51–60 of 130 posts
As a non-smoker I used to go on the smoke breaks with coworkers. Not as an excuse for time away from work but rather to get up and brainstorm things. That turned out to be more productive than stay seated and let my wheels spin in my brain. Nowadays we use the coffee/watercooler break but it's not quite the same as getting out of the building, feeling the outside air against the skin (hot or cold) and getting a chang…
I don't know if it's like this in all companies in Australia, but we take coffee breaks and those happily make up for cigarette breaks. Some smokers come on the walk to the coffee place and smoke outside while we get coffee, two birds with one stone I guess. Some context though, Australia has a fairly great coffee culture, we have even been described as coffee elitists. So while the frugal and indifferent will use th…
What about the people who neither smoke nor drink coffee?
Based 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.
Is it? That may be true, but I read about new (to me) contradictory research in this area a lot. I feel the science should be more settled before we start designing specific policy proposals.
I don't know if it's like this in all companies in Australia, but we take coffee breaks and those happily make up for cigarette breaks. Some smokers come on the walk to the coffee place and smoke outside while we get coffee, two birds with one stone I guess. Some context though, Australia has a fairly great coffee culture, we have even been described as coffee elitists. So while the frugal and indifferent will use th…
What about the people who neither smoke nor drink coffee?
I don't think anyone is going to call you out, it would be quite hypocritical of them.
I've never understood this. Don't everyone get the same breaks? Are smokers considered as having a health condition and thus granted extra breaks? It's not as if the boss came in one day and told people "Everyone gets 2 x 15 minutes of breaks a day. Except for smokers, you guys can take all the breaks you want." If my employer gives me 2 x 15 minutes of breaks a day, I'll take those even if I don't smoke.
As a non-smoker I used to go on the smoke breaks with coworkers. Not as an excuse for time away from work but rather to get up and brainstorm things. That turned out to be more productive than stay seated and let my wheels spin in my brain. Nowadays we use the coffee/watercooler break but it's not quite the same as getting out of the building, feeling the outside air against the skin (hot or cold) and getting a chang…
This stuff just strikes me as very petty. Something about smoking or smokers just drives people a bit crazy. Before she retired, my mom would regularly bitch to me about the smoke breaks her coworkers took. She’d say “maybe I’d like to just go outside for a little walk”. So do it then! The smoking is bad of course, but the specific focus on it, to me, feels pretty hinky. How about taking breaks every once in a while…
I think that there must be some sort of human need to have a group to hate, and that in the West today that unlucky group is smokers. One may say the worst things about them in any social or business setting — that they are stupid, filthy, foolish, whatever — without any risk of being contradicted, indeed with the expectation that everyone will agree with you.
When I started at my job, the head of HR noted where the (outdoor, uncovered, across a street) smoking area was, 'but I don't think you're that sort of person.' He'd never have felt free to say that about other behavioural choices.
I suspect that part of it is that smokers were so dominant for so long that those who suffered in the past are enjoying having the upper hand.
When I worked for a larger company people would routinely take gym breaks (the gym was right down the hallway) which took the place of smoking breaks. Sure you can't get a huge workout in in a 15 minute break but you can get the heart rate up. In the US I'm not even sure it is legal to provide different benefits to individual employees than the rest of the company. But one thing I can say for sure is that if this was…
I feel like you would spend 10-15 minutes just getting changed, showering and all that. Or potentially smell the rest of the day. I guess it worked though.
I've never understood this. Don't everyone get the same breaks? Are smokers considered as having a health condition and thus granted extra breaks? It's not as if the boss came in one day and told people "Everyone gets 2 x 15 minutes of breaks a day. Except for smokers, you guys can take all the breaks you want." If my employer gives me 2 x 15 minutes of breaks a day, I'll take those even if I don't smoke.
Well, smokers randomly leave for smoke breaks several times daily. Non smokers don’t do that. So smokers get more breaks, even if non smokers could step outside for 15 minutes at a time theoretically. Also it’s socially acceptable for smokers to do this, less so for non smokers to randomly leave for breaks. Can you explain what you’re not getting?
As a non-smoker I used to go on the smoke breaks with coworkers. Not as an excuse for time away from work but rather to get up and brainstorm things. That turned out to be more productive than stay seated and let my wheels spin in my brain. Nowadays we use the coffee/watercooler break but it's not quite the same as getting out of the building, feeling the outside air against the skin (hot or cold) and getting a chang…
You know about the dangers of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passive_smoking ?