Why Do Smokers Get All the Breaks?

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  1

  mainbrace

  08/13/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Why Do Smokers Get All the Breaks?

  Let's be fair .... the group smoke breaks could be impacting on productivity. An employer can reasonably limit the number and timing of smoke breaks. Talk to your employer about implementing some guidelines.
  Every workplace has its own culture and if yours is one of uncontrolled indulgence in an unhealthy habit, then you might have to look for another healthier workplace.

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  2

  Rildkal

  08/13/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Why Do Smokers Get All the Breaks?

  Same goes for smokers who smoke in their own homes in apartment buildings. Why is drifting cigarette smoke in apartment buildings not a nuisance when second hand smoke is a known carcinogen?
  http://moneywatch.bnet.com/saving-money/blog/ask-agent/can-i-stop-my-neighbor-from-smoking/757/

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  3

  kjameshall

  08/13/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Why Do Smokers Get All the Breaks?

  Kinda like when married employees with kids don't have to work weekends or get paid more for doing the same work as a single person (or a woman for that matter). Don't expect to find equity in the US corporate world.
  
  PS. Drifting cigarette smoke in an apartment building IS a nuisance!
  
  PPS. Stanley Bing is clearly a self centered clueless jerk. Right at home in corporate America.

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  4

  sfu

  08/13/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Why Do Smokers Get All the Breaks?

  I can't believe what a flip, stupid and irresponsible answer Mr. Bing gave. In my company, we do not hire smokers period. My father-in-law died of lung cancer at the age of 60. The four months in the hospital nearly bankrupted the estate and caused the family untold heartache and pain. So put that in your pipe and smoke it.

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  5

  thinkingSage

  08/13/09 | Report as spam

  Meta-Morality Police

  The kind of douche that complains to management about smokers
  "impacting productivity" deserves an expansive dose of acid in their
  morning coffee.

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  6

  polygraph@...

  08/13/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Why Do Smokers Get All the Breaks?

  There seems to be a presumption here that smokers are necessarily less productive than non-smokers. As long as personel are completing their assigned tasks on schedule and meeting their production goals and deadlines, leave them alone.
  
  If they are not, address your complaints towards their failure to do their job. This way, it doesn't become a "smoker"/"non-smoker" issue.
  
  If you look around you you might see some folks who are actually less productive than smokers because they spend too much time at their desk surfing the internet or chit-chatting with their friends, families, dog groomer etc. than doing their work.
  
  If someone is getting their work done you should worry about your own job and leave them alone. If they are not getting their work done deal with that and leave your predjudice at home.
  
  BTW I am a non-smoker, I just also happen to be a non-whiner.

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  7

  aroeseler

  08/13/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Why Do Smokers Get All the Breaks?

  Unbelievable response. Employers and employees all end up paying for the smoking behavior of their workforce and colleagues. In California, smoking-related diseases suck up $15 billion per year in health care costs and lost productivity--due to sick days, which employers and employees ends up paying for in terms of higher health insurance preiums and lower returns. Smart worksite smoking restrictions reduce smoking consumption, increase quit attempts, and support relapse prevention. Why wouldn't an employer want to help its employees quit and stay quit rather than enabling their addiction. The only ones who benefit from a policy that maintains addicition to cigarettes is the tobacco companies. Just think what an economy could do with an extra $15 billion--build mass transit, support better education and libraries, etc. Worksite policies that give smokers more smoking breaks benefit 20% or less of the workforce. It just doesn't make sense from a business sense or even at a human level.

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  8

  gsbigger@...

  08/13/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Why Do Smokers Get All the Breaks?

  This is just another "equal rights" opportunity in disguise. I picked up a "pencil" habit and found that I had to leave the building with my "pencil" almost every time my colleagues left for a "smoke" break. The only difference is that many of them are now packin' oxygen...
  
  The same opportunity has recently come up on another set of "benefits". I am suggesting that the 'rest of us' organize too - as the "Impacted Citizens Union" (ICU). Then we can get the same (equitable?) government subsidy for going out on occasional field trips to town hall meetings as those other folks do - RIGHT..?

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  9

  sldaniels

  08/13/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Why Do Smokers Get All the Breaks?

