A Japanese company is giving non-smokers one major break to make up for several smaller ones afforded their smoking employees.
According to Telegraph.co.uk, the Tokyo-based marketing firm Piala Inc. is granting non-smoking employees an extra six days of paid holiday per year after those employees complained they worked more than staff who took frequent breaks to light up.
Company spokesperson Hirotaka Matsushima told the Telegraph that the idea came from a company suggestion box. Apparently, smokers had to travel from the 29th floor of a major office building to the basement to smoke with each break lasting around 15 minutes.
And out of that break grew resentment against smoking employees. The plan has only been in place since September but company officials said more than 30 of the company’s 120 employees have taken additional days off under the plan.
As for smokers, CEO Takao Asuka, told Kyodo News that he hopes the move also serves as an incentive for employees to stop smoking – this in a country where the World Health Organization reports that about 1 in 4 adults smoke.
