While I would generally agree with you P-Mosh I don't find much of any excuse short of personal or family emergency to be a good reason to be late - or perhaps some force majeur as in "my truck broke down on the freeway halfway to work." Work is work - whether you are a smoker or work out type. I expect people to work, put in their hours, and get fair and just compensation. Smoke on your own time, work out on your own time, surf the net on your own time. As a friend of mine often said, "There's a reason they call it work."
While I would generally agree with you P-Mosh I don't find much of any excuse short of personal or family emergency to be a good reason to be late - or perhaps some force majeur as in "my truck broke down on the freeway halfway to work." Work is work - whether you are a smoker or work out type. I expect people to work, put in their hours, and get fair and just compensation. Smoke on your own time, work out on your own time, surf the net on your own time. As a friend of mine often said, "There's a reason they call it work."
I guess it varies depending on the job. Since we are salaried and support systems that often need to be up 24/7, we generally work more than 40 hours a week anyway. My typical week consists of me in the office between 7:00am and 5:00pm, with a few nights a week of me logging in to take care of something, and occasional weekend work. I am available via email almost all the time via my smartphone. So in this environment, management is generally more tolerant.
I've also never been criticized for my work ethic, and when I went to apologize to my director for taking a long lunch last Monday, she told me to not worry about it, especially since the week before I worked a few hours from home while I was on vacation. Still, others that I work with are criticized for taking long lunches regularly, which seems like a double standard since there are smokers who literally take a 15 minute break every hour. There is even one co-worker who may be in a position of being set up for trouble with the company because of his long lunches, even though I know for a fact he works every weekend.
For a full (8 hour) shift we allow one meal break of a 1/2 hour to one hour (usually agreed upon between the employee & the department manager), and two 15-minutes breaks. Smokers are not supposed to take additional breaks, but sometimes some will try it.
I worked with a couple of smokers a few years back who did as you described, but tried to convince us that they were taking six 5-minute breaks instead of two 15's. Except the walk to the front, getting the cigs, walking back, hanging up the coat etc always turned into 10+ anyway.
My personal peeve is the smokers who flick their used butts on the ground rather than using the ashtray.
My peeve is with service related jobs that require you to say you took a lunch break whether you did or not. (usually not)
And then weasel another hour or two a day out of you because they don't approve overtime but would hit the ceiling if you didn't complete the project you are involved in.
Don't even bother pointing out the legalities involved.
My Aunt works for UPS and she told me about how UPS handles breaks and lunches.
They log in and out of there computer terminals for lunches and breaks. The "clock" starts and ends for lunches and breaks from their work stations. At UPS there is a very strict on time limits and people do get fired for taking long lunches, breaks and coming in late. During the breaks and lunches is when they can take there smoke and use the restroom.
My personal peeve is the smokers who flick their used butts on the ground rather than using the ashtray.
You would hate to work where I do then. People take smoke breaks in the parking garage in a somewhat sheltered area near the elevators up into the building. As a result, the elevator area, as well as the elevators themselves, almost always smell like stale smoke, and you often find cigarette butts around the elevators if the cleaning people haven't stopped by yet.
I worked with a couple of smokers a few years back who did as you described, but tried to convince us that they were taking six 5-minute breaks instead of two 15's. Except the walk to the front, getting the cigs, walking back, hanging up the coat etc always turned into 10+ anyway.
My previous employer did not allow smoking on grounds. (As it was a major chemical manufacturing site, this was not unwarranted.) I knew several employees who made "perimeter checks" a couple of times a day. ;)
What if they have to use the restroom during a time that's not a break time? People ususally don't have control over when nature calls.
I have worked at jobs like that, especially logistics (warehouse) jobs where everything is timed down to the tenth of a second.
No one will tell you you can't use the restroom but once you do, no matter how quick you are, your chances of meeting quota are like the old "snowball in hell" saying. Same goes for getting a drink of water or stopping to tie your shoes.
I will tell you a story about your concerns that i was involved in .
I was trained to work at a site with a gal who did what you describe every hour or more she would go and puff a cig.