  I have to say at 4 to 5, 15 minute breaks thats almost an hour a day, 5 hours per week, and 20 hours per month of paid extra break time. I worked at a company where a smoker complained about the time I took on the phone to deal with any sudden day care issues, or coordinating pick up of a sick child, or the forbidden; when I had to leave early to take care of my kids. I kindly pointed out to my supervisor the smokers break times, and that was the end of that. It is disheartning at times, but remember that we all want to be accorded some amount of flexibility in our workplace. What is the worst, is the stench that I am subjected to everytime they come in from their break. And in reference to the pencil habit, I picked up a walking habit, and it is necessary that I take 4 or 5 7 minute walks per hour, it's an addiction I simply cannot break.

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  10

  DebF

  08/14/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Why Do Smokers Get All the Breaks?

  Don't have a problem with them having a break. Do have a problem when they deliberately interfere with the security locks on the outside doors so that no one will know how long they were out for their breaks.

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  11

  rbtaipei

  08/14/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Why Do Smokers Get All the Breaks?

  I think the non-smoking public need to understand that 87% of smokers want to quit thier addictiion, but 95% fail. Smokers don't want to be less productive, they don't want to pass on second had smoke. They want someone to provide them with a program that can help them quit.
  
  I smoked for 34 years, trust me when I say, I hated every minute of it until I found a way to quit successfully. So, please understand what the smoker's are really thinking and how they're realling feeling when they are going out to be "less productive."
  
  If you really cared about the issue, offer them a solution to quit successfully so you won't let this issue bother you anymore.
  
  Robert Brown
  Director
  www.howquit.org
  
  
  
  
  

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  12

  xenia_kol

  08/14/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Why Do Smokers Get All the Breaks?

  no, i think all this is a question of individual responsibility. if the smoker takes his breaks and stays afterward a bit longer why not. and if he is a good employee, works well in the same time. smoking is just an excuse to take break that might be necessary to increase productivity. For example, I am addicted to tea. I suppose, it takes more time than a smoking break to go over to a colleague whos got a teapot, boil the water, etc... and I don't count all the restroom breaks because ...you know... when you drink lots of tea... you have to go quite often. so, do you think my boss should limit my tea consumption? the only thing I can say is that tea keeps me awake and more efficient regards, La Th?i?re

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  13

  1stLadyDawn

  08/14/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Why Do Smokers Get All the Breaks?

  I have no idea why one would get "regular" breaks in addition to the luxury of cigarette breaks. However, at a previous job I found that something wonderful happened when smokers of different departments chanced to meet during a break: we shared information. Some of the best and most productive inter-departmental staff-type meetings took place during those breaks. We found commonalities and differences in projects and found ways to improve them. The odd thing is that this wouldn't - couldn't have happened any other way. The informality led to a different approach to problem-solving.
  And it was great to get up from the desk to really stretch. I never felt I was stealing time (I wasn't) because I returned far more productive and also stayed longer at the end of the day to more than compensate for the time away (even when it produced better results)
  
  Later in another job , I encouraged breaks for my non-smokers because those breaks provided re-charge time...it promoted an attidude for more out-of-the-box thinking.
  
  And I have to agree that some of the non-smokers who looked busy at their desks were indeed on eBay or wherever, far less productive than they appeared.

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  14

  mikroth

  08/14/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Why Do Smokers Get All the Breaks?

  My own observation of evening classes, brainstorming
  sessions, intense study and other similar situations is that
  one can usually sense 'in the air', just when one or more of
  one's colleagues reach a cul-de-sac in their thinking; then a
  cigarette break calls... or coffee; or both..
  
  It may well be that an awareness of the psychological
  benefits of a 'non-smoking break' should be studied ?
  
  And as Lady Dawn suggests above, a communal 'chat-break'
  might sometimes be the answer : 'Guys, let's take ten for
  general chat and come back sharp ?'

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  15

  blaz.gorjup@...

  08/14/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Why Do Smokers Get All the Breaks?

  And again every problem is an opportunity to make good business
  
  www.smokepoint.com/en

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  16

  Healthy Lungs

  08/14/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Why Do Smokers Get All the Breaks?

  Your emotional, degrading answer was "way off the mark." Since smokers are lighting up outside, the situation is "solved?" You excluded the research/facts that each year, 30,000 people die of lung cancer, never having smoked themselves. Any amount of carcinogen can be lethal. It is inconceivable that anyone should have to risk their health on a daily basis to make a living.

