ANSWERS: 27
  • Yeah I think that their pay should be docked, taking smoking breaks outside of their breaktime, is not working, they are not being payed to smoke. So they should stay after or some certain amount of money should be taken away.
  • Uh, not really, at least not in my case, because I NEVER take lunch.
  • Yes, I worked all day and never got 5 to 10 minutes off every hour..I know smoking is an addiction..but I don't think that I should have to do other's jobs when we are getting equal pay.
  • Depends on how effiently they have worked, how much work they have done in a certain period of time, you should encorporate this into the arguement.
  • i have a designated break time of an hour, but never get to take more than 10 mins, due to the needs of the business. i nip out for a cigarette when i can get out and am normally gone less than five mins. If my new manager tries to stop me having a cigarette break, then i will insist on taking my full unpaid lunch hour and i know my collegues will too, which will impact the business greatly. i think common sense and teamwork are a better result. we have 2 team members that don't smoke. and they don't get a full lunch either, but i never say no when the want to pop out to the shop, or for a quick coffee with their friend, so everyone is happy.
  • No, because if the company allows them to do it, then those who do not smoke can also take a break while others are smoking.
  • That was a huge issue where I used to work. 60 employees with about 15 smokers. Solution was the time clock. Check out for breaks, of any type. Of course this only worked because it wasn't a 8-5 type of business. There were people working from 7am to 10pm, in different shifts of course.
  • i think that provided all the work is done,and theres a lull, theres nothing wrong with having a 'smoke break
  • Smoking reduces brain activity, which makes smokers lousy workers. Which is not fair for their employers. Why should employer pay people for the things that hold company's progress back?
  • I see what you're getting at with the question, but if you were to modify time/pay for smoke breaks, what else could your employer include as a 'waste' of time? Friendly conversations about the weekend? Sharing cooking ideas with someone in the next cubicle? Non-work-related web browsing? Bathroom breaks? I do agree the time is unnecessarily lost, some companies are banning smoking on the work grounds (my bank does) so people are forced to smoke only on their own time, or leave work and risk getting in trouble. IMHO it's a lost cause, just don't do what I did. Starting smoking so that you too can take advantage of the unlimited breaks smokers get at work only hurts you... However fresh air breaks, regardless of how silly they sound, should be just as accepted as smoke breaks if smoke breaks are acceptable at your place of employment.
  • honestly, i think all people have different ways to take breaks or cool off for a few minutes. And, for smokers, its to have a cigarette. Other people, they search the internet or drop by a friend's desk... What is most important is that they accomplish their goals and tasks on time.
  • I don't think pay should be docked, but the boss should tell them they can only smoke on their breaks. Is there an unspoken rule that smokers can go and smoke when ever they want? If that's the case I will just leave a classroom when a kid has pissed me off and I want a smoke.
  • l have 20 people work for me, about 7 smoke they go off to have a fag a couple times a day between breaks, 10 mins or so, the others have now stopped working until they come back. so from Monday l am stopping fag breaks.
  • There are a lot of ways that some waste time at work. For some it is computer games, for others chat sites, coffee breaks or talking to co workers. . I am interested in how productive they are. If the smoker, despite the breaks, does more for the company than one who does not, why would I penalise him?
  • People have gotten so ridiculous about the selectivness in which they choose employees. You gotta take a drug test, they gotta check your driving history even if the job has nothing to do with driving, they make you take these insane personality tests. C'mon people...this is America. If someone can get the job done on time and do it well, then let them do whatever they need to get through the day. These people saying things like "I don't hire smokers", that's like someone saying "I don't hire people who eat meat", or some shit. I understand that people who smoke cigarettes (and I'm not one of them) take more breaks than everyone else, but there are people who take no breaks but just don't really do shit all day. There was a time when people would get drunk on the job, and did whatever they wanted basically as long as the work got done, and America was in good economical shape at that time.
  • And those who are online in answerbag asking and answering during business hours is alright?How about those that do smoke and do ab on the clock?Maybe those that have a few drinks while on lunch break and do nothing productive after that?Somewhere it has to peek,somehow society will stop being so judgmental and do what a lot of people I know do,,accept the things they can not change.
  • smokers take a lot of time away from work that others do not. I say fire them
  • i would say they should stay longer. i remember working 12 hr days and only getting like 30 mins for lunch but the people who smoked could have like 10 mins every hour to smoke, but i couldn't...
  • Were my wife works smokers have to clock in and out on their smoke breaks. In my job a co-worker that smokes doesn't last long, they usually get blown up.
  • I can see that its coming down to the wire on US versus THEM. Smokers vs. non-smokers. I have been a smoker for 50 years. am i addicted to cigarettes? yes. I understand the reasoning behind this question and i agree with the question. i, for one, am truly glad you are not a cigarette smoker. its a bad, expensive habit. Time is on your side. what does this mean? its just a matter of time before the old smokers will be gone and the new non-smokers take their place. i understand your impatience, but try to realize that us smokers did not just start the habit yesterday. if you smoked pot or had another drug habit, the only difference is the law. drugs are illegal and cigarettes are not. Until the fade out ends, cigarette smokers will continue to find a way to take a drag, no matter if its at work or at a restaurant. Since you are not a cig. smoker, you probably will never understand this answer.
  • That, as well as all other forms of waste of work time during hours that aren't breaks.
  • I would go so far as to say personally if I was a boss I would never even consider hiring a smoker. I consider them drug addicts and would treat them as such. I have worked with smokers all my life and after a certain period all they can think about is when they are getting their next cigarette. I have also worked with smokers who have taken up to 5 breaks an hour to smoke. I find them to be totall useless and just bring down productivity.
  • Break time is for everyone. If you need a "Cigarette Break" then you must make up for the loss time later.
  • Well, I'm paid to think and I'm thinkin' all the time, so I don't see how any of this could possibly effect my smoking at work! So lay off! ;-)
  • For as long as I have lived, when it comes to cig addicts, THEIR addiction has always been EVERYONE ELSE's problem. In the bad old days, the rest of us had to contend with the foul smell and suffocating haze of their abused substance. Now that we are finally liberated from that, it is still for the rest of us to pick up the lost productivity resultant from their refusal to refrain from their habit on employers' time.
  • Either or, but as your question indicates, they really shouldn't be paid for work they don't do.
  • That's for their boss to decide. Other coworkers need to spend less time monitoring everyone else and do their own work.

Copyright 2023, Wired Ivy, LLC

Answerbag | Terms of Service | Privacy Policy