Any advice on how to manage smoking breaks, should this time be deducted from lunch time? Employees seem to take a smoking break every hour plus a lunch break... Our workforce has more smokers than non-smokers...
For non smokers why don't you measure tea breaks, toilet breaks, playing candy crush breaks or even looking our the window breaks??
Don't measure smoking breaks measure work output the universal equalizer. It takes a little more effort than simply penalising staff that are obviously walking away from their desk but develops the correct culture over a longer term.
Although I agree in principle with Alun, there is a distinction to be made between smoke breaks and other kinds of break from work.
First, they are highly visible. Not only are they usually accompanied by the cry of "just going for a smoke!" but also the accoutrements of the habit, plus the accompaniment of any other smokers who tend to take this as an opportunity to show solidarity and, of course, there is pervasive scent upon their return.
Second, they are unique to smokers. Everyone takes toilet breaks or snack breaks, but only smokers take smoke breaks.
Third, they are demonstrably bad for business: not only do they lose time, but they are correlated with more sickness absence and worse general health (which is correlated with lower performance). By contrast, the occasional "brain break" to make a cup of tea or do a sudoku actually correlates with better performance.
Fourth (and I acknowledge the paternalistic nature of this point), smoking is demonstrably bad for them, so there is certain duty of care upon employers not to enable the behaviour.
Whilst on an individual level you should, indeed, base your appraisal of the person on their performance not on their personal habits, smokers as a group should not be permitted to take unrestricted smoke breaks
Although I agree in principle with Alun, there is a distinction to be made between smoke breaks and other kinds of break from work.
First, they are highly visible. Not only are they usually accompanied by the cry of "just going for a smoke!" but also the accoutrements of the habit, plus the accompaniment of any other smokers who tend to take this as an opportunity to show solidarity and, of course, there is pervasive scent upon their return.
Second, they are unique to smokers. Everyone takes toilet breaks or snack breaks, but only smokers take smoke breaks.
Third, they are demonstrably bad for business: not only do they lose time, but they are correlated with more sickness absence and worse general health (which is correlated with lower performance). By contrast, the occasional "brain break" to make a cup of tea or do a sudoku actually correlates with better performance.
Fourth (and I acknowledge the paternalistic nature of this point), smoking is demonstrably bad for them, so there is certain duty of care upon employers not to enable the behaviour.
Whilst on an individual level you should, indeed, base your appraisal of the person on their performance not on their personal habits, smokers as a group should not be permitted to take unrestricted smoke breaks