I started my day later than her so she would often tell me I didnt take break yet.... uh ok.
and then after a while she began taking break with me .. and longer than our time allowed esp. in the summer she would sit on the table outside for an hour or more smoking and talking on her phone .
ok. my boss told me she was the boss.
then even with the extra long breaks she would continue to sneak out without me and smoke another.
and we always ended the day at least 30 minutes early.
I got paranoid we had no supervision ( or did we?) people came and went often but we answered to no particular person .
they did their thing we did ours.
I requested nearly demanded a transfer from another supervisor without trying to say the "real" reason I wanted out .
She was in with one of the boss's who had no clue Or didnt care Im not sure which way it was.
we work for the state.
and i think she will be reported some day by a employee who is in a mood one day and wonder why in heck she seems to be never account for the time she puts in . Everyone knows NY is screwed and in debt and feels the pressure.
I was tansfered and I smoke only on breaks now. I do not know my work ethic got so frightened I couldnt take the sneaky and care free attitude that no one knows what we are really doing.
she is doing fine and the boss who thinks she is golden still loves her and screams her praise .
You would hate to work where I do then. People take smoke breaks in the parking garage in a somewhat sheltered area near the elevators up into the building. As a result, the elevator area, as well as the elevators themselves, almost always smell like stale smoke, and you often find cigarette butts around the elevators if the cleaning people haven't stopped by yet.
It sounds like management needs to establish an area for smoking away from the elevators. Do you have clients using the same elevators? Surely they wouldn't want them to smell the nasty horrible cigarette smell.
I work for the County, and we moved in to a new building a little over 3 years ago. The County Manager established that the campus would be a non-smoking campus. It's posted at all the entrances as you drive in to the parking lot. The public is always smoking outside as they walk up to the building. When we first moved there, we had a very zealous "security" woman who would always meet those people to tell them it was a non-smoking campus.
The County Manager is a retired Navy Captain with a nacisstic Type A personality. He even claimed employees could not go to their car and smoke. They have to go off County property to smoke. Imagine what that does to breaks? There's no enforcement of time on breaks or lunches. And employees are smoking in their cars coming in to the parking lot and as soon as they leave the parking lot. There's a business across the street who set up an awning and a picnic table with a butt can for the employees. It is a car repair place.
I don't take official breaks. I figure if I get stopped in my office to chat with someone during the day, that's my break. It does happen because we have over 50 people in our office, and I'm always on the move. So it's next to impossible for someone to stop you and ask you how you are.
Some other co-workers and I decided to start climbing the stairs on an afternoon break though. We are always aware of our time. I don't think the smokers are though. I think they believe they are entitled since they can't smoke on the property.
I have worked at jobs like that, especially logistics (warehouse) jobs where everything is timed down to the tenth of a second.
No one will tell you you can't use the restroom but once you do, no matter how quick you are, your chances of meeting quota are like the old "snowball in hell" saying. Same goes for getting a drink of water or stopping to tie your shoes.
That really puts people in a bad situation. Seriously....what if you had diarreah or if you were feeling dehydrated? I hate it when company production does not take humanitarian issues in to consideration.
I worked for NEC on an electronic assembly line. The whole management was from Japan. We worked like dogs. They had a cafeteria too so they could keep you there instead of people leaving for lunch and chance coming back late.
I HAVE to leave the premises for lunch. I need the mental break. I go home for lunch since I live about 7 minutes away. My husband meets me for lunch, and I am spoiled to have time with him in the middle of the day. Plus I get to see my dogs and give them a treat. It's a ritual I would never give up.
That really puts people in a bad situation. Seriously....what if you had diarreah or if you were feeling dehydrated? I hate it when company production does not take humanitarian issues in to consideration.
Hi Notta
What I was always told was that if you had something going on that would prevent you from "getting your numbers" (meeting quota) you shouldn't even bother coming to work. Of course, with labor unions being a faded page in the history books, there is really no one to stop such practices.
. Seriously....what if you had diarreah or if you were feeling dehydrated? I hate it when company production does not take humanitarian issues in to consideration.
One of the major reasons I decided to work for myself.
