Smoke Breaks...

[FireSprint.com]

We no longer hire tobacco users.

The non smokers always got mad when they would look across the shop and see the other presses not running and get pissed off.

Were a 17 person shop and we pay for health insurance.

Our people take breaks as they need them. We don't schedule breaks and we take between 30 and 90 minutes for lunch, just make sure your team has your press covered on busy days.

We trust our people to get their work done without hurting themselves, and they do a phenomenal job at it!

 

[czar2178]

I honestly don't have a problem with this issue, I get the lost time and money and blah blah blah but we have 7 employees and I don't enforce anything with them. They take breaks whenever they want and for what ever time they want. They know what our work load is and they know what needs to be done, I know how long my jobs take to produce and as long as my production doesn't get affected I don't care. That being said I am very lucky my workers don't milk the clock they go above and beyond their responsibilities and will stay after work and off the clock when they know something needs to be done and its their fault it didn't get finished. I am by no means a huge shop but I am not small either so payroll does get crazy sometimes but work they do for me justifies me being lenient and I always make sure my workers are HAPPY because that turns into my customers being happy and my pockets being happy at the end of the day

 

[Bly]

As long as they get jobs out on time and don't screw up too much I don't mind them taking a breather now and then.
Your staff are your most valuable resource. It pays to look after them.

 

[ams]

I give 30 minutes for lunch and limit smokers to 4 cigarettes per day.

 

[decalman]

My employee chews on celery sticks only. we're both health promoting vegetarians

 

[decalman]

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.

Smoking.... what a filthy habit.