Using a dangling carrot of extra days off for non-smoking employees is an “innovative” way to encourage those still using cigarette sticks to kick the habit, says a senior policy analyst with the Canadian Cancer Society.
Piala Inc., a Tokyo marketing firm, started offering six more days of vacation to non-puffing employees in September, saying it would make up for all those smoking breaks taken by their colleagues. Some employers in Canada offer on-site smoking cessation programs or a health incentive to join a sporting activity or gym, says Rob Cunningham, but he doesn’t know of a company offering extra vacation for non-smokers.
“It’s a very innovative idea. It’s the first time I’ve heard of it. There’s no doubt that smokers cost employers in terms of productivity,” he told CTV News Channel Thursday.
“So employers have a real incentive to encourage their employers to be non-smokers to increase productivity and to have this positive bonus…is a great idea.”
Hirotaka Matsushima, a spokesperson with Piala, told CTVNews.ca that 78 employees are taking advantage of the bonus vacation days and there has been no negative reaction from the company’s 42 smokers. In fact, four people have quit since the policy took effect Sept. 1.
The idea came from an employee complaint to the CEO.
“He pointed out substantive daily work hours are different between smokers who leave their desks frequently and nonsmokers,” Matsushima wrote in an email.
"I hope to encourage employees to quit smoking through incentives rather than penalties or coercion,” Takao Asuka, CEO of Piala, told Kyodo News.
Another Japanese company, an operator of convenience stores, chose coercion by banning its 4,500 employees from smoking during working hours, even while off-site.
The Conference Board of Canada found in 2013 that each smoker costs an employer more than $4,200 in productivity each year on average. A full $3,800 of that is due to unauthorized smoke breaks and $400 due to increased absenteeism. On average, each daily smoker and recent quitter took almost 2.5 more sick days in 2010 compared to employees who have never smoked, the conference board found.
The study concluded that the workplace is the most effective place to combat smoking, especially since employers have a strong productivity motivation to help employees kick the habit.
“If you have to descend from a high-rise building or if you have to walk off the property because more and more properties of employers are 100 per cent smoke-free even outside, it can cost a lot of time,” said Cunningham.
Smoking is still quite prevalent in Japan, where according to the World Health Organization, 21.7 per cent of adults smoke. That figure is about 40 per cent for men in their 30s. Many workplaces, along with bars and restaurants, still have smoking rooms. But the Japanese government is facing international pressure to cut down on public smoking before the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
In Canada, where smoking laws are more stringent, smoking is still the leading preventable cause of disease and death in Canada and 5.2 million Canadians smoke, says Cunningham.
