UK: Smoking Breaks at Work no Longer “Free”

By topnews.co.uk,

Norfolk’s Breckland Council imposes a new rule for smokers to no longer include cigarette breaks in their working time but check-out every time they want to go for a smoke.

After England, Northern Ireland and Wales introduced the smoking ban in public spaces in 2007, smokers were forced to leave their offices for a cigarette in order to guarantee a smoke-free working environment. Now, the ability to smoke outside is limited as well because employees need to compensate for the time losses caused by cigarette breaks.

The pro-smoker lobby criticizes the decision as “tyrannical” and underlines that only smokers have to check out if they leave their desks while their non-smoking colleagues are still allowed to go for coffee or fresh air breaks.

The Lobby’s Director, Simon Clark, points out: “Are they going to introduce clocking in and off for people who go on the internet, on Facebook, or people who want to have a cup of coffee? Many smokers believe having the occasional cigarette allows them to refocus”.

The Council justifies its decision by simply balancing out the extra time smokers take in comparison to their co-workers. An official underlines: “I think people have to accept that some non-smokers do feel a little bit of resentment across the table when they are sitting there and their colleagues keep getting up and going out of the building”.

The Council stresses the fact that smokers should not be urged to stop smokingafter the decision but be conscious about not taking their working time for the additional breaks. The new smoking rule is interpreted by the public policy advisors as an issue of fairness.