Smoking recommendations make good business sense

Human Resources Magazine, August 2007

Much has been made about the NICE recommendations relating to smoking cessation in the workplace. In particular, many people have been debating whether it is appropriate to allow employees who smoke to have time off during working hours in order to seek smoking cessation help.

I believe argue that allowing smokers to seek professional assistance for their habit makes sense in a number of ways. On average, smokers take twice as much sick leave as non-smokers. If you add to this the fact that they take 40 minutes per day in unoffical smoking breaks, that equates to around a month less each year a smoker is actually present in the workplace compared to non-smoking colleagues. When you consider the associated business benefits of introducing an effective workplace programme, such as improved corporate image, reduced absenteeism and increased productivity and profitability, the decision seems to be a no-brainer.

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