A Smoker? You're Fired!

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ingo1984 wrote: »

Don't see what the issue is. Most companies for standard 9-5 job will provide an hour lunch break and then 2 separate 15 minute breaks in the morning and afternoon. Those 15 minute breaks could be the fag breaks.

????

Wow - what utopia do you work in?

In my last job we had a 15 minute morning break and then a half hour lunch.

In my current job we have an hour lunch break and thats it.

In both jobs it was a regular occurrence to be too busy to take lunch.

Maybe you are referring to public sector jobs?

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....... wrote: »

????

Wow - what utopia do you work in?

In my last job we had a 15 minute morning break and then a half hour lunch.

In my current job we have an hour lunch break and thats it.

In both jobs it was a regular occurrence to be too busy to take lunch.

Maybe you are referring to public sector jobs?

That's not so unusual. Maybe you have a really old-fashioned employer. I work in the private sector and I take regular breaks, work from home when I need to. The idea of sitting at your desk for eight hours, and the notion that such a thing is optimal, is quickly dying away.

Gravelly

A Tyrant Named Miltiades! wrote: »

That's not so unusual. Maybe you have a really old-fashioned employer. I work in the private sector and I take regular breaks, work from home when I need to. The idea of sitting at your desk for eight hours, and the notion that such a thing is optimal, is quickly dying away.

Depends on the role really - in our company we have people with flexi time, people who work from home, and people who are, literally, expected to sit at a desk for 8 hours a day (excluding breaks!).

Skatedude

ingo1984 wrote: »

Don't see what the issue is. Most companies for standard 9-5 job will provide an hour lunch break and then 2 separate 15 minute breaks in the morning and afternoon. Those 15 minute breaks could be the fag breaks.

WOW, where do you work? I've worked 12 hour shifts most of my life for various companies and we would end up being fired if we took hour long lunch breaks.

Dial Hard

mcmoustache wrote: »

When you think about how often we slack off and go on boards or wherever, a smoke is insignificant. And in some jobs, many a problem has been solved by leaving the desk for a smoke.

This argument comes up all the time and it makes no sense whatsoever because it presupposes that smokers don't also do things like slack off on Boards and take tea breaks and whatnot.

DEFTLEFTHAND

To increase productivity in the workplace we should abolish the 2004 smoking ban.

moonage

biko

First of all, the title says that you can get fired for being a smoker.
This is not the case here, it's about not getting hired, totally different.

Secondly, the blog post mentions this article (without linking it of course...)
http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/money/industries/health/story/2012-01-03/health-care-jobs-no-smoking/52394782/1
These hiring non-smoking policies seems to be about hospitals, and even then they considered radical.


Another clickbait shot down

orourkeda1977

eviltimeban

A guy I knew used to go out with the smokers when they had their smoke breaks. He didn't smoke, he just stood with them and chatted. He felt why should they just get to do it?

RWCNT

facehugger99 wrote: »

I work with a smoker. I reckon his fag breaks throughout the day easily add up to around 45 minutes.

He could be using this time to do some actual work or even post sh;te on Boards like I do.

He's on smoko, so leave 'im alone.

Flyingsnowball

eviltimeban wrote: »

A guy I knew used to go out with the smokers when they had their smoke breaks. He didn't smoke, he just stood with them and chatted. He felt why should they just get to do it?

Why would you go outside if you didn’t think you had to?

lawred2

Diceicle wrote: »

I read about this on a blog that sometimes browse. Its news to me (though I now understand some places have had this since the 90's).

Nicotine Free Hiring Policy (NFHP).

First-off, I don't smoke so I've no dog in this fight, but thought it was an unsual development in the denormalisation of smoking in society, and that its something thats certainly not been on my radar - but in many instances, when the US sneezes, Ireland catches a cold so its probable it will crop up here in the future.

What the justification?
From an employers perspective, those who offer insurance to employees as part of a package - they get cheaper rates from not having any smokers (or nictoine patch wearers) on their staff.

NFHP is seemingly and understandably more common in the healthcare area, for fairly obvious reasons, but is apparently becoming more common in banking etc.

It should be noted that its also not legal in all States at present.

Bit more detail here

Unproductive smoke breaks and a vile stink in the office

I'd have little issue with it. You can wait for the same breaks that everyone else has.

theguzman

Smokers are mentally weak and unstable, they are drug addicts and no different to the junkies in the Dublin quays, addicted and unable to stop it.

theguzman

theguzman wrote: »

Smokers are mentally weak and unstable, they are drug addicts and no different to the junkies in the Dublin quays, addicted and unable to stop it.

No different!

Yes, when we're not quietly smoking on our lunch breaks from work, we're hawking our phones for fags and stealing bicycles. Definitely no difference.

theguzman

A Tyrant Named Miltiades! wrote: »

No different!