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  17

  Healthy Lungs

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  RE: Why Do Smokers Get All the Breaks?

  You gave an emotional, degrading response to a very serious situation. Your suggestion that the situation is "solved" since smokers are lighting up outside was incomplete and irresponsible. Each year 30,000 people die from second hand smoke, never having smoked themselves. Any amount of carcinogen can be lethal. Lung cancer caused by second hand smoke is a national health crisis. This is not the 1970's when little was known about the effects of smoking.

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  18

  IMWeira

  08/14/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Why Do Smokers Get All the Breaks?

  In my workplace, the only smokers are the older, more experienced people that I would like to hang around. However, they do not tolerate non-smokers in the inner circle. Mostly because the non-smokers are so obviously hateful about the smoking. So they just keep to themselves. I have tried to join them on smoke breaks but they are uncomfortable blowing smoke with me around. They soon put out the butts and go away. I am not taking up smoking to join them but I am still trying to work the mentor thing for myself. Any suggestions, anyone?

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  19

  MavMin2

  08/14/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Why Do Smokers Get All the Breaks?

  Anyone ever thing Mr. Bing meant this to be controversial to gain the responses y'all are giving? I do believe a workplace should be smoke free period. At one hospital my wife worked at you had to cross the street to smoke. Of course that meant the smokers could take more time since traffic might be an issue getting back across the street. At my hospital we built what I call LTSUs (Long Term Suicide Units) with AC and TV to boot. Very few use them and instead stand around in the No Smoking zones in rebellion. Watching a patient take a drag through his trach is an excellent picture of addiction and effects of the atddiction.
  
  Coffee drinkers and snackers do take as many mini-breaks as smokers and then there is the multiple discussions throughout the day with people who come to your cube about politics, family, sport, jokes, sex, etc. Checking the Gmail and surfing for that new car or checking your stocks also cut down on productivity. Taking that magazine to the rest room might slow that process down as well and take longer than three smoke or candy breaks. Replying to messages like this add to that list.
  
  Some developer should start investing in smokefree apartment complexes and smoke filled ones to help the mood of the country.
  
  For those agitated with the smokers, look at the bright side. If they have a job you want they may soon be in the hospital or morgue from the cancer and your chances for promotion are increased. That may help you with the pain you feel by their excessive breaks. They also help unemployment by increasing the need for health care and mortuary workers and at the same time help decrease the unemployment rate as they die or are shuttled off to the nursing home or office. Indeed, buy them a carton now and then. Think of it as an investment in your future and smile as you walk away knowing that corner office is one more carton closer to your reach.
  
  Yes, that bit was meant to be sarcastic. Yes, they are addicted, but I reckon so is everyone on this forum to some thing or another. Some addictions are just more open than others and thus more annoying.
  
  Cheerio!

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  20

  Chuckc777

  08/14/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Why Do Smokers Get All the Breaks?

  Let's hope Smokin' Mad doesn't use Mr. Bing as a role model in
  his efforts to make friends.
  
  The question deserved a better answer than this.

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  21

  Kimber67

  08/14/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Why Do Smokers Get All the Breaks?

  I am a smoker and I have tried countless times and countless ways (nicotine gum, chantix, cold turkey, etc, etc, etc) to quit. I hate the habit and I find it disgusting. BUT, I also find these "holier than thou" nonsmokers' vitriolic comments just as disgusting. When did this country become so intolerant of others? In this day and age of political correctness, we'll bend over backwards for differences if they're a popular cause, but smokers are treated like the lowest of the low. How about some patience, tolerance, and POSITIVE encouragement?

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  22

  DahlingBella

  08/14/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Why Do Smokers Get All the Breaks?

  Perhaps Smokin Mad should see about starting a wellness program that helps all employees lead healthier, better lifestyles...that reduce insurance costs. One of the agenda could be to help smokers quit. Most insurance companies are more than happy to help companies get one going. As for Mr. Bing...bad response!

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  23

  apeters@...

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  RE: Why Do Smokers Get All the Breaks?

  And how exactly is that a helpful response?

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  24

  cthorkelsson

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  RE: Why Do Smokers Get All the Breaks?

  This response motivates me to avoid Mr. Bing's columns in the future.

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  durkwe

  08/14/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Why Do Smokers Get All the Breaks?

