Smoke Breaks...

[PhilaWraps]

How do you guys deal with smoke breaks? We are a 10 person company, time clock, payroll and all the normal stuff. We are in the state of PA and the law requires 30min of break time per 8 hour shift. Personally, I really don't care what the guys do on their breaks but my installers have developed this thing where they smoke at 10:30 for 5-8 min and then again at 2:00 for the same amount of time.

 

[Quark]

if that's is all they take you're among the luckiest ones

 

[AKwrapguy]

We get two 15 min breaks each day. 10am and 3pm, we can do what ever we want on them.
If they're only taking 10-16 minute breaks but law dictates that they can take up to 30, I guess I'm not seeing the issue aside from not complying with state regulations. Or are you upset that they're taking breaks at all?

 

[Gino]

So, they're leaving almost 1/2 of their breaktime behind and giving it back to the company.

What is your beef with them obeying the law and doing something on their own for 5 to 8 minutes.

 

[papabud]

is this just that you see smoking as a bad habit and not needed.
how do you handle bathroom breaks or grabbing a soda.
are they falling behind on their work cause of it.
sounds like a pretty small price to pay for happy productive employees
you could offer a company provided stop smoking offer of addiction help. or cash incentives to help break the habit.
or do a tobacco drug screen and fire anyone that smokes.
how big of an issue is it to you and what do you see as the issue is the bigger question.

 

[2B]

is it a safety factor, do you have flammable items where they smoke?
are you getting complaints from customers about smoke smells on the products?
do they smell like smoke in the shop? get them some fabreeze / oust spray

if that is the only break they are taking, sounds like you have good employees to me

 

[ProColorGraphics]

My guess is they are taking those on top of their lunch break. Otherwise there wouldn't be an issue.

 

[TimToad]

My guess is they are taking those on top of their lunch break. Otherwise there wouldn't be an issue.

The lunch break is considered a separate unpaid break according to the labor dept.

It seems like each state sets their own rules but in most states it appears that a 10 minute paid break is due for every four hours worked.

Certain industries like restaurants and farms aren't held to the same rules and don't even have to adhere to the minimum wage if the employee earns tips.

The current administration is attempting to relax the labor dept. rules that govern tipped employees to allow employers to keep part or all of an employee's tips without penalty.

 

[Gino]

Don't know what country you're from, but when working more than a six hour day, you must by law take at least a 30 minute break for lunch, along with a 15 minute break period midway between (or close to it) both morning and afternoon. Lunch breaks can be paid by the employer or not, but the 1/2 hour is mandatory.Once you enter into overtime, the rules change and for the employee's benefit.

As for the rules changing in the restaurant business, your take on it is ALL wrong. ​

Seems this was the way years ago. Front person gets the tips and keeps the tips, while the dishwashers, cooks and other behind the scenes people didn't receive much, other than a little higher pay. The new way will help distribute ALL of the tips more fairly among EVERYONE preparing the meals, cleaning up and bussing. The way obama had it set up, the front people were keeping almost all of it and not sharing at all. Nice buncha people, huh ?? When these people were left to do on their own what they deemed fair, they screwed their fellow employees.

 

[ikarasu]

It sounds to me like they're leaving 4-5 minutes early to take a smoke break, before going on their normal break. We had some people like that in my last job. All the non smokers got pissed because management allowed it, and if a non smoker was sitting down at the break table 5 minutes before break, they got in shit.

If that is the case... Tell them their break is 15 minutes, not 15 + 5 for a smoke. Otherwise you're not smokers are going to start doing it too, and your 15 minute break turns into 20 for everyone. And while 10 minutes a day extra might seem like nothing, thats an extra hour of unworked time per week.

It also depends on the employees. My current company we have a 30 minute paid lunch, and no breaks, paid or otherwise. When we're slow... We can sit around, or just stand around and chat for a bit. So long as everyone is done all their work, the powers that be don't mind. Everyone here usually groups up and works on cleaning, or doing machine maintenance, or some other menial task though.

So.. it all depends on your work culture, if it's causing a problem, or you forsee it to start causing one. But I'd say if theyre leaving 5 minutes early everyday, and not just once in awhile when there's nothing to do, it'd be a problem and you should put a stop to it.

 

[mmblarg]

Personally, it's a real kick in the pants to work for a company that sticks to absolute minimum requirements. Every job I have ever worked has done two 15 minute paid breaks with one unpaid lunch (and lunches were always either the minimum 30 min or a full hour.) At my current position it is technically the two 15 minute breaks with an unpaid hour lunch - though we are a 3 person team and none of us take the company up on the breaks.

 

[MikePro]

Union shop here, same breaks since 1980: 10-10:10, 12-12:30, 2:30-2:40. Smoke em' if you got em!

