The topic of conversation this week seems to be “Employee Smoke Breaks”. We are consistently hearing any of the following:
- My employees walk in the front door, sign in and immediately go out the back door for a smoke break.
- Employees are taking 6 and 7 smoke breaks a day.
- Employees who don’t take smoke breaks are questioning why the smokers get so many breaks.
- How many breaks do I have to give employees?
On all of the above, you have to ask yourself the questions, “What is the message I am sending to the rest of the employees?” In the state of Maryland, employers do not have to provide any breaks. Yes, I will say that again, “in the state of Maryland, employers do not have to provide any breaks.” On the other hand, we think it is important to productivity to allow your employees a few minutes away from their work area to refresh.
If your employees are coming in the front door, signing in, getting their coffee and/or heating up their breakfast and then walking out the door again to have a smoke, you need to bring this to a screeching halt. You either need to re-enforce your attendance and punctuality policy or you need to establish one. This is also considering that you have a meal and break policy and are re-enforcing that one too.
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