Washington Employers: Time to Rethink Smoke Break Policies?

I saw a meme that talked about how a Japanese company gave its non-smoking staff extra vacation days since they saved time by not taking smoke breaks, and there were many successes that resulted from this action.

I was curious if this was true or just a meme, so I did some digging. Indeed, it is true, and I feel it could work great for Washington businesses.

For the record, I’ve never smoked a day in my life, but my entire family smoked for the entirety of my upbringing. My father was able to kick the habit due to heart issues and a hospital visit and has been smoke-free for 15+ years.

Although I’ve never smoked, I’ve often joked about 2nd hand-smoking 3 packs a day because of my friends and family’s practices, and at every job I had, when I needed a break from work, I would jokingly tell others I was going for a smoke break, or suggest to my co-workers/friends who did light up, “smoke break?”

Wesley Mc Lachlan via Unsplash

Would I have taken so many ‘fake’ smoke breaks if I knew I’d get extra vacation days? Would my co-workers and friends attempt to quit smoking if they were rewarded by their jobs? The answer, at least according to the Japanese company called Piala Inc., is yes.

The Japanese Company & It’s Non-Smoking Rewards

In 2017, news broke how a Japanese Company called Piala Inc. started giving extra vacation days to their non-smoking staff in compensation for all the time their smoker counterparts took on ‘smoking breaks’.

Thong Vo via Unsplash

The news from CNBC stated how the company’s CEO, Takao Asuka, wanted to get people to quit smoking. The company was located on the 29th floor, which took quite a bit of time for a successful smoke break, and staff started to complain about the unfairness. With the new policy, it hoped to reward good behavior and give smokers an incentive to drop the bad habit.

Will A Non-Smoking Employee Incentive Work In Washington State?

When I applied for a part-time job at Hollywood Video (that should tell you how long ago this was), the boss who was interviewing me only jotted one thing down in her notes about me. And that was after I asked about lunches and breaks; she told me how it was pretty easy going as long as there is coverage, so “if I need a smoke break, if it’s covered, go for it.” When I told her how I didn’t smoke, she went to her clipboard. I later found out that she checked the box “hireable” on her company’s form.

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Will something like this work in Washington? I think so. Where companies are so focused on productivity and efficiency, it is a no-brainer. The staff isn’t taking as many smoke breaks; 15 minutes here and there adds up fast, especially throughout the year. If they are able to kick the habit, that’ll result in fewer sick days, and the employees will be happier (since they’ll be healthier, get the extra days off from work, and, in a way, get a pay raise after they realize how much money they save from not buying cigarettes).