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A Japanese Company Is Giving Nonsmokers Longer Vacations (fastcompany.com) 226

An anonymous reader shares a report: Marketing firm Piala introduced the new policy in September after nonsmokers complained that they were working more than their colleagues who smoked. The company's offices are reportedly on the 29th floor, meaning that popping out for a smoke break meant a solid 15 minutes away from work. Multiply that by several smoke breaks a day, and the hours start to add up, which began to tick off nonsmoking coworkers. A spokesman for the company told The Telegraph that one of those nonsmokers slipped a note in the company's suggestion box and the CEO agreed. Now nonsmokers are entitled to more vacation time, which the company hopes will encourage smokers to quit their filthy habit.
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A Japanese Company Is Giving Nonsmokers Longer Vacations

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  • Seems cheaper to create an enclosed room on the 29th floor where smokers can get their fix in 5 minutes instead of 15 minutes.

    • Seems cheaper to create an enclosed room on the 29th floor where smokers can get their fix in 5 minutes instead of 15 minutes.

      with blackjack and slots.

      • Seems cheaper to create an enclosed room on the 29th floor where smokers can get their fix in 5 minutes instead of 15 minutes.

        with blackjack and slots.

        You forgot the hookers and cocaine.

    • Wait what? There's still backwards countries where you're allowed to smoke indoors in a company building?

      *mind blown*

      • by David_Hart ( 1184661 ) on Wednesday November 01, 2017 @04:15PM (#55472119)

        Wait what? There's still backwards countries where you're allowed to smoke indoors in a company building?

        *mind blown*

        Yes, it's called Las Vegas...

        We were in Vegas this fall for touristy stuff (grand canyon, hoover dam, etc.) and to enjoy the warm weather. Living in the Boston area where smoking isn't allowed in bars, I'd forgotten just how horrible the smell of smoke was. It just hits you like a wave when you walk into any of the Casinos. I would have thought that they would have, at least, upgraded their air ex-changers and filters to handle it a lot better.

        • What awful low end casino did you walk into?

          All the majors have huge air exchange systems that suck any smoke straight up. I can't remember the last time I could smell more than a hint of cigarette inside one of the major casinos? Watch someone smoke at a table sometime, you can sit and watch the smoke go straight upward.

        • I'm surprised that any establishments still allow smoking. As a non-smoker, I would never voluntarily go to a casino that allowed smoking. I was at a company event in the Cosmopolitan a few years ago. I didn't notice any smoke anywhere so I don't know if the air exchangers were good, there just weren't any smokers at the time, or if it wasn't allowed. I lived in NJ when NYC banned all indoor smoking. The bar/restaurant owners thought it would be the end of the world. Then suddenly that had this huge i
      • No smoking in the bar either... I haven't stood in line for an hour to get into see a band play since they made smoking illegal in bars, bands that used to draw in crowds can't fill a bar anymore and if there isn't a band playing or some other event going on those bars are completely dead.

        That may not be fair to say that no smoking in bars had damaged the bands they are one of the few things that are keeping the bars going but even those bands are struggling and the big name bands have trouble packing venue

        • Sounds like a localised problem. In places in the world that abolished indoor smoking some 10-15 years ago bands and bars are none the less flourishing, many with queues to get into even when no band are playing, and relatively unknown bands have no trouble selling out venues.

          It's a sad case when in your area the only thing people went to bars for was to smoke. That used to be a reason for many of us NOT to go.

          • There has also been a cultural shift, big concerts aren't as big as they used to be and kids don't hang out at the mall, skate park, arcade, etc... anymore. The younger crowd doesn't socialize in public as much I did, they do it on the internet with their cell phones, so you can't blame it entirely on a smoking ban.

            • Again, must be a localised problem. Where I live: Stadium was re-purposed as a concert venue (despite guarantees that it would never be used as such during construction) because the local concert venue isn't large enough anymore, the skate park is as full as ever, and if it's not it's only because the riff-raff have relocated to the hugely popular freestyle trampolining centres, the arcade... yeah that died a while back here too.

              As for the younger crowd not socialising in public... have you heard of Pokemon

        • by Shinobi ( 19308 )

          That sounds just like the FUD propaganda that was spread here in Sweden by the tobacco companies lobby groups ahead of the smoking ban in bars, restaurants etc.

          What happened here instead was that the restaurant/pub/bar/hotel industry got a massive increase in trade and profitability, with more customers and less turnaround in staff.