Yes, when we're not quietly smoking on our lunch breaks from work, we're hawking our phones for fags and stealing bicycles. Definitely no difference.

Both are equally mentally weak and unstable. Watch a smoker go off fags for a few hours and the tantrums and mood swings are totally irrational. It is sign of low intelligence and lack of self discipline.

theguzman

theguzman wrote: »

Both are equally mentally weak and unstable. Watch a smoker go off fags for a few hours and the tantrums and mood swings are totally irrational. It is sign of low intelligence and lack of self discipline.

Or, a temporary, naturally occuring biochemical reflex. But yeah, lets go with 'low intelligence', I hope it makes you feel better, or that this reaction provides you with sufficient attention (endorphins).

CalamariFritti

I'm not sure its legal to discriminate on someone's legal outside work activity. I hope someone takes them all the way on that.

As for the people being on about the breaks that amount to x number of minutes. Good little drones you are. You're actually encouraged to get up and stretch and walk every 30 minutes or so anyway. Sitting down for all those hours with no break is really bad for you.

I don't smoke btw.

MonkieSocks

Capt'n Midnight

Gravelly wrote: »

In our Irish HQ, the smokers have to go down the lift, sign out at the front desk, walk 200m across the car park to smoke, and then repeat the whole process in reverse.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGBv8j4Xb3E

wiggle16

theguzman wrote: »

Smokers are mentally weak and unstable, they are drug addicts and no different to the junkies in the Dublin quays, addicted and unable to stop it.

Oh... because that makes sense.

Obvious Desperate Breakfasts

mcmoustache wrote: »

In most places that I worked, smokers took a break at the same time as everyone else - 11:00, 13:00 and 16:00.

Even now, as a programmer, it's the same. It would be a bit silly not to hire people who smoke. When you think about how often we slack off and go on boards or wherever, a smoke is insignificant. And in some jobs, many a problem has been solved by leaving the desk for a smoke.

If smokers in a factory or something like that are getting extra breaks, that's not on though.

Yeah but some people slack off AND take fag breaks too. I’ve had smokers say that they make sure to be more productive at their desks to make up for their smoking breaks. I didn’t doubt them but not all smokers are like that. Just like non-smokers, some are slackers.

mcmoustache

Dial Hard wrote: »

This argument comes up all the time and it makes no sense whatsoever because it presupposes that smokers don't also do things like slack off on Boards and take tea breaks and whatnot.

Fair point. I do both.

mcmoustache

theguzman wrote: »

Both are equally mentally weak and unstable. Watch a smoker go off fags for a few hours and the tantrums and mood swings are totally irrational. It is sign of low intelligence and lack of self discipline.

Your post history makes me think you're a smoker, based on this.

McCrack

theguzman wrote: »

Smokers are mentally weak and unstable, they are drug addicts and no different to the junkies in the Dublin quays, addicted and unable to stop it.

I think we have a winner

Spannerplank

facehugger99 wrote: »

I work with a smoker. I reckon his fag breaks throughout the day easily add up to around 45 minutes.

He could be using this time to do some actual work or even post sh;te on Boards like I do.

BrokenArrows

Disregarding the "employee health" and free employee health insurance aspects of I was an employer I would be very harsh with office workers and smoking breaks.

I work on the 29th floor of my building. If I smoked and wanted to take a quick break for a cigarette it would easily be 10-15 minutes before I would be back at my desk. If you multiply that by a few cigs a day the. The employers is losing out massively.

Same applies to staff who are 10 seconds from fresh air, but they are still given unauthorized smoke breaks.

Strumms

Aside from health, if you add up the amount of time, extra break time that smokers use AND are facilitated with, the fact that they decide that they will partake in an act that is scientifically proven to damage their health which is actively facilitated in most jobs from what I can tell is mainly due to a number of smokers in management....ballpark you are talking one hour out of everywork day or close to it in round trips, grabbing the obligatory coffee etc...If you decided to go to the back door of your work building and stood there with a glass of water or a cup of coffee five times a day, a ten minute plus round trip including procuring said drink about the same time away as a smoker it’s the best part of an hour to facilitate, thus facilitating a downturn in productivity and penalizing people who persue a more healthy AND productive lifestyle ...you would be told to knock it off and QUIT !

Credit Checker Moose

Where I work smokers must clock off when they want a smoke and clock back in when finished. They are not paid for smoking.

Flyingsnowball

Credit Checker Moose wrote: »

Where I work smokers must clock off when they want a smoke and clock back in when finished. They are not paid for smoking.

I hope they hold it in and don’t smoke when they want one. Just sit at their desk angry, making mistakes and costing the company billions.

That’ll teach em.