Smokers Cost Employers Thousands More Than Nonsmokers

[WilmywoodNCparalegal]

6. At my own worksite,

there's a smoking area to the side of the two campus buildings. My office window faces on this area. I see the same people every 45 minutes. They stay there, chatting, for about 15 minutes. An average workday is 8 hours. This means that these employees are taking 8 15-minute smoking breaks. This is equivalent to 2 hours of work. Now, this time is not inclusive of bathroom breaks or lunch. It is simply the time they take to smoke, which I can easily verify from my office window.

For this aggregate time of 2 hours, no one else is doing the work these employees are supposed to be doing. I and everyone else in my office who does not smoke do not get the luxury of 15-minute breaks every hour on the hour.

This time does not even include going from desk to elevator or stairs (if the office is on the second floor), or walking to the smoking area, which is nowhere near a door.