          Turns out, a LOT of people had become utterly disgusted with the fact that even if they weren't smokers themselves, they'd come home after a night out, spitting smoke-tainted sal

    • Smoke gets into the walls and permeates. Eventually, you'd have the whole area around the room smelling like smoke, and pity the poor SOBs who have to sit near it. And your resale value (or the landlord's leasing value) would go down, since once you vacated someone would have to tear out that room and the surrounding area to clean it up.
    • This idea is somewhat interesting.

      Keurig exists because companies saw the benefit of a 30 second brew cycle over a 5minute one. What about (only) allowing vape use on the property? Instant on, 3 or 4 puffs and you're done.

      By the way, the way I got compensated for being a non-smoker among smokers was to take a break at the same time as the smokers. Out we would all go and I'd have a 15 minute chin wag several times a day.

  • Not so much...
  • Smokers will outlive their non smoking counterparts. In a country where people will work themselves to death.
  • by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 01, 2017 @03:51PM (#55471945)
    I, for one, am sick of this propaganda.

    If you want to illegalize it, fine. But I'm tired of the constant ads for "TRUTH" (now going all the way to claim that smoking is racist) all the while I'm counter propagandized (by some of the same companies) about how pot smoking is good for you and should be legalized.

    And I say this as a non-smoker!

    Are we going to give similar breaks to single employees without children and how great that is?
    Are we going to count those who take 5 coffee breaks a day?!
    How about those gym nuts that disappear for an hour a day (not including lunch) to go for a run and promise they'll make the time up later?!
    Spare me your sanctimonious bs.
    • by wisnoskij ( 1206448 ) on Wednesday November 01, 2017 @04:45PM (#55472305) Homepage

      Lazy people exist everywhere. And often managers notice. But only smokers are across the board taking many more breaks than everyone else.

      • Also their laziness is way more visible. If I post to slashdot from work, my boss only knows if he happens to be reading slashdot. If you have to walk outside and put yourself on display to smoke, you get a lot more negative attention.
      • by mjwx ( 966435 )

        Lazy people exist everywhere. And often managers notice. But only smokers are across the board taking many more breaks than everyone else.

        Yes, how dare a private company reward employees for not having bad habits and working more productively. Shame on them.

    • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 ) on Wednesday November 01, 2017 @06:36PM (#55473025) Homepage Journal

      The only issue here is fairness. If one group gets to take hours a year extra time off to smoke, non smokers should be able to have the same hours available to them.

    • Are we going to give similar breaks to single employees without children and how great that is?

      Why are you taking children to work and letting them distract you?

      Are we going to count those who take 5 coffee breaks a day?!

      Why? It takes 30 seconds to get a cup of coffee. If you have an inefficiency maybe put more coffee machines in the office. The extra caffeine will help productivity too.

      How about those gym nuts that disappear for an hour a day (not including lunch) to go for a run and promise they'll make the time up later?!

      Are you now talking about people who have addictive habits that negatively impact their work, or are you talking about lazy people not doing their required number of hours? We have a gym in the office. Some lunchtime exercise is great for giving you a productive afternoon rath

      • by Cederic ( 9623 )

        It takes 30 seconds to get a cup of coffee

        You're doing it wrong.

        As with smoking, coffee is an ideal time to engage with others, build relationships, identify and solve shared problems and clear your mind enough that you'll take a fresh look at whatever the fuck you were working on.

        • I didn't say I don't do it. I just said it takes 30 seconds to get a cup of coffee, whereas leaving the building to smoke a cigarette has a far longer lower time limit. If you're the only one who wants coffee it doesn't take much of your time. If you're the only one smoking then it does.

    • People who smoke Pot don't chain smoke, most doen't even smoke a full joint a day even in active users. They'll take a couple puffs and put it out almost immediately. And as we've seen in areas where it's been made legal, a significant amount of pot consumption is done with edibles precisely so people don't have to smoke it.

    • by myrdos2 ( 989497 )

      Are we going to give similar breaks to single employees without children and how great that is?
      Are we going to count those who take 5 coffee breaks a day?!
      How about those gym nuts that disappear for an hour a day (not including lunch) to go for a run and promise they'll make the time up later?!

      I am intrigued by your ideas and would like to subscribe to your newsletter.

  • Last time I checked, smoke breaks are unpaid... so are they suggesting only offering non-smokers more unpaid vacation time?

    If so, that hardly seems like something newsworthy.

