1 in 3 Firms To Ban Smoking Breaks

The smoking ban has prompted 1 in 3 businesses to consider going one step further and stub out smoking breaks for staff.

According to research by Croner, the workplace consulting firm, only 24% of smokers said they’d cope well or fairly well if smoking breaks at work were banned completely. 

Croner suggests that banning smoking breaks altogether could increase workplace stress leading to lower productivity and higher rates of absenteeism.  Which begs the questions are fag breaks good for business?

Gillian Dowling, employment technical consultant at Croner says:

“Whether on a contractual or on an informal basis, smoking breaks have been a part of workplace culture for years.   And in office-based jobs where breaks are normally handled informally smokers typically treat smoking breaks as a way of refocusing after a period at the computer, just as non-smokers take regular breaks for coffee, personal phone calls or a snack.

“The research has clearly shown that taking this ‘freedom’ away could increase stress levels, and we would advise handling the smoking break issue on an individual basis rather than installing a ‘blanket’ smoking break ban.”

Rather than an outright ban on smoking small businesses are encouraged to mark themselves out from the crowd by providing employees support to give up smoking, rather than making them feel like pariahs. A move that would make sense, as over 50% of smoking employees say they would like to kick the habit.