PEOPLE AND CULTURE

NEWS

Non-smoking employees win four-day holiday bonus

16 Jan 2020

    • In a move to incentivise employees to give up smoking, a UK employer has hit the headlines by offering non-smokers an extra four days’ holiday than their smoking colleagues.

    Speaking to the Daily Mail, Don Bryden, Managing Director of KCJ Training, commented that he’d witnesses smoking breaks eating into working time.

    “I was watching the employees that smoke,” he said. “They have four, five or even 10 cigarettes a day and take around 10 minutes outside each time.

    “I looked at the other guys during these breaks and they’re always on the phones, typing away and trying to do their work, so I thought they should be compensated.

    “Cheeky cigarette breaks are a common feature of all office environments so as of right now all of our non-smoking office staff have been given an extra four days holiday per year!

    “We’re proud to incentivise our staff to quit smoking and to create a healthy workplace within our KCJ offices.”

    So, should smokers be effectively punished for taking their smoking breaks? A worker doesn’t actually have a right to a break specifically for smoking, but, if they work more than six hours a day, are entitled to a rest break of at least 20 minutes. They may, therefore, use that time for smoking outside of the workplace. The employer may, however, place restrictions on where on the premises employees are permitted to smoke, if at all. And, in the case of KCJ Training, based on anecdotal evidence employees are certainly not entitled to 10 cigarette breaks lasting 10 minutes each.

    Smokers who do take numerous smoking breaks could cause resentment in the workplace – hence Don Bryden’s decision to increase non-smokers’ benefits. If an employer were to fail to deal with a grievance raised by a non-smoker they could find themselves facing a constructive unfair dismissal case. An employer could either prohibit all breaks other than statutory rest breaks or lunch hours, or ensure that non-smoking staff have an equal number of breaks.

    An employer’s smoking policy should cover breaks and be updated to cover their position on the use of e-cigarettes, or vaping, in the workplace.