Do Smokers get Promoted ?

intheknow

Was out for a few with 2 friends tonight, they are suit /office type, one in insurance,one in banking/finance. They reckon that internal promotions dont go to guys who smoke outside at lunchtime ? Between them they came up with a dozen promotions in their offices this year and all went to non smokers.

neither of these guys smoke but are not anti smoking either,
Anyone any thoughts on this..

intheknow

intheknow wrote:

Was out for a few with 2 friends tonight, they are suit /office type, one in insurance,one in banking/finance. They reckon that internal promotions dont go to guys who smoke outside at lunchtime ? Between them they came up with a dozen promotions in their offices this year and all went to non smokers.

neither of these guys smoke but are not anti smoking either,
Anyone any thoughts on this..

Might have something to the fact that smokers usually only work about 80% (fag breaks) of the time relative to their non-smoking colleagues.

They smell of stale tobacco!

Also as they are seen as more likely to die younger, maybe companies are reluctant to have senior management dropping dead on them. :rolleyes:

Tha Gopher

Most of the supervisors/big cheeses in mine smoke. mIn fact, the smoking area could be seen as a place to strike up a rapport nwith those higher up than you.

On the topic, why is it that men seem to smoke more out of habit, but for women its like a drug addiction? Ive female work colleagues who go for a smoke before work, 45 mins into the day, an hour after that, 2 hours after that, 1.5 hrs after lunch and another 2 hours later. Jesus like, theyre fcukin fags, and Ive never understood how anyone can be hooked on them. I also find it ironic that some of my female colleagues who chain smoke are health freaks in regards to avoiding fried food, e numbers, soft drinks etc.

Pigman II

Could be something to it. There definetly *should* be be something to it.

After all if you take 4 fag breaks per day at 7mins each spread over a year (240 working days) it equates to approx 3 working weeks lost to the employer.

Who in their right mind would want to promote that?

Bottle_of_Smoke

If you smoke you're going to be more stressed, have less energy, poorer immune system(therefore more sick days)

Makes sense.

Aard

Somebody was watching Friends last night ¬_¬

m83

Aard wrote:

Somebody was watching Friends last night ¬_¬

that makes two of ye...

Dudess

Pigman II wrote:

Could be something to it. There definetly *should* be be something to it.

After all if you take 4 fag breaks per day at 7mins each spread over a year (240 working days) it equates to approx 3 working weeks lost to the employer.

Who in their right mind would want to promote that?

Damn straight. I'm a former smoker and I never took fag breaks. If a non-smoker went outside every hour just to stand there for five to ten minutes, they'd get into serious trouble.

zuutroy

If I was an employer, I'd be perfectly happy for people to take 5-10mins every hour or two away from their desk to smoke or have a coffee or a coke or whatever. There's a lot to be said for an ol' micro-break every now and then. Not to mention that they'd think you were sound and work harder for you when it mattered!

Dudess

Good point, but it's generally not company policy. You're right though, maybe it should be.

m83

To answer the original question, yes smokers do get promoted. Kind of a silly thread if you ask me but I guess it takes all types so don't worry Mr Intheknow (if that is your real name, some investigative work leads me to believe your name may actually be Dillington Bipshillington and if that is the case you're in for an almighty hidin' but i'll give you the benefit of the doubt this time (people always seem to give people the benefit of the doubt in so far as if you never hear people say i won't give you the benefit of the doubt this time unless it is an extraordinary circumsatance in which said purpatraitor (is that how you spell it? <--- look i'm inside 3 sets of brackets (or parantheses as the americans call them <---4 now!! woot woot! (f*ck it, have another one! five! must be a record) i've some serious closing to do, my right pinky is gonna be aching for weeks, lol how l33t!!!) ahh no i've lost my train of thought (what is a 'train' of thought anyway.. on ho here we go again!! wheeeeeee!! yippee!!! it's a grammatical adventure and you're all invited!! Ahhh my synapses!!))))

i should have just stuck to my usual 'yore ma' response

Thread locked.

[/moderator mode]

Executive Steve

Dudess wrote:

Damn straight. I'm a former smoker and I never took fag breaks. If a non-smoker went outside every hour just to stand there for five to ten minutes, they'd get into serious trouble.

except occupational health law regulations say you probably should. which is why when the weather's nice we smokers are probably doing the healthy thing by going outside once in a while and taking a few dfeep big breaths, even granted that smoking isn't the healthiest thing you can do to yourself, i like my smokebreaks a lot more than i like smoking i feel energised and de stressed when i come back in, and taking ten minutes to ponder and reflect on challenges ahead makes me a fmore focussed and productive worker imo....

plus the smoking area is a great place to network

Black Swan

Tha Gopher wrote:

On the topic, why is it that men seem to smoke more out of habit, but for women its like a drug addiction?

Methinks this a broad sweeping generalisation that's a bit stereotypically biased? Men are not addicted to smoking but women are?