  Great response. We should focus on the productivity of the employees, not on their habits. Although my experience may differ from other Program Managers, (PM) as a non-smoking PM with a team of 60 personnel, I have noticed that the smokers will finish the task at hand - usually ahead of the deadline or time forecasted to complete the task - and then take a break. The non-smokers will drag out the task for as long as the requirement allows. We have created a Team environment where everyone is focused on the task and their responsibility for meeting the requirement. I would question the environment and culture these whiners and finger pointers are working in, Thanks Stan, kudos for having the stones to give a straight answer.

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  26

  LK_WALK@...

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  RE: Why Do Smokers Get All the Breaks?

  I have to agree with Kimber67. Smokin'Mad demonstrated a great deal of intolerance. Of course we know that this is a dangerous habit. So is eating too much or unhealthy foods, driving while under the influence, even consuming soft drink after soft drink (for the enamel on your teeth). It's often no longer a choice for many people, because it is addictive. It's easier said than done to "just quit", which is evidenced in any other addiction we see around us every day. That's not to justify smoking, or the number of breaks people take. It's to gain a little understanding and compassion for the issue. All I can say to Smoking Mad is, just be glad that you have a job and can take breaks. There are lots of people out there (smokers and non-smokers alike), who'd love to find themselves in your position--with a job and a paycheck.

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  27

  fastd@...

  08/14/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Why Do Smokers Get All the Breaks?

  It's hardly a surprise that this topic would have had such a polarizing effect, but I have to add something with regard to prodcutivity. The assumption is that if a person is smoking, they're not working and therefore unproductive. But what if some of the more productive employees were "sharpening thier ax" during this time and re-focusing their efforts rather than taking the 10 minute vacation most people prefer to think they are taking? I quit smoking 10 years ago, but I still use the cigarette break time to sharpen my ax.

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  28

  AC Membership

  08/14/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Why Do Smokers Get All the Breaks?

  This guy is a best-selling author? Even if this was meant as sarcasm, the response is complete insanity.

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  29

  LittleFish 7

  08/14/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Why Do Smokers Get All the Breaks?

  Do not hire smokers, period??? Hmmm...interesting that we're letting employers get away with this--last time I checked, smoking wasn't illegal unless it's filled with marijuana. And I don't know about everyone here, but I have parents already...don't need my employer to stand in for that duty. Folks make questionable choices that impact their health and the health of others all the time.
  
  Smoking Mad--do you have any habits that might disturb others or impact them in any way? I'm sure you never overeat or overindulge. In addition, I'm sure you use all-natural cleansers in your home and eat only organic produce. You never eat red meat, I'm sure--the flatulence from cattle is eating away at the ozone layer; and since the disgusting smell of cigarettes bothers you so much, I'm absolutely certain that all of your personal care products are unscented so as to not bother those with allergies or those who just don't like your personal choices.
  
  You don't use antibacterial or antimicrobial products b/c it will create superbugs. You, of course, bike or walk to work, as a vehicle would emit breath-stealing pollution that kills thousands. None of the wood in your home or yard is treated with carcinogenic products and your home must be a(n untreated) log cabin because it couldn't possibly be painted inside or out with carcinogenic-laden paint. You don't drink soda or anything that contains high-fructose corn syrup and you have a bmi under 20. You don't dry clean any of your clothing, naturally, as harmful chemicals would impact the health of yourself and those around you.
  
  You never throw out or flush your medications because it will taint the water supply--and when you are taking the meds, you naturally urinate in an outhouse so they don't go back into the water supply. You use only LED lighting because the mercury in fluorescent bulbs will never go away and incandescent bulbs waste too much energy, impacting the earth and all its inhabitants; and you never, ever buy bottled water, right?
  
  Grow up--who told you life was fair? If you mind your own business you won't be minding someone else's. The pursuit of happiness means different things to different people.

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  30

  froggy57

  08/14/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Why Do Smokers Get All the Breaks?

  Mr Bing sounds like a smoker with a guilty conscience trying to make those who don't smoke feel ridiculous when they criticize smokers.
  Smoking is a dirty nasty habit. You smoke? You stink. You stink up your surroundings.
  Smokers, and smokers apologists, like Mr Bind, should be grabbed by the collar and slapped till they piss like a puppy and stop the filthy habit.
  Just like puppies need to have their nose rubbed in it and told, 'Bad dog!'

