Good. I used to work a blue-collar, industrial job, and was really tempted to buy a cheap pack of cigs, as a dummy so I could tag along and take a non-smoking break with the smokers. By the time they hoofed from wherever they were working to the designated smoking area, burned one down, and walked back, 20-30 minutes of every hour could get chewed up.
Company gives non-smokers six days holiday to compensate for cigarette breaks
11–20 of 130 posts
Re: Company gives non-smokers six days holiday to compensate for cigarette breaks
#12Earlier quoted context omitted.
Research that contradicts benefits of frequent physical activity for office workers? Paint me surprised. Can you share some links?
I'm pretty sure I remember reading that the effects of sitting were not, they believe, offset by physical activity. I can't remember the source, but I'm sure there's stuff out there in Google.
Pretty sure I remember those same studies. More or less, I believe it was that the effects of sitting all day were not offset by physical activity after work or on weekends. The conclusions were not that taking breaks from sitting have no positive effect.
Re: Company gives non-smokers six days holiday to compensate for cigarette breaks
#13This assumes people are working just because they aren't on a smoke break. If you work on a production line in a factory, it's fairly easy to see the output level of your work. If you work in an office, there is not a simple measure. The non-smoking worker could just as easily spend the same time chatting it up around the water cooler. Physical presence does not equal working time. I wish more managers understood tha…
No, I think it says that people feel they're working harder than smokers. So far as I can tell, there was no attempt to say they actually do work harder. The other half of this is that it incentivizes smokers to quit. This is about motivating non-smokers who are feeling de-motivated. And about helping people drop an unhealthy habit.
> Company based on 29th floor of Tokyo office block
Similarly, I help people dropping the unhealthy habit of Tokyo high rise office blocks by not working there. Why mess about with symptoms when you can have the root cause?
Re: Company gives non-smokers six days holiday to compensate for cigarette breaks
#14Years ago, the non-smokers in my group would go out to breakfast every Friday, to make up for smoke breaks. It was just two blocks down the street to a fast food joint, so it didn't make up for all the time someone might spend on a smoke break during the; but, it stopped people from complaining about time lost due to smoke breaks. (Maybe it wasn't healthier, either.)
Re: Company gives non-smokers six days holiday to compensate for cigarette breaks
#15Given the amount of walking needed to get outside the building and the sedentary nature of their job, it's worth considering whether, on balance, the smokers at this company are actually healthier and more productive than they would be if they kicked the habit.
Re: Company gives non-smokers six days holiday to compensate for cigarette breaks
#16This assumes people are working just because they aren't on a smoke break. If you work on a production line in a factory, it's fairly easy to see the output level of your work. If you work in an office, there is not a simple measure. The non-smoking worker could just as easily spend the same time chatting it up around the water cooler. Physical presence does not equal working time. I wish more managers understood tha…
Water cooler conversations is in fact the major advantage of having everybody coming to a physical office instead of working from home. The best ideas in a company start from someone around a water cooling mentioning a problem to someone else who comes up with a good answer.
I know of a simple 2 week engineering project that almost didn't even get proposed because marketing thought it would be a multi-year project and the problem had to solved in a few months or the entire market would be gone. A chance waster cooler conversation with an engineer got the prototype done that afternoon and a small but valuable market was captured.
The smokers I know are not just taking a break and doing nothing. They are talking a break with other smokers and having conversations. Sometimes they are about family, but sometimes they are about work subjects and they solve real work problems.
Re: Company gives non-smokers six days holiday to compensate for cigarette breaks
#17Given the amount of walking needed to get outside the building and the sedentary nature of their job, it's worth considering whether, on balance, the smokers at this company are actually healthier and more productive than they would be if they kicked the habit.
This is the point I wanted to bring up. As a pack-a-day smoker for 10 years, I got up from my desk for 10 minutes every 1.5 hours to smoke a cigarette. Later, as a non-smoker, a health-conscious manager told me he wanted me to get up from my desk once an hour to take a five-minute walk around the building for my health. Regular breaks during the day are better for your health than vacation days; although, both are good for your health.
Re: Company gives non-smokers six days holiday to compensate for cigarette breaks
#18Based on what we know about staying seated for hours a day, it would be more beneficial to allow non-smokers stand up and walk around breaks every hour rather than 6 days off.
Based on what we know about vacation taking 6 days off reduces stress levels .
You also assume people will be sitting during those days off ? They could stand or god forbid exercise .
A much better idea to help people not sit is to make a walking break.
Re: Company gives non-smokers six days holiday to compensate for cigarette breaks
#19This assumes people are working just because they aren't on a smoke break. If you work on a production line in a factory, it's fairly easy to see the output level of your work. If you work in an office, there is not a simple measure. The non-smoking worker could just as easily spend the same time chatting it up around the water cooler. Physical presence does not equal working time. I wish more managers understood tha…
Water cooler conversations is in fact the major advantage of having everybody coming to a physical office instead of working from home. The best ideas in a company start from someone around a water cooling mentioning a problem to someone else who comes up with a good answer. I know of a simple 2 week engineering project that almost didn't even get proposed because marketing thought it would be a multi-year project an…
> The smokers I know are not just taking a break and doing nothing. They are talking a break with other smokers and having conversations. Sometimes they are about family, but sometimes they are about work subjects and they solve real work problems.
True. The people taking smoke breaks aren't doing anything differently than those at the water cooler (other than, you know, smoking).
Re: Company gives non-smokers six days holiday to compensate for cigarette breaks
#20Given the amount of walking needed to get outside the building and the sedentary nature of their job, it's worth considering whether, on balance, the smokers at this company are actually healthier and more productive than they would be if they kicked the habit.
> the smokers at this company are actually healthier and more productive
More productive perhaps, but healthier? I don't think so.
EDIT: Typo.