Smoking Breaks At Work : Non-Smokers are Fuming

The issue of smoking breaks, or 'smokos', in the workplace are beginning to polarise smokers and non-smokers, with many recent surveys and polls suggesting that non-smokers are not too happy with their nicotine neighbours.

Here's a scenario: "Cyber Centurion" is an online security firm with 24 employees. Of these two dozen workers, 10 are smokers, and of these smokers almost all take four breaks per day to go and have a 'smoko', each break no shorter than 15 minutes.

All up, each of these 10 workers is spending an hour per working day - on top of their lunchbreaks - to smoke, and the 14 other non-smokers are starting to get envious, seeing as they are technically working five hours extra per week than their cigi-smoking co-workers.

And while there are always two sides to the story, recruitment firm Kelly Services' recently completed a survey, where some 2,000 Australian workers were quizzed on the issue of smoking breaks and productivity, and it seems that the majority of non-smokers weren't too pleased.

The data from the survey says that 11 per cent of the 2,000 workers said that they take a 'smoko' during their work day and that just three per cent of this group smoked more than six cigarettes per day, while more than 90 per cent went outside to puff between one and three times a day.

This didn't sit well with the other 89 per cent of people surveyed who didn't smoke during the work day, with more than half of this non-smoking group feeling that 'smokos' resulted in reduced productivity.

The evidence is there, and there is a definite animosity between the two groups. On one side, smokers will tell you that by having a break away from their duties, it refreshes them and allows to hit the ground running.

On the other side of the equation, non-smokers will dispute this, arguing instead in regards to the accumulated time wasting that occurs with 'smokos'.

While there are merits to both sides of the arguament, one thing is for certain - the issue won't be going up in smoke any time soon.

There could be way to appease both groups, such as a reduced lunch break for those who take multiple 'smokos' or the introduction of specific non-smoker breaks to even the playing field.

But at the end of the day, the issue faces so many varying factors, such as work hours, environment and work duties, which would make creating an overriding set of rules for everyone very difficult indeed.

Maybe there really is no simple solution to the growing resentment that non-smokers have for their cigarette-smoking co-workers and, like tax, is perhaps one of those things that 'just is' and should be accepted?

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