4 ms·

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

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.

irl_zebra 9y ago
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?
- cortesoft 9y ago
  Us non-smokers just go to the bathroom.
  - teniutza 9y ago
    I doubt that smokers just decide to smoke while having a wee...
- Raphmedia 9y ago
  Perhaps some difference between countries or companies. Everywhere I have worked the breaks were defined in the work contract. Right under my salaries, benefits, etc. I have a clause that more or less says: "You are entitled to take a 30-minute break after working five consecutive hours. This 30 minutes can be split through the day but not used to leave early or lengthen your lunch break." Anyone taking more breaks than that will simply be fired. The only exception being bathroom breaks because let's face it, we are all adult enough not to need to ask a supervisor to take a leak. I use this time to brew and enjoy a coffee in the lounge in the morning and to take a walk around the office during the afternoon. A smoker would probably split those 30 minutes into 6 cigarette breaks and that's fine. Nobody gets extra breaks because they smoke. Is this different elsewhere?
  - ams6110 9y ago
    I haven't seen defined break and attendance rules like that since I last punched a time clock or turned in a time sheet. Every salaried job I've had never had anyone watching my breaks, arrival, or departure times as long as I got my work done. There is a general expectation that I will usually be present during normal business hours but that's about it.
  - paulriddle 9y ago
    It's insanity. If I found myself working for such an employer I would immediately label them as my enemy and nope the hell out of there as soon as possible. I wouldn't talk with my friends or family, I wouldn't watch youtube or TV series, I wouldn't even walk - I would always run, as a character in a videogame, and I would chew my food very fast looking nowhere but the dish I'm eating. All of that just to squeeze out as much time as possible to getting out. You can't have positive relationships with someone who monitors your breaks.
    - Symbiote 9y ago
      This type of phrasing isn't uncommon on job contracts in the UK, and probably elsewhere in Europe, but the enforcement will vary greatly. An assembly line worker will stick to the letter, a software developer will never consider it.
    - Raphmedia 9y ago
      (Quebec, Canada) I've never seen it done any other ways. As a developer, I get to work for some pretty relax workplaces. At those places, the breaks are not monitored but you are expected to respect the limit. 30 minutes of paid lunch (and 30 more minutes of unpaid lunch if you choose to) and 15 minutes of paid break in the morning along with 15 minutes of paid break in the evening. Note that by law, employers here are only required to give you an unpaid 30-minute break for every 5 hours of work. What I am describing here is living the good life as a developer. Even then, most developer at big agencies (100+ programmers) here work by the clock & timesheet and have to log their worktime to the minute and are unpaid the missed time. Perhaps I should put emphasis on the fact that those are paid breaks I'm talking about. I guess that you could "disappear" every hours but the culture would make it so that your coworkers would start to ask questions, your supervisor start to worry, you yearly evaluation suffer and your bonus or salary increase might be lower than the previous year. I am lucky enough to work somewhere pretty relax with a "startup" culture. This allows me to start at the time I want and leave at the time I want. That being said, I'm expected to do 7.5 hours every day, to be present between 9h and 15h and to respect the allowed time when taking breaks. > I wouldn't talk with my friends or family, I wouldn't watch youtube or TV series, I wouldn't even walk Are you doing those things on the clock? I'm confused.
danellis 9y ago
What job do you do that your employer is telling you how many breaks you can have?
tmnvix 9y ago
In my experience, it was never 15 minutes - more like 5. Also, in terms of total time it never seemed all that different from the people continually visiting the water cooler or getting hot drinks. It just seems more visible with the smokers because they actually leave the building.
thirdsun 9y ago
I don't understand it either. And it's actually easy to handle: My employers always gave everyone the same breaks - how you use them is up to you. Smoking, eating, chatting - all of it. However smoking outside those breaks was a no-go. And as a former smoker I don't even see how this is up for discussion.

irl_zebra 9y ago

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?

cortesoft 9y ago
Us non-smokers just go to the bathroom.
- teniutza 9y ago
  I doubt that smokers just decide to smoke while having a wee...
Raphmedia 9y ago
Perhaps some difference between countries or companies. Everywhere I have worked the breaks were defined in the work contract. Right under my salaries, benefits, etc. I have a clause that more or less says: "You are entitled to take a 30-minute break after working five consecutive hours. This 30 minutes can be split through the day but not used to leave early or lengthen your lunch break." Anyone taking more breaks than that will simply be fired. The only exception being bathroom breaks because let's face it, we are all adult enough not to need to ask a supervisor to take a leak. I use this time to brew and enjoy a coffee in the lounge in the morning and to take a walk around the office during the afternoon. A smoker would probably split those 30 minutes into 6 cigarette breaks and that's fine. Nobody gets extra breaks because they smoke. Is this different elsewhere?
- ams6110 9y ago
  I haven't seen defined break and attendance rules like that since I last punched a time clock or turned in a time sheet. Every salaried job I've had never had anyone watching my breaks, arrival, or departure times as long as I got my work done. There is a general expectation that I will usually be present during normal business hours but that's about it.
- paulriddle 9y ago
  It's insanity. If I found myself working for such an employer I would immediately label them as my enemy and nope the hell out of there as soon as possible. I wouldn't talk with my friends or family, I wouldn't watch youtube or TV series, I wouldn't even walk - I would always run, as a character in a videogame, and I would chew my food very fast looking nowhere but the dish I'm eating. All of that just to squeeze out as much time as possible to getting out. You can't have positive relationships with someone who monitors your breaks.
  - Symbiote 9y ago
    This type of phrasing isn't uncommon on job contracts in the UK, and probably elsewhere in Europe, but the enforcement will vary greatly. An assembly line worker will stick to the letter, a software developer will never consider it.
  - Raphmedia 9y ago
    (Quebec, Canada) I've never seen it done any other ways. As a developer, I get to work for some pretty relax workplaces. At those places, the breaks are not monitored but you are expected to respect the limit. 30 minutes of paid lunch (and 30 more minutes of unpaid lunch if you choose to) and 15 minutes of paid break in the morning along with 15 minutes of paid break in the evening. Note that by law, employers here are only required to give you an unpaid 30-minute break for every 5 hours of work. What I am describing here is living the good life as a developer. Even then, most developer at big agencies (100+ programmers) here work by the clock & timesheet and have to log their worktime to the minute and are unpaid the missed time. Perhaps I should put emphasis on the fact that those are paid breaks I'm talking about. I guess that you could "disappear" every hours but the culture would make it so that your coworkers would start to ask questions, your supervisor start to worry, you yearly evaluation suffer and your bonus or salary increase might be lower than the previous year. I am lucky enough to work somewhere pretty relax with a "startup" culture. This allows me to start at the time I want and leave at the time I want. That being said, I'm expected to do 7.5 hours every day, to be present between 9h and 15h and to respect the allowed time when taking breaks. > I wouldn't talk with my friends or family, I wouldn't watch youtube or TV series, I wouldn't even walk Are you doing those things on the clock? I'm confused.

danellis 9y ago

What job do you do that your employer is telling you how many breaks you can have?

tmnvix 9y ago

In my experience, it was never 15 minutes - more like 5. Also, in terms of total time it never seemed all that different from the people continually visiting the water cooler or getting hot drinks. It just seems more visible with the smokers because they actually leave the building.

thirdsun 9y ago

I don't understand it either. And it's actually easy to handle: My employers always gave everyone the same breaks - how you use them is up to you. Smoking, eating, chatting - all of it. However smoking outside those breaks was a no-go. And as a former smoker I don't even see how this is up for discussion.