST
the smoker? My solution is to be the solution and just quit doing
it. It's time to quit. You're right Shanu, it's HEALTH that's most
important. Thanks.
November 13, 2008
In response to:
Smoke BreaksAl commented:
Having a clear policy regarding breaks is the best way to address
your situation. It is not uncommon for companies to provide an hour
or half hour for lunch and a fifteen minute morning and afternoon
break.
November 12, 2008
In response to:
Smoke Breakslndrckmn commented:
Well you really have to gat over that this person smokes. He does
have the right to smoke. At least he doesn't take more time to
smoke than what the company allows. His break time is that persons
business on how he want to spend it, Not yours.
November 10, 2008
In response to:
Smoke BreaksSK commented:
You are too kind. We allow two 15 min. breaks on an 8 hour shift
plus a half hour luch. That is plenty of breaks. No efficient
company would allow smoke breaks randomly throughout the day. That
is the employee's choice to smoke and he or she has to do it on
their time. They should not make it your problem.
November 10, 2008
In response to:
Smoke BreaksRick commented:
Hi Shanu - Your labor laws provide guidance on the requirements to
offer breaks and the duration. Anything else outside of that is a
benfit you, as the business owner and employer offer. This is
something where you must have a written policy detailing
expectations and make sure all are treated the same. You have the
potential of labor issues if labor law states they are entitled to
a 30 or 60 minute break avery 4 or eight hours, that is not to be
interpreted as taking those minutes however they choose.
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