My heart goes out to y'all--I just couldnt bear that type of junk anymore--I smoke when I want to smoke, eat when I want to eat and siesta when i want to siesta...(I do also work :) )--but if its time to break out the fiddle and play for awhile--then its time to break out the fiddle---to me its all part of the job--Im definitely not the most efficient operation in the world but I do get the job done.....
Even when I hire someone--Im aware that the human element is much more valuable to the job that I do than some warped sense of efficiency and production.
I dont know how you do it, I have a pretty good work ethic, but I doubt I could ever have a job job again, If I had to put up with what some of you are describing I'd probably last about 5 minutes
Recommended Posts
RumRunner
While I would generally agree with you P-Mosh I don't find much of any excuse short of personal or family emergency to be a good reason to be late - or perhaps some force majeur as in "my truck broke down on the freeway halfway to work." Work is work - whether you are a smoker or work out type. I expect people to work, put in their hours, and get fair and just compensation. Smoke on your own time, work out on your own time, surf the net on your own time. As a friend of mine often said, "There's a reason they call it work."
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Mister P-Mosh
I guess it varies depending on the job. Since we are salaried and support systems that often need to be up 24/7, we generally work more than 40 hours a week anyway. My typical week consists of me in the office between 7:00am and 5:00pm, with a few nights a week of me logging in to take care of something, and occasional weekend work. I am available via email almost all the time via my smartphone. So in this environment, management is generally more tolerant.
I've also never been criticized for my work ethic, and when I went to apologize to my director for taking a long lunch last Monday, she told me to not worry about it, especially since the week before I worked a few hours from home while I was on vacation. Still, others that I work with are criticized for taking long lunches regularly, which seems like a double standard since there are smokers who literally take a 15 minute break every hour. There is even one co-worker who may be in a position of being set up for trouble with the company because of his long lunches, even though I know for a fact he works every weekend.
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Oakspear
For a full (8 hour) shift we allow one meal break of a 1/2 hour to one hour (usually agreed upon between the employee & the department manager), and two 15-minutes breaks. Smokers are not supposed to take additional breaks, but sometimes some will try it.
I worked with a couple of smokers a few years back who did as you described, but tried to convince us that they were taking six 5-minute breaks instead of two 15's. Except the walk to the front, getting the cigs, walking back, hanging up the coat etc always turned into 10+ anyway.
My personal peeve is the smokers who flick their used butts on the ground rather than using the ashtray.
Link to comment
Share on other sites
waysider
My peeve is with service related jobs that require you to say you took a lunch break whether you did or not. (usually not)
And then weasel another hour or two a day out of you because they don't approve overtime but would hit the ceiling if you didn't complete the project you are involved in.
Don't even bother pointing out the legalities involved.
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Zshot
My Aunt works for UPS and she told me about how UPS handles breaks and lunches.
They log in and out of there computer terminals for lunches and breaks. The "clock" starts and ends for lunches and breaks from their work stations. At UPS there is a very strict on time limits and people do get fired for taking long lunches, breaks and coming in late. During the breaks and lunches is when they can take there smoke and use the restroom.
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Mister P-Mosh
You would hate to work where I do then. People take smoke breaks in the parking garage in a somewhat sheltered area near the elevators up into the building. As a result, the elevator area, as well as the elevators themselves, almost always smell like stale smoke, and you often find cigarette butts around the elevators if the cleaning people haven't stopped by yet.
Link to comment
Share on other sites
GeorgeStGeorge
My previous employer did not allow smoking on grounds. (As it was a major chemical manufacturing site, this was not unwarranted.) I knew several employees who made "perimeter checks" a couple of times a day. ;)
George
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Nottawayfer
What if they have to use the restroom during a time that's not a break time? People ususally don't have control over when nature calls.
Link to comment
Share on other sites
waysider
I have worked at jobs like that, especially logistics (warehouse) jobs where everything is timed down to the tenth of a second.
No one will tell you you can't use the restroom but once you do, no matter how quick you are, your chances of meeting quota are like the old "snowball in hell" saying. Same goes for getting a drink of water or stopping to tie your shoes.
Link to comment
Share on other sites
pond
I smoke.
I smoke only on lunch and the one break .
I will tell you a story about your concerns that i was involved in .
