Cigarette break?

As a small employer, am I obliged to give an office junior a break to go out for a cigarette. She works 9 - 5pm with 1 hr for lunch (not continuously on pc). As a small family office we take tea breaks whenever, but have noticed her making excuses to leave and go into our 'yard' for a ciggy !

ilovekenneth1010	Cut her lunch to 1/2 hour and give her 2 15 min breaks to smoke

lcritter55118	I work in a small office and I am the only one that smokes. I go out for a smoke 3 times a day. We do not take lunch as we only work 8 hours. I do not take the standard 15 minute break. I just go out and have my smoke and come back in.

katrina	if you can have tea breaks then i wound'nt think popping out for 5 minutes every once and then would hurt

Roxy	Everyone needs a break every hour or so - it's the body and brain's way of refreshing itself. When I worked in an office I had one ciggie break at about 11 (lunch from 1-2) then another one at about 4 (finish at 5.30). I only took about 5 minutes and used the time to stretch and breathe (as well as have a cig). If you're having tea breaks, isn't she entitled to a cig break as well? As long as she's not abusing your trust, let her be. Maybe you could stipulate the times she takes her breaks.

greeneyedkorean	So what, let her smoke. If people are allowed to take "tea breaks" there really is no difference in her taking a smoke break. Ask yourself this, is the work getting done? is she being productive? if so, leave her alone. Stop trying to micromanage.

thebigtombs	You could have a no smoking policy which has an exclusion zone of so many hundred meters from the premiter fence, lots of local authorities do this. You could also ask her to record the time each time she goes out for a cigarette and then get her to reduce her lunch break or work that time extra after five.

AMANDA W	she is not hurting any one it will only take her as long to have a cig than it would you to have a tea break non smokers dont realise how hard it is when you need a cig as long as she is not slackin with her work i dont see any problem

Lolly ™	whats the difference to you having a tea break and her having a ciggie? same amount of time involved I would imagine? as long as she's not out there constantly then i don't think you should say anything

Tanya	An employee aged 18 years or over is entitled to a 20 minute undisturbed break for every 6 hour shift they work. They are also entitled to 11 hours rest between each work day and are further entitled to one full day off each week. An employee aged less than 18 years old (from the minimum age of leaving school) is entitled to a 30 minute undisturbed break for every 4.5 hour shift they work. They are also entitled to 12 hours rest between each work day and are further entitled to two full days off each week. Here in Florida most employers allow 30mins for lunch unpaid and two paid 15 minute breaks for an 8 hour shift. I see a lot of responses on here saying that no you should not give her a break and that is wrong. By law you are required to give your employees breaks throughout the work day. What the employees do on that break (smoking or otherwise) is not up to the employer.

Edward	Hmmm.. You arte the boss, you are the one who is paying so you are the one who makes the rules. I’m an ex-smoker and I know first hand how important a smoke is to a smoker and how damaging it is to health as well. Let’s put the righteous crap aside and focus on business on hand. If her breaks do not interfere with her performance, coworkers do not gripe and customers do not complain then there is no issue. Also as you know we need a break of about 5-10 min every hour, depending on work load, stress and so on. Lack of break time does impede the performance. Bottom line you are the boss.

Useless	stop her, remember your saving her life and money

aimzinch	She can have a cig when you have tea breaks otherwise she has more breaks then anyone if you add up all the time she is away from the desk smoking it works out to be a lot and all the guys and gals that dont smoke are at there desks a lot longer!!!

mikewonaus	Obliged? Perhaps not. I'm a smoker & would accept a offer to reduce my lunch by 20 minutes for a 10 minute morning & afternoon break.

Elaine C	I just tell them that you have made a decsion that you are making a non smoking policy as its up to you to decide.And see what they think of that when the law does properly come into place about where and when you can smoke im sure they can make an effort not to smoke,being a smoker myself i dont smoke during the day at all i just smoke in the evening and itmaybe 4/5 that i smoke.

Lyndsey B	So long as she's not slacking in her work and doing everything expected of her to your required standards i wouldn't see this as a problem, if however she's not pulling her weight etc then I would limit her smoke breaks or give her shorter lunch and 2 10 or 15 min tea breaks maybe?

katehughes2706	No you are not obliged to give her a cigarette break.

masterwitchphd	<<<I am a non smoker, however, start "docking" her time ahe ia away from her desk and since cigeratte breaks are not a recognized break, give her a "coaching" letter first. Express to her cigeratte breaks were not the terms of her employment and she may smoke on her legitimate break periods, no more, no less. Make sure you clearly post for eveyone that the work policy is, you smoke on your time, not company work time. My best to you.

TBor ROCKS	Small family business or not - it's irrelevant to the situation. She is being paid by the hour - get your hours worth out of her. 30 minute lunch plus 2 - 15 minute breaks - that's it. She can eat, smoke, go to toilet, go for a walk, whatever she wants- But the rest of the time she is taking care of the business at hand. If you notice she needs more work to keep her occupied then find it and incorporate into her daily routine.

BABU K	Depends on the kind of work she does. If the job requires her to stick on to her chair the entire work time you may make have 2 breaks during the day like 5 minutes mid half before noon and half the way after noon. If its not that kind of responsible position please leave her alone and let her have a smoke.

kytho	Here like so many other smokers is someone taking liberties. It would be in her best interest if she was discouraged (by any means) from taking cigarette breaks.

josephus_einstein	she does not deserve the ciggy break, nor do anyone deserves it. cigarettes are a boon to the environment. smoking sucks. bigtime

disney_fan84	tea breaks are why better then smoking i love tea green tea and smoking is bad for ya any ways

Susie	That is totally unacceptable. You are certainly not obliged to give her a smoking break. She should not be allowed. This is totally unfair on the people who don't smoke. Explain to to her and say from now on, she smokes in her own time. Be firm and if she doesn't like it, she can look for employment elsewhere. This sort of behaviour will only cause friction among the other staff. In future, only employ non-smokers!!

gavinwhyman	legally all adult workers are allowed 20 mins break per 6 hours worked. But you don't need to be paid for it. So, no she's not "entitled" to a fag break but if you offer several tea breaks it would be difficult to enforce (unless they are working tea breaks). You could however implement a No Smoking policy on the whole premises. EDIT: That was a "f.a.g" break as in british for cigarette not gay... hate american bleeping!

Leigh	She is not technically allowed to go out for her cigarette break... however, since you are allowing tea breaks, I would say she is obliged to go out and have a quick smoke. I would say, if she is bothering you for some reason in addition (such as, smoking in your yard near a vent / in the open public / near a window or taking ten minutes for her smoke break or she smokes constantly- like, more than 5 cigarette breaks a day), I would pull her aside to ask her to modify her behavior. I.e., please take only three cigarette breaks, as we don't allow excessive tea drinking either. Or, please smoke in the back away from the building and entrances. Good luck, employee issues can be difficult.