Smoking breaks at work

[fraggle500]

If you smoke... do you think you are entitled to extra cigarette breaks ( not part of your allocated break times)?

Meh - I trust my team to be sensible about this and not go far a fag during busy/critical periods unless they are on top of things, ditto the non-smokers fixing themselves a coffee, checking their personal phones etc. It's pretty clear to the whole team when there's a slacker/poor time manager on board and honestly it's less frequently been a smoker IME.

I work in a office. Typically I spend my lunch time eating my lunch quickly. Usually it’s a piece of cake or fruit with sandwiches and the occasional sweet treat.

And a energy drink. Some people do smoke though. It’s not up to me to dictate what they should do with their own bodies. My manager made it clear that they were restricted from smoking in the office however. So they hide out at the back and do it secretly.

I have no sympathy though. Everyone knows that smoking is antisocial.

Is smoking tobacco a human right? Quite interested in that as an ex smoker

As a smoker I think that if you have timed/regulated breaks going for a cigarette outside of that is a pisstake.

In a more relaxed self regulated environment it's fine as long as everyone gets the same amount of downtime.

@pika
That's great if you have a job that can allow that degree flexibility, however, if you work in a shop for instance, you can't just nip out with out authorisation consistently ( for what ever reason)
I know I wouldn't be happy if I was a customer in a shop, just about to be served and the employee left for a unauthorised cigarette break - but that's my opinion

Lemony, sorry what? Why are all addictions except food addictions a choice?

This used to drive me and other non smokers nuts, the same piss taking staff would all go out together leaving us on our own, usually without asking or telling anyone, I'd hear a resident calling, no reply, look out the window and there they all were, ten, fifteen minutes at a time several times a day on top of their usual breaks. We were told we could sit down and have a cup of tea when they got back, yeah right. There was no point in complaining, the manager was usually with them, thats how they got away with it. Even worse was their moaning about things that hadn't been done while they were fagging it and leaving everyone else to pick up the slack.

@holey
That exactly!

I am hoping that I will die earlier and not get dementia and be a burden on my family.

Because dying earlier after a battle with cancer or spending years struggling for breath attached to oxygen with copd is so much better for your family

I have half an hour unpaid lunch break a day so I take it in 3 fag breaks. I eat lunch at my desk (i.e. answer everyone else's calls).
In my experience its an escuse for non smokers to hold a 1.5 hour meeting and then nip out to Tesco. "At least I dont go for fag breaks"
Nah Janet, but you got tonights tea sorted.

@ fascinating
Janet's tea sorted lol

My first job in 6th form holidays was at a factory. We had to clock in and out every time we left the factory floor. I came in at the standard time with most other people, had lunch with them, maybe a tea break and left at roughly the same time but I didn’t smoke. By Friday our accumulated hours were so different that I got to clock off at lunchtime! The smoke breaks really do add up.
I now work in a massive office building where people are trusted to manage their own time but there’s no way a smoke break could only take 5 mins, it would take that long just to walk to the smoking shelter. Strangely we seem to have very few smokers, I don’t know any in my department.

I used to work with somebody who claimed that his smoking breaks weren't really 'breaks' because he spent that time thinking about his work, how to approach the next issue, ongoing problems to solve, that kind of thing. He didn't convince me

What annoys me most is the number of decisions/ arrangements/ deals that are worked out between smokers during these breaks, often to the exclusion or detriment of non-smokers. Want promotion and your potential boss smokes? Get out there with them, get your face known, it'll give you an advantage ...

If I got out a book/magazine and read it at my desk for 10 mins every hour then I'm sure my boss would have something to say about it, so not sure why nipping out for a fag is seen as OK in some work places.

I'm a smoker but don't smoke at work a few nip out for two a day doesn't bother me like others said it's just like chatting at let for ten minutes

@ballbags
Good point - well made!

None of my staff are smokers. When I have worked for others it always narked me that smokers did less work. So I dont employ smokers - apart from them wanting frequent brakes they stink to high heaven, so always make it clear at interview- can almost always smell the smokers when they come through the door

If I got out a book/magazine and read it at my desk for 10 mins every hour then I'm sure my boss would have something to say about it, so not sure why nipping out for a fag is seen as OK in some work places.

You can do what you want in your designated time off - but as a smoker I dont know one person - smoker or not- who takes 10 mins every hour at any place Ive ever worked. If thats allowed at yours then bring it up with HR

ok I'm
Getting the picture, that's it's not so much the extra time for cigarette breaks, it's the " I work harder than X,Y, or Z, because I don't.... insert reason from list:
Spend time on phone
Spend time on internet
Spend time on the the toilet
Eat my lunch
Make coffee
Chat at the watercooler
Chat with colleagues

Therefore I deserve my cigarette break
Sorry if that offends all the many considerate Cigarette break takers.... I'm sure they are a plenty....
I still don't think I've a concrete enough argument to present to HR to get the policy changed ....
Unfortunately or fortunately ( depending on your stance) the law doesn't allow anomalies in this matter

You should go and work at my old place, sometimes it was 20 mins. Lazy that's all it is.

If you worked for me with that attitude to you co workers I would have your manager constantly make sure that your productivity was higher than those you complain about, then deal with it in the light of the data. They might just get a wriggle on to deserve a cigarette break. Or not.

@ fucksgiven
When did I say I was complaining?
The complaint has been made to me...

The smokers at my place seem to take a lot of breaks, especially at the weekend when the manager’s not in. I do find that it means I end up doing more work because they’re simply not present as much as me, so yes it is a bit annoying, especially when it’s really busy. I’m still glad I don’t smoke anymore though.

Why the sarcasm OP?

Ok, make sure that non smokers are more productive. Id do an outcome study if they were mine. I let my staff take breaks for all sorts of stuff because it makes them productive and hard working. It's not just time spent, it's efficacy that counts.
Get the data then present it.