Reply: Same three women every time actually.

It’s probably a good thing you *aren’t* an employer then, if that is your attitude. Such discrimination is most likely illegal in Australia, since it pretty much is in countries with very similar makeups. If you were to practice such discrimination, I doubt you would be in business for long.

I do not know how health insurance is run in countries with universal healthcare, but it is fairly common in the US to have a yearly limit on insurance. A smoker with the problems you have listed would very likely use up their insurance before the end of the year. No extra cost to the business, except for perhaps missed days.

You say you understand smoking is an addiction like any other, but I don’t really think you do. Most who take up smoking never imagine how dependent they’ll become on the things.

Basically, I do not think the office workers you see every day is a typical example, and to base the assumptions you make on the productivity of smokers solely on them is pretty ridiculous.

As a few people mentioned, it’s fine as long as it doesn’t affect their work performance and they get everything done. But… it depends on the job type – if they’re supposed to sit on their asses and answer phones or anything that requires constant attention, they shouldn’t just wander off. Another thing is if they get paid b hour…

As for breaks, I’m also against any extra breaks – everyone should have the same ones. Some of them can go smoking, while some wander off to make an extra cup of coffee.

In my office there is a designated smoking area which is … the hallway. My boss goes out for a cigarette every half an hour or so, when the drivers come along they all go on a massive cigarette break. If, I wanted to, I also could do it, since I wouldn’t have a problem with answering phones.

As for co-workers, I have an interesting story – in early 2000s my mother’s workplace had a smoking room where half of the office met up and chatted. My mother was envious because of social reasons and the fact they got extra breaks. Some people though, came up with a brilliant idea – they started smoking/pretended to smoke, just to mingle with the crowd. As of now, the room is gone and the smoke outside, I think they still have an extra break.

I’m not a smoker and I wouldn’t put up with people not doing their job because they feel they have to take a smoke instead. Just like I don’t put up with anyone not doing their job because of whatever reason. I’m not a boss but if it makes my workload heavier because of reasons like smoking, you bet I’m talking to someone (either the slacker or the boss if they don’t listen) because then I would either want something done about it or get more money for the extra work I have to take on.

However, at my former workplaces, everyone gets the same amount of breaks. By Washington state law, if you work a four hour shift, you’re entitled to a 15 minute paid break, all at once and not split up. If you work even a second over five hours, you’re required to take a 15 paid minute break and a 30 minute UNpaid meal break (again, can’t be broken up). At seven hours, you get two 15 minute paid breaks and the 30 minute unpaid meal break.

At some offices, it might work out a bit differently because there are slightly different rules if you’re paid for your lunch breaks and, if you’re not using a time clock, it’s more difficult to track, so I can see that system being abused.

That would be ridiculous and I’d be pissed as hell if someone else was doing that.

It’s not legal in Canada either to discriminate against someone who smokes, but employers can have set break times. However, where I was working over the summer, there was a person who didn’t smoke who would take hour-long lunch breaks and extra breaks throughout the day because it wasn’t regulated. So really, it depends on how you look at it, in terms of if smoking or not smoking is really a real reason not to work with someone or not to hire someone.