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Companies implementing a blanket ban on smoking breaks during work time can expect to see a rise in stressed employees, a dip in productivity and increased costs. This link has been revealed by new research published by workplace expert Croner, part of Wolter Kluwers UK.

A survey of firms during the run up to July’s workplace smoking ban found that a third of employers were planning to prohibit smoking breaks after the legislation came into effect. The risk of increased stress and absence is a result of this trend, according to Croner’s research.

The Croner survey of 2,103 people revealed that only 24 per cent of smokers said they would cope well or fairly well if smoking breaks were completely banned, while two thirds said they would not manage their stress very well or at all under these circumstances.

Stress in the workplace has shown real ramifications for employers in the past, with proven links between stress and absence and low productivity levels.

An estimated half million people report experiencing stress at a level that makes them ill, according to the Health and Safety Executive.  This results in a loss of 13.4 million workdays a year.  The average number of days taken off work by someone suffering from stress is 26.8 days (201 hours). This is 21.6 days more than a typical smoker spends on smoke breaks during work.

Consequently, approximately 16 per cent of a company’s workforce could suffer from stress should their employer impose a blanket ban on smoking breaks, resulting in substantially higher costs for the company, according to the research (see below).  

Gillian Dowling, employment technical consultant for Croner, commented, “In office-based jobs, where breaks are normally handled informally, smokers typically treat smoking breaks as a way of refocusing after a period at the computer, just as non-smokers take regular breaks for coffee, personal phone calls or a snack.”
 
She added that taking this ‘freedom’ away from employees could increase stress levels and incite resentment from employees who may see the changes as discriminatory.

Dowling advises handling the smoking ban on an “individual basis”, and introducing ways to help employees to stop smoking should they wish to, rather than making staff feel rejected with blanket anti-smoking break policies.

Just over 50 per cent smoking employees were motivated to quit the habit on the back of the new law, and supporting employees in their process of quitting could contribute better to maintaining good relations between companies and their employees.

How much could it cost you?
 

• The average pay in the UK is £23,244 with benefits and tax paid at 35% bringing the average cost of an employee to £31,379.40 or £17.8 an hour.
• A smoker spends an average of 10 minutes a day on smoke breaks (two five minute breaks a day) or 38.67 hours a year, which costs an employer £688.33 a year.  
• With the average time off for illness caused by stress at 26.8 days, by the same calculation an employee absent from work due to stress costs an employer £3,577.80
• 24 per cent of employees smoke, with over 2/3 saying they would not cope well with a blanket ban on smoking breaks, which results in 16% of the workforce potentially taking time off from stress.
• In a company with 100 employees a blanket smoking break ban could potentially see 16 employees off sick for a total of 428.8 days a year (£57,244.8).  This is compared to 124.8 days a year lost from smoking breaks, with 24 % of the workforce smoking (£16,519.82).

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