    • Re:Wait.... what? (Score:4, Interesting)

      by Captain Splendid ( 673276 ) <capsplendid @ g m a i l .com> on Wednesday November 01, 2017 @03:58PM (#55471991) Homepage Journal
      Last time I checked, smoke breaks are unpaid

      Really? Where? I've been paid for every single smoke break I've taken during the last 30 years.
      • Me too.

        Of course, anywhere I've worked that let smokers take a break, also lets non-smokers.

        The fact that many non-smokers choose to not take breaks should have no bearing on the people who do.

        • by slew ( 2918 )

          Me too.

          Of course, anywhere I've worked that let smokers take a break, also lets non-smokers.

          The fact that many non-smokers choose to not take breaks should have no bearing on the people who do.

          This shouldn't be seen as having a bearing on the people who take breaks (smoker or no-smoker), they are a reward for being a non-smoker since they only apply to people who don't smoke, and apparently do not penalize non-smokers who also take breaks whenever smokers take breaks.

          FWIW, back in the day, even though I have always been a non-smoker, when I had many co-workers who smoked, often I would also go outside and stand up-wind from them to listen/chat. There was lots of company gossip/politics from othe

    • If you're talking about that the employer is paying for its employees to go on smoke breaks during which they don't work? Then yes, they're unpaid, because the employer is getting nothing for the time they pay then.
  • by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 01, 2017 @03:54PM (#55471961)

    Well, good for the Japanese, bully for them.

    But honestly, when I step out for a smoke I step out with one or two of my co-workers, we actively discuss what we're working on and solve some problems, and then go back at it.

    Going out for a smoke doesn't necessarily mean you aren't working. Sometimes, you are actually working the whole time. I can't tell you how many times I've helped a co-worker sort out how to do something (or he helped me) while having a smoke.

    Just because I'm not typing doesn't mean I'm not working.

    It simply may not be true that you're doing less work -- in fact, I regularly see co-workers spend more time on Facebook or texting or what have you than I spend smoking every day. The difference being is I'm more likely to still be working while I'm smoking.

    Where I'm actively thinking doesn't change that I am actually doing it.

    • But honestly, when I step out for a smoke I step out with one or two of my co-workers, we actively discuss what we're working on and solve some problems, and then go back at it.

      Good for you. I mostly hear talk of football and bitching about how cold it is.

    • But honestly, when I step out for a smoke I step out with one or two of my co-workers, we actively discuss what we're working on and solve some problems, and then go back at it.

      I do the same at the pub. Where is the justice?

  • how much vacation? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by jarkus4 ( 1627895 ) on Wednesday November 01, 2017 @03:56PM (#55471973)

    Somehow I doubt the math works out anyway.
    For simplicity lets assume there are 200 working days in a year. If you take a single break every day for 15 minutes, you have spent 50h on those breaks, which would make it over a week of work time. Multiple breaks will increase this even further. Somehow I doubt the company will offer that much vacation time to non smokers.

  • I'm sure that all of those non-smokers are always diligently working while in the office.
    • It's easier to fake it when you're not leaving the office for 15 minutes several times per day.
    • by PPH ( 736903 )

      Stitches?

      Any smokers want to make threats, I'll see them in an MMA cage. I won't have to hit them. Two rounds of ducking and dancing around them and their emphysema will have them on the mat.

      • Stitches?

        Any smokers want to make threats, I'll see them in an MMA cage.

        Rampage Jackson just called. He's waiting in the Octagon for you...

    • I'm sure that all of those non-smokers are always diligently working while in the office.

      As shown, we're just smarter. We bludge just as much AND get more time off and don't get as much cancer. Winning!

  • by gatfirls ( 1315141 ) on Wednesday November 01, 2017 @05:31PM (#55472623)

    In my anecdotal experience it's the biggest slackers who notice and complain about stuff like that.

    Also it's been widely known for quite a while now that taking frequent breaks increases productivity because we work better in "sprints" that are rewarded in the short term with a break. If I recall correctly it was coincidentally 15 minutes per hour of work.

    Smoking is a gross habit and the 15 minute breaks are better spent doing something else but from an employer standpoint the 15 minute break people are getting more done than the people bitching about them.

  • I am a smoker - and I went through almost 12 months without anyone at that workplace even commenting.

    I was the first into the office in the morning, and the last out - for years.

    'Smokers' *already* know that they have to be 'seen' do do more to make up for the 2/3/4 5-min breaks a day.
    Even skipping lunch 'hours' to make them 'lunch-at-the-desk-while-working'

    The earlier post about the use of company time and resources on 'personal' use such as FB, I believe is a significantly worse issue, having seen what yo

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