 

[AKwrapguy]

How do you guys deal with smoke breaks? We are a 10 person company, time clock, payroll and all the normal stuff. We are in the state of PA and the law requires 30min of break time per 8 hour shift. Personally, I really don't care what the guys do on their breaks but my installers have developed this thing where they smoke at 10:30 for 5-8 min and then again at 2:00 for the same amount of time.

After re-reading it and the limited information given, if you take the elliptical orbit of the moon on leap years, divided buy the circumference of the earth, and multiply by Pi, it pretty obvious whats going on here.

 

[TimToad]

Personally, it's a real kick in the pants to work for a company that sticks to absolute minimum requirements. Every job I have ever worked has done two 15 minute paid breaks with one unpaid lunch (and lunches were always either the minimum 30 min or a full hour.) At my current position it is technically the two 15 minute breaks with an unpaid hour lunch - though we are a 3 person team and none of us take the company up on the breaks.

We're also a three person team and rely on each other heavily throughout the day.

As an employer, I want to be in full compliance with the labor laws for several reasons which protect the company and the employees but mostly because it confirms our integrity, business ethics and commitment to our employees. We also don't want an employee who may be let go having any legal ammo to use against the company in the event the separation didn't end on amicable terms. We've had an employee quit, apply for unemployment and lie about the circumstances of the separation and we had to spend time providing the proof of what actually happened.

From a morale and fatigue perspective, we also don't want to create an environment where an employee feels put upon or jilted out of anything they legally have coming to them. Well rested, happy employees are more productive, loyal and less likely to be injured on the job. A lot of sign work is very repetitive and we do use power tools, sharp cutting blades, etc. We also spend several hours at a time in front of our computers. I'm very concerned about eye fatigue, ergonomics and carpal tunnel if a person feels forced to work four hours straight doing repetitive motion tasks.

We're all in it together and we sink or succeed together.

If occasionally an employee has an event or appointment that they need to leave a half hour early to attend, I'd still expect them to take their breaks and lunch that day. If we can't eat the occasional fifteen minutes or half hour worth of labor time to be good to our employees, we're not charging what we should be charging. We have local competitors doing printed wraps without lamination, not even paying the federal holidays, offering any benefits, etc., but we are the ones with the best reputation. A connection to how we run things and treat our employees? I hope so.

 

[Johnny Best]

It takes 3.5-5 minutes to smoke a cigarette. If they are hard workers then a break should be allowed and deserved. Years ago when I did smoke we did it while we worked. If we did take a break it was just to relax for 10 minutes or so. If your installers are doing a good job then you should let them take a smoke break and give them some slack.
Do you have an office on the second floor with a big window to look out over the shop floor to keep tabs on everyone? By your original post it sure sounds like it.

 

[TimToad]

Federal break laws are conspicuously absent on the issue of restaurant workers. Agricultural businesses are exempt from some of the same labor protections other industries are bound by. I'm sure the lobbying efforts of the various restaurant and agricultural industry associations have a little to do with that.

It appears that agricultural and restaurant businesses are either exempt or not covered by the same labor laws other industries are bound by according to these:

What Is the Agriculture Exemption for Fair Labor Law?

Laws & Regulations for Breaks for Restaurant Employees

 

[AKwrapguy]

It takes 3.5-5 minutes to smoke a cigarette. If they are hard workers then a break should be allowed and deserved. Years ago when I did smoke we did it while we worked. If we did take a break it was just to relax for 10 minutes or so. If your installers are doing a good job then you should let them take a smoke break and give them some slack.
Do you have an office on the second floor with big window to look out over the shop floor to keep tabs on everyone? By your original post it sure sounds like it.

His office smells of cedar and he has many leather bound books. He's a man about town and doesn't take no for an answer. He's got it all figured out and his thumb on the pulse of the people. He knows what you want before you do.

 

[Terry01]

Sounds like you are penny pinching and your business is going down..Go out and find
some more work and leave the workers alone..I know it sounds hard, but it's too easy
for those employees to go and buy cheaper Chinese manufactured printers and cutters,
and go into direct opposition to you. If your daily work load is being done, be thankful you
have devoted employees.

 

[Brands Imaging]

Sounds like it’s in addition to the lunch

 

[equippaint]

You should just sit everyone down and bring it out in the open.
I had a guy quit over smoking a few months ago when i put my foot down. He came back a month later. We only have 1 smoker and it got to be out of control. We have flammable materials all over our shop and he would constantly have a cigarette in his mouth with a cup of laquer thinner or acetone in his hand. Butts all over in front of the building, smoking in customers trucks/machines. It was a slippery slope. We had rules but they were ignored so policy changed to no smoking anywhere on the property. If someone smokes once an hour for only 5 mins it doesnt seem like much but thats 40 mins/day and over 3 hours a week. So all in his habit was costing me over $3k per year not including taxes and workers comp. this doesnt include the lost productivity from stopping in the middle of jobs. Hardly fair to me or the other non smoking employees.
Ill add that i worked at an equipment company thats entire shop burnt down from an employee putting a cigarette into the trash can.