DonkeyStyle \o/

Pigman II wrote:

After all if you take 4 fag breaks per day at 7mins each spread over a year (240 working days) it equates to approx 3 working weeks lost to the employer.

Ah, everyone goofs-off at work, it's only the smokers who can't hide it.
And who's to say the smoker isn't working while outside smoking? He/She could be mulling over a difficult work decision, or planning out their next moves... unless they're in a job where they're not being paid to think... in which case I think it's fair enough to deduct that time from their normal break.

Tha Gopher

Blue_Lagoon wrote:

Methinks this a broad sweeping generalisation that's a bit stereotypically biased? Men are not addicted to smoking but women are?

Have you ever been on a plane or bus journey with a female smoker? Theyre like junkies in withdrawal. On a night out female smokers seem to head outside twice an hour ffs.

I dont see how smoking breaks are a right. Why cant I get a spliff brake, or drink 3 cans during my break to relax for the afternoon (or better yet, beer at my desk). You may argue that it impairs me in ways tobacco doesnt. Ive come into work on 5 pints on days i knew there would be no management in, i was grand

WindSock

I dont smoke at all anymore, but I make a point of having a 'cigarette' break, whenever I see fit.

Ibjiba

Smokers do have the advantage of socializing. When coming to a new workplace smoking is a great way to make new contacts. Sometimes I regret giving up smoking because of this.

Sleepy

Hasn't stopped me from getting any of my promotions to date. Like Ibjiba says, you'll often find that the smokers have it much easier making friends in a new office. Being seen to be sociable rarely harms one's chances at promotions either...

elmyra

Smoke breaks are something which annoy me hugely about my workplace. 90% of my colleagues smoke and accumulate 3 or 4 breaks in a shift. I wish I could ask if anyone minded if I took five minutes to do nothing. Grrr. Not fair.

seamus

[cm]tyranny wrote:

i feel energised and de stressed when i come back in

And that's nothing to do with the nicotine hit, right?

Duggy747

I take my fag break after my coffee break at 11, makes me pure refreshed when I head back to work plus it's always nice to have a fag during or after a cuppa. Then I have another fag break at 4 to keep me going in work till 5, fúck it, if people can piss off for another coffee break at 4 I'm sure as hell gonna get me a 5 min break! It's also how I get to know other people since I'm new-ish enough in the building.

Banning fags in pubs was actually the best thing to happen, as well as not stinking to high heaven any more a smoking area of a pub is a brilliant way to meet new people and have the craíc as they're pretty much like a playground. One pub in particular in Sligo everytime me & a mate went out for one we always, without fail, meet an interesting character. We met a journalist for the Sunday Independent, a Canadian Vietnam vet, 2 guys thinking they were talking discretely about selling each other Kalishnakof's and magazines for them, etc. It was like some bloody sitcom!

elmyra

elmyra wrote:

Smoke breaks are something which annoy me hugely about my workplace. 90% of my colleagues smoke and accumulate 3 or 4 breaks in a shift. I wish I could ask if anyone minded if I took five minutes to do nothing. Grrr. Not fair.

Can't you go get a cup of tea?
I assumed that'd be the equivalent

Stark

Seems to be the people who smoke who get along best in the company where I work. I know one person who took up smoking so he could be in with the smoking group at lunch time. He's not half as bad as the guy who stands outside and pretends to smoke but doesn't inhale to try and have the best of both the networking and not dying early worlds

Spud83

I hate people who give out about people taking some breaks. Non-Smokers just spend the time bitching about the smokers and don’t do anything anyway. Besides I don’t don’t drink tea or coffee do I get annoyed while people make tea and coffee, standing around waiting for the kettle to boil and have a nice chat. NO I don’t. Do you people have such boring lives that you feel the need to get worked up about how a colleague spends 20-30 mins a day?

elmyra

alanmurphy83 wrote:

I hate people who give out about people taking some breaks. Non-Smokers just spend the time bitching about the smokers and don’t do anything anyway. Besides I don’t don’t drink tea or coffee do I get annoyed while people make tea and coffee, standing around waiting for the kettle to boil and have a nice chat. NO I don’t. Do you people have such boring lives that you feel the need to get worked up about how a colleague spends 20-30 mins a day?

I actually don't bitch about it, other than my one comment here. I'm new to my workplace and quite content not to cause any problems for myself. I just think it's hugely unfair. I don't smoke, or drink tea/coffee....so why isn't the five minute break just a general thing? Why must you have your vice to fill the time? I actually couldn't give an arse what everyone else does...as long as I have the same entitlement.

Blush_01

elmyra wrote:

I actually don't bitch about it, other than my one comment here. I'm new to my workplace and quite content not to cause any problems for myself. I just think it's hugely unfair. I don't smoke, or drink tea/coffee....so why isn't the five minute break just a general thing? Why must you have your vice to fill the time? I actually couldn't give an arse what everyone else does...as long as I have the same entitlement.

