One of the more common complaints among workers at many companies is that smokers just don’t put in as many hours as the rest of the staff. They get to take extra breaks to go outside and indulge in their habits.
KCJ Training and Employment Solutions think they have a, well, solution to the situation, and perhaps some good incentive to butt out for good.
RELATED STORIES
KCJ’s managing director, Don Bryden, believes in positive reinforcement more than punishment, so he wants to reward non-smokers.
So, Bryden introduced a measure to give them their due, awarding the company’s non-smokers an extra four days off every year. And, for the record, he’s a smoker himself.
“It’s been taken on and embraced within the company by both smokers and non-smokers,” he told the BBC .
Bryden wants to be clear that he doesn’t want to discriminate against anyone with the policy.
“I’m not discriminating against anyone,” he said. “What I’m saying is if you take a smoke break, fine, take a smoke break. I’m not saying stop that.”
However, it’s more a matter of fairness when it comes to time spent on break, and he did the math.
“If you say it’s three 10-minute smoke breaks a day that equates to 16 and a quarter days a year based on an eight-hour working day,” he explained.
“Let’s cut it by a third and say you only take one 10-minute smoking break a day, that adds up to just over five days.”
Bryden says he’s willing to adapt the policy for those who manage to quit smoking as well.
“I’ve been asked if someone doesn’t smoke for three months, will I give them a day off, and I said of course. And if they can do it for six months I’ll give them two days,” he said.
“I’ll work with the people who smoke but I do want to make sure that the ones who are sitting there working while the others take their ciggie break get some sort of compensation.”
There’s definitely something to be said for Bryden’s policy.
According to the CDC , smoking costs American businesses about $92 billion annually in lost productivity, with smokers missing an average of 6.16 work days to illness, compared to just 3.86 for non-smokers.
Between lost productivity and excess medical expenditures, the CDC estimates that smokers cost their companies $3,391 per year, so incentivizing smokers to quit wouldn’t just be good for their health, but good for the company’s bottom line as well.
h/t: BBC