I was trained to work at a site with a gal who did what you describe every hour or more she would go and puff a cig.
I started my day later than her so she would often tell me I didnt take break yet.... uh ok.
and then after a while she began taking break with me .. and longer than our time allowed esp. in the summer she would sit on the table outside for an hour or more smoking and talking on her phone .
ok. my boss told me she was the boss.
then even with the extra long breaks she would continue to sneak out without me and smoke another.
and we always ended the day at least 30 minutes early.
I got paranoid we had no supervision ( or did we?) people came and went often but we answered to no particular person .
they did their thing we did ours.
I requested nearly demanded a transfer from another supervisor without trying to say the "real" reason I wanted out .
She was in with one of the boss's who had no clue Or didnt care Im not sure which way it was.
we work for the state.
and i think she will be reported some day by a employee who is in a mood one day and wonder why in heck she seems to be never account for the time she puts in . Everyone knows NY is screwed and in debt and feels the pressure.
I was tansfered and I smoke only on breaks now. I do not know my work ethic got so frightened I couldnt take the sneaky and care free attitude that no one knows what we are really doing.
she is doing fine and the boss who thinks she is golden still loves her and screams her praise .
I felt like it was a time bomb working with her.
just sharing.
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Nottawayfer
It sounds like management needs to establish an area for smoking away from the elevators. Do you have clients using the same elevators? Surely they wouldn't want them to smell the nasty horrible cigarette smell.
I work for the County, and we moved in to a new building a little over 3 years ago. The County Manager established that the campus would be a non-smoking campus. It's posted at all the entrances as you drive in to the parking lot. The public is always smoking outside as they walk up to the building. When we first moved there, we had a very zealous "security" woman who would always meet those people to tell them it was a non-smoking campus.
The County Manager is a retired Navy Captain with a nacisstic Type A personality. He even claimed employees could not go to their car and smoke. They have to go off County property to smoke. Imagine what that does to breaks? There's no enforcement of time on breaks or lunches. And employees are smoking in their cars coming in to the parking lot and as soon as they leave the parking lot. There's a business across the street who set up an awning and a picnic table with a butt can for the employees. It is a car repair place.
I don't take official breaks. I figure if I get stopped in my office to chat with someone during the day, that's my break. It does happen because we have over 50 people in our office, and I'm always on the move. So it's next to impossible for someone to stop you and ask you how you are.
Some other co-workers and I decided to start climbing the stairs on an afternoon break though. We are always aware of our time. I don't think the smokers are though. I think they believe they are entitled since they can't smoke on the property.
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Nottawayfer
That really puts people in a bad situation. Seriously....what if you had diarreah or if you were feeling dehydrated? I hate it when company production does not take humanitarian issues in to consideration.
I worked for NEC on an electronic assembly line. The whole management was from Japan. We worked like dogs. They had a cafeteria too so they could keep you there instead of people leaving for lunch and chance coming back late.
I HAVE to leave the premises for lunch. I need the mental break. I go home for lunch since I live about 7 minutes away. My husband meets me for lunch, and I am spoiled to have time with him in the middle of the day. Plus I get to see my dogs and give them a treat. It's a ritual I would never give up.
Link to comment
Share on other sites
waysider
Hi Notta
What I was always told was that if you had something going on that would prevent you from "getting your numbers" (meeting quota) you shouldn't even bother coming to work. Of course, with labor unions being a faded page in the history books, there is really no one to stop such practices.
Link to comment
Share on other sites
mstar1
One of the major reasons I decided to work for myself.
My heart goes out to y'all--I just couldnt bear that type of junk anymore--I smoke when I want to smoke, eat when I want to eat and siesta when i want to siesta...(I do also work :) )--but if its time to break out the fiddle and play for awhile--then its time to break out the fiddle---to me its all part of the job--Im definitely not the most efficient operation in the world but I do get the job done.....
Even when I hire someone--Im aware that the human element is much more valuable to the job that I do than some warped sense of efficiency and production.
I dont know how you do it, I have a pretty good work ethic, but I doubt I could ever have a job job again, If I had to put up with what some of you are describing I'd probably last about 5 minutes
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.