QFT

It irritates me when my colleagues pop out for "a breath of fresh air" or hover in the kitchen at the kettle. I rarely drink tea/coffee (particularly not in work) and I don't smoke. So while they p!ss off and relax I get to do my work, and keep an eye on their work too. Instead of answering one phone, I have two to monitor. All because I don't indulge in hot beverages/cigarettes. But then again, I guess I'm just a moaner who shouldn't care what my colleagues do as it doesn't effect me. :rolleyes:

nesf

If it's task orientated (ie person X needs to have Y amount of work done by the end of the week) then people taking extra breaks doesn't matter so long as they get their work done, if it's team orientated where one person missing for five minutes actually increases everyone else's workload then I agree that taking smoking breaks is unreasonable if the person doesn't compensate for it somehow (like taking a shorter lunchbreak or whatever if applicable).

I would agree that in some jobs people taking extra breaks is completely unacceptable (ie where there's fixed immutable hours, the difference can't be made up by working harder etc and their being missing increases the pressure on everyone else) but not all jobs are like that.

nesf

Blush_01 wrote:

It irritates me when my colleagues pop out for "a breath of fresh air" or hover in the kitchen at the kettle. I rarely drink tea/coffee (particularly not in work) and I don't smoke. So while they p!ss off and relax I get to do my work, and keep an eye on their work too. Instead of answering one phone, I have two to monitor. All because I don't indulge in hot beverages/cigarettes. But then again, I guess I'm just a moaner who shouldn't care what my colleagues do as it doesn't effect me. :rolleyes:

See, that's completely acceptable grounds to be annoyed imho. But some people bitch because their workmate takes smoking breaks even when a) it doesn't affect their workload and b) their workmate is as or more productive as they are, that's when it's really just pointless moaning.

Irish Wolf

Yup "we" do get promoted if "we" deserve the promotion.. I personally have been promoted 4 or 5 times in the last 9 years in my particular occupation and although my managers at the time of my promotions were very aint smoking it didn't stop them from bumping me up the ladder..

I don't abuse the system - I don't take half hour breaks in the morning (eventhough 15 minutes is scheduled), I don't take an hour break at lunch (eventhough 30 minutes is scheduled), and I don't take half hour breaks in the afternoon.. I'll let you guess what's scheduled for those..

So anyone that has the balls to complain about me getting away from my desk eaver hour or every other hour had better be a robot..

And yes - I'm still in the painful process of giving up - but one thing's for sure, when I do, I'm still taking the same 5-7 minute breaks to get away from my desk and all those annoying non-smokers..

The_B_Man

i had a crap for half an hour earlier. that did the job!


dont smoke, dont drink tea/coffee, so i should be entitled to it!

the_syco

Where I work, 5 people in my section are non-smokers. There's about 30 people there. 3 of the none smokers walk aimlessly around the place at times. Who cares. I have a smoke before I go in, at my luch, and sometimes after work.

Saying that, people are usually surprised that I smoke. Like, actually surprised. Only reason I can think is that yes, some smokers do take the piss. But its all to do with comapny policy.

If the company says no smoke breaks, the amount of extra smoke breaks is cut by a large percent. Sometimes down to 0%. I've seen it happen, but I also see companies not bringing it in for one reason, and one reason only: the people at the top smoke, and don't want to shoot themselves in the foot by making such a ban.

Canis Lupus

Bottle_of_Smoke wrote:

If you smoke you're going to be more stressed, have less energy, poorer immune system(therefore more sick days)

Makes sense.

I smoke 15-20 a day.

I'm not stressed.

I cycle to and from work and have plenty of energy compared to a few non smokers I know.

I recently got a cold and before that I can't remember the last time I was sick and in almost 2 years of employment in this job I've yet to take a sick day and in my previous job of 4ish years I took 3 days sick when I got a stomach bug. Altho not taking sickies is probably a sign of stupidity or something seeing as everyone else does it.

Actually, that annoys me more knowing people pull sickies when they're not sick or just have a sore throat or something equally simple. Screw our fag breaks.

Red Alert

Smokers always seem to be overly-facilitated. For example, many workplaces will ban things like tea kettles or coffee makers on health and safety grounds, but will happily allow the smokers to do whatever they want.

When I worked in retail part time for a bit, I noticed a lot of the management tend to be smokers and so the people who smoke seem friendlier with the management because they're all huddled outside the fire exit.

Executive Steve

Red Alert wrote:

Smokers always seem to be overly-facilitated. For example, many workplaces will ban things like tea kettles or coffee makers on health and safety grounds, but will happily allow the smokers to do whatever they want.

i've never worked ANYWHERE without a kettle or a coffee machine

Stark

[cm]tyranny wrote:

i've never worked ANYWHERE without a kettle or a coffee machine

You must have had an awful lot of jobs if you're able to extrapolate your experiences to all workplaces.