Should Non-Smoking Employees Earn a Bonus Week of Vacation?

I don't know if I feel choosing not to smoke warrants a full bonus week of vacation time. Maybe it would make more sense to allow everyone 3 or so 10 minute breaks throughout the day, and they can use them as they wish (to smoke or not). I'd have to think more about this. For now, I'm voting 'other.'

Consider it from the Employer's point of view!

If the worker who is NOT smoking is spending time on the job, on task, doing work properly and not nervously looking at their watch as to when to get their next nicotine "fix"... they are a more productive worker and it would be right to reward (not punish) them with extra time off that their smoking brethren choose to take every day in tiny breaks!

Also---If there is any type of Employee health plan, those who are smokers are (long term) going to have more illnesses that cost the company money than those who do not smoke (or at least do not smoke enough to take time off from daily work to do so).

This should apply to those workers who DO smoke, but don't let it ruin their work day, that are satisfied with smoking "before" work begins, at "lunch break" and when work is over---and rest of day they just do not require a cigarette (or Vape).(or patch for those trying to quit!). I think in November there is a national quit smoking day... (or month---quick look shows some say its October, some say its November!).

i think it's a great incentive to get smokers to stop

I don't think the extra week of vacation is necessarily the answer, but equal time to what smokers are taking should be a standard. If smokers get/are taking three 10 minute breaks a day, nonsmokers should have that as well.
Where I work, we are all entitled to one or two 15 minute paid breaks a day, depending on how many hours your working, plus your lunch. I rarely take the extra breaks honestly.. but we are allowed them, whether or not we smoke.

I would not, however, turn away an extra week of vacation for not smoking.. if my job ever implemented something like that, I wouldn't complain.

Fire the loose-moralled, weak employers who allow some workers to piss off somewhere and turn their lungs black while others stay behind working.

Sure.

I think that would be fair to balance out the hours. The other option would be to not pay smokers when they take their breaks.

The main issue I see with it is how its implemented and tracked. What if you already took the 2 weeks off, but then started smoking midway through the year? Do you then owe them 2 weeks of vacation?

Also, how do they prove youre not smoking?

Yay! I like seeing everyone's input and thought process.
Thanks friends!

That's a good question, Joe. How would this be implemented/monitored? And what if only a couple people in the company smoked? Or what if over time you ended up having al non-smoking employees; would that extra week then go away?

But I like the idea/concept to incentivize people not to smoke, and perhaps the option to have an extra week off would help entice people.

OK by the numbers people!

I love to suggest ways to improve things:

1. I've used the advanced electronic time clocks. Pin numbers mean that only that employee can clock in and out (and yes they already are programmed to time as little as a 10 minute break, so they can also count the right number of breaks per employee in a day. All the ones I've used with pin numbers have a security camera very visible trained on the keypad so they can tell instantly if another employee is entering in a different pin number to clock on time or take extra break they are not deserved to take by virtue of having used up their time.

About owing vacation time for starting up in middle as a smoker again---people go on and off quitting all the time. It can be built into the system.... Worst comes to worst, the "variable" sick days or days that are religious holidays options can be told to the employee that due to them starting smoking they have to return a vacation day that way, bit by bit until the debt is paid and everyone is equal again. All gets very technical, but doable.

2. Not to say everyone does it, but most certainly there are "disgruntled" people in every organization and you never know who they are, so if punishment is based upon "finding out" there will be those who "squeal" on other employees who are not playing fair by the rules, so not a big problem as a general theme (punishments for infractions leave up to each individual company and dependent upon if they have workers union, or contracts, etc, can be considered a violation of their working contract if you really want to make it clear that the vacation time is a reward.) (and see #3 below).

3. Not a problem---many companies when faced with just a few employees who smoke, just declare the entire property a smoke free workplace, no exceptions and those few who smoke just have to decide between job and their habit. Not to be mean to them at all, company health plan would then be utilized (if that was the rule while they are working, they can't be smoking all day), that they are entitled to free "quitting patches" and support groups, etc, so no out of pocket expenses ---remember this will make for healthier employees, the ones who used to smoke and the ones who have to walk through a cloud of smoke to enter the workplace [Yes I've been at places where smoking is allowed outside, but you cannot smoke within 75 feet of the employee (and/or customer) entrances!

