This Japanese Company Gives Non-Smokers 6 Extra Days Off Annually
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In most offices worldwide, including Malaysia, smoking breaks are typical.
Smoking is a habit many employees have, and because they frequently take short smoke breaks during the workday, they end up with more time outside the workplace than non-smoking employees.
This is why one Japanese corporation decided to take action.
According to a report by The Telegraph, the marketing agency Piala Inc modified its paid time off policy after a non-smoking employee complained about the impact of smoke breaks on productivity.
After receiving and considering the complaint, the Japanese company provided non-smoking employees an extra six days off per year to compensate for the time smokers spend on cigarette breaks.
A few years ago, Hirotaka Matsushima, a spokesman for Piala Inc., told The Telegraph, "One of our non-smoking employees placed a note in the corporate suggestion box earlier in the year stating that smoking breaks were causing problems."
He mentioned that the frequent cigarette breaks caused many staff to be absent from their desks for 15 minutes or more daily.
The company's CEO, Takao Asuka, reportedly agreed to compensate nonsmoking employees with time off after hearing about the complaint.
Encourage employees to give up smoking.
The CEO had stated to the Tokyo-based news agency Kyodo News, "I hope to encourage employees to quit smoking through incentives as opposed to punishments or coercion."
CNBC reported that, according to the World Health Organization, Japanese men are three times more likely than Japanese women to smoke. It was also noted that Piala Inc.'s announcement of a new leave policy appeared to be achieving its intended purpose, with some employees having already quit smoking.
Shun Shinbaba, one of those new non-smokers, confessed to CNNMoney that he used to consume a pack of cigarettes every two days and intends to play tennis with his more free time now that he is no longer smoking!
In Japan, where most pubs and restaurants permit patrons to smoke, more businesses are ramping up their efforts to reduce smoking.
So, what do you think of this?
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