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  31

  froggy57

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  RE: Why Do Smokers Get All the Breaks?

  Warren is a pirate. A crook who openly brags about ripping off the populace with exorbitant prices.
  I love it when the crooks say, "They don't have to buy my stuff."
  Why not go down to the school yard and sell drugs to children and say, "They don't have to buy my stuff."??
  Consumers don't often know when a product is blatantly and crookedly overpriced. They just know they need it. Just like children don't often know that drugs are bad for them.
  Same difference.
  Warren is a sophisticated thief. As are all millionaires, etc.
  There is only way to become a millionaire. Steal big.

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  32

  LittleFish 7

  08/14/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Why Do Smokers Get All the Breaks?

  That's right. Violence is the answer. Apparently you prefer the smell of blood over the smell of smoke. And I truly hope you're not a dog owner! Creating fear by acting violent will likely cause the pup to urinate...not stop the behavior. Like humans, dogs respond better to positive reinforcement.

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  33

  river79

  08/14/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Why Do Smokers Get All the Breaks?

  Ouch! Mr. Bing is way off-base here and noticably still working through his nicotine sobriety. It's a matter of equity. At my workplace anybody can do pretty much what they want on their break as long as it's legal - smoke, walk, run, read, catch up email etc. But in no way do employees who smoke get any extra breaks. As Mr. Bing must know, smokers are masters at dosing their nicotine and are very capable of arranging their fix around a work day, a conference, a meeting, a movie or any other place where smoking is prohibited. Like many have stated, the most important thing is to give employees who smoke every opportunity, support and means to quit. Sorry Mr. Bing, you missed that most important teaching point in your emotionally-charged response.

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  34

  gmoeller1

  08/14/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Why Do Smokers Get All the Breaks?

  I've got a team member who can't last out a 1.5 hour meeting due to his addiction, so he's not always in the room when discussion involving his product is underway. I'm so sorry for him. It's got to be painful to deal with a limitation like that.
  
  More generally, smokers' multitudinous, at-will breaks become an issue during times like these, when employers use their labor market advantage to squeeze extra productivity out of their people. Ordinary tolerance levels are severely strained when you're cranking 110% all day with barely a restroom break, and catch sight of colleagues lounging & chatting outside while they burn one. Under the circumstances, the injustice of inequitable workload distribution can't help but strike the stressed-out nonsmoker with particular force.
  
  My solution is the "walk break." I haven't bought a pack of coffin nails, but I do carry a file folder or project document for cover. It's a reverse smoke break -- instead of harming my health and ringing up extra costs for company-supplied health care, I'm using a low-cost technique to manage the negative effects of high stress and high cholesterol, while enhancing cognitive function and productive potential.
  
  It helps me take a live-and-let-live stance toward the smoker's club - as long as they don't invade my air supply.
  

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  35

  marabsky

  08/14/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Why Do Smokers Get All the Breaks?

  Two of our project team (one a developer, the other a BA) used to smoke and took smoke breaks together.
  
  Eventually they both quit, and now they make a point of taking a coffee break together out on the balcony instead, because they don't often work together but still work on overlapping areas and find their chats hugely informative and productive.
  
  They were, both smoking and non-smoking, extremely responsible and productive team members.

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  36

  tticeric

  08/18/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Why Do Smokers Get All the Breaks?

  1. If someone is going out more frequently (to do whatever,
  their choice), it does not necessarily mean that they are less
  productive.
  
  2. Getting the smokers out of the office WAS DONE for the
  sake of non smokers (that's us- me also being one). It is
  unreasonable to now crucify the smokers for going out to
  smoke. Would you like them to smoke inside instead, again?
  Guess not.
  
  3. How about people who have other habits? How about
  persons with frequent private calls (small kids), or some
  health issue (frequently going to the loo)? Does it make sense
  to go to extremes measuring those, as well?
  
  4. If they go out to smoke, you can go out and take a stroll
  around the block instead. Or, take a break and do a sudoku
  for your fair breaks portion.
  
  5. As far as I remember the survey results, our productivity
  hours are now around 4-5 hours daily. If you feel bad for
  working over that average, there are two choices - try
  looking for a better company, the one that meets your needs
  and expectations, or stop feeling bad about it and fit in. After
  all, the smokers are the ones who are increasing their
  chances to live shorter, not you.