4. Not at all---again its all based upon if the job has a union or a contract for the job, the week can be slowly absorbed into the existing vacation times so that no one feels cheated out of any vacation they have "earned" during the times when they had smokers! And again, like I mentioned above, a big draw (I look!) for companies to work for, is now the designation as a "smoke free workplace").

Hope these suggestions give everyone food for thought to give their own opinions; or show where these won't work, so we can improve upon them...not that anyone who is an employer is reading them right now....... {or could there be????}

I don't know if vacation time is the best way, but I do agree that there should be some way of making it fair so the non-smokers don't have to work more. Either have the smokers clock out for their smoke breaks so that it wouldn't count as work time, or encourage the non-smokers to also take short breaks, to maybe get some fresh air or stretch their legs if their job is stationary. Breaks are healthy, if you don't use them to smoke . The best way to do it would depend on what kind of workplace it is. Maybe set an amount of break time that everyone can use as they like, and if they don't want to take breaks, let them leave early, or save up the time until it's enough for a vacation day.

Also, not all smokers are gonna take the same amount of break time, so assuming they all take the average amount wouldn't be fair.

Good points Lisa! Just to know.... the problem about "leaving early" is in places like Banks, with a set closing time, you just can't leave early, is that right Sarah? All have to be present after the bank closes to make certain all the drawers have the proper totals in them, before anyone leaves, and banks are not the only industry that makes that difficult to do. 9 to 5 remains the rule in many businesses.

Second item up there in the quote, is saving up time! We call that "banking" time whether it be for sick days or vacation time or adding up breaks. It does not work in many places as people can come to work sick just to bank the time and take off when they want a longer vacation. This becomes disruptive to the workplace and so many employers (mostly mid-sized companies as smaller mom and pops can certainly do this if they wanted to) refuse to start the complicated wheeling and dealing that banking time off entails.

Good ideas Lisa, just my (and others) views on those I'm posting here.

I know, I was gonna add that not all work places can let you leave early, but then decided that "The best way to do it would depend on what kind of workplace it is" covered that. And also, I'm not suggesting that people would just be allowed to take off when they want! Vacation time has to be planned in advance of course, otherwise you could end up with no one there. Having more vacation days doesn't change that.

I don't really understand how American sick days work. Here, if you're sick, you have a sick day. You can't use sick days as vacation days, or vice versa.

Be careful what you wish for Lisa..... if "boss" notices no one is there... they convert whole company to robots and no one gets vacation time *

Until Spielberg's "AI" or "Skynet" are developed of course! *crunch time*



Again, depends upon the company.... Very advanced, progressive companies want to have healthy workers so they allow sick days to be "banked" accumulated (to a point). When retiring, those unused sick days are converted to cash payouts, so there is 100% employee incentive to come to work healthy and not spread germs to other employees who will look at you with evil eyes for coming to work sick and giving them the flu, etc and causing them to lose sick days.... Conversely (or in addtion I may have said it above somewhere) Sick days can be "shared!" Yes, if someone has a illness, i.e. cancer treatment for a month, and they don't have enough sick days, they can start up an "office collection" where everyone donates a "sick day" and the person receiving it gets 30 employees and 30 sick days to use up. Boss goes along with it as remembering the payout at the end, less payout for those employees who donated a sick day to be used by a friend who is sick.

All these make for happier workplaces (usually---*need Jeff's shrug guy on speed copy/paste here*).

Got off topic there, in answer to your quote above, Lisa, also sick days can be used to care for relatives who need home care, or child care for a newborn after parental leave time runs out...etc...etc.. be creative! (Then again here in the US its a patchwork quilt, as many businesses are still in stone age and give ZERO sick days, you're docked pay if you don't show up for work...on time!).

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I saw it on Tellwut and I think they should because the smokers take extra breaks.

Why just a couple of extra days vs a whole week? If the hours line up then why not?

What a joke.

Why is it a joke?