Smoke breaks to come off meal allowance?

[dvbuk55]

Well I used to be a smoker until more than 10 years ago when I had a stroke and would strenuously advise any smoker to seriously attempt to give it up and can honestly say it is NOT as difficult as it may seem - I smoked for nigh on 40 years, it took 5 weeks with patches as support and I have never smoked since. Do I feel better for it, well not ostensibly but health wise you are supposed to. Am I financially better off, well I wouldn't say I am but obviously you have money to spend on other things.

But I digress, any time spent smoking should be deducted from any break time. When out on delivery you can smoke either on the move or a quick fag break. Whilst I was a smoker there was often the misconception it was a "quick" smoke but in reality it can turn into 10/15 minutes when there's a group or whilst thinking something through and one fag can quickly turn into 2. If there is the necessity for smoke breaks it should just be a break for everyone - if you choose to smoke so be it if you wish to do something else that's fine but I am of the opinion that there should NOT be any special treatment because you smoke.

[gluteus maximus]

i would say no, the manager can stop unauthorised smoke breaks during the working day, but cannot stop or amend your official break time lengths. Any absence from your designated duty will be dealt with as unofficial absence as to the conduct code.
Those break times will be an express term in your contract of employment. If he instigated such a policy then that will be a fundemental breach of your contract of employment

[VforVendetta]

Another great way to 'divide and rule'. I see it all the time. To get bitter unhappy workers to rant 'why should we when they do such and such'. It's a way of breaking up comradeship and unionism from the inside and I have never and will never have any part in it. People have half the workload I have, well good luck to them. People go out for a cigarette or go up to make cups of tea, is fine with me.
I am not a manager, I am a postman and my principles are solidarity with my work colleagues. I let managers get on with that stuff, that's what they are paid for.
Yes I think they can do this with the grace breaks. I don't agree with it and don't like being treated like a slave but then that's the way this job is going. Please do not add to it by whining and bleating. Stick together, it is all we may have within the next few years.

[Surreypostie]

I have worked with smokers who smoke while in the van so I have no sympathy. They put a stop to people going for a smoke in our office as generally they went off for a smoke just as we were called to go onto the IPS. Did it to themselves really.

[dvbuk55]

I have worked with smokers who smoke while in the van so I have no sympathy. They put a stop to people going for a smoke in our office as generally they went off for a smoke just as we were called to go onto the IPS. .

Passing those on the way to the bog no doubt.

[fishtank]

Bitter thread this....

The general although unwritten rule used to be that you could have a smoke break if a) It didn't affect others (no f***ing off during IPS etc) and b) It didn't cost the business anything ( no booking 20 minutes overtime if you've had 20 mins of smoke breaks etc). As long as nobody took the piss it usually worked ok.

It was a more civilised world back then and still is at our place but officially it's a fight you're unlikely to win.

[krussel]

You know reading this thread I find that some of us are our own worse enemy.

Let managers sort this out, this is what they are paid for.

[dvbuk55]

You know reading this thread I find that some of us are our own worse enemy.

Let managers sort this out, this is what they are paid for.

Well apparently when they do try to sort it out it doesn't sit too well with those it affects, hence this thread Times have changed a great deal from the friendly atmosphere that used to be - now many perceive they are working harder than some, it may be PT/FT, duty content or as in this case people taking an unscheduled break for a smoke. Everyone went on sorting and it didn't matter if people nipped out for a smoke because there was plenty of cover and some to spare - now it's very often a case of going over on IPS on a regular basis and non-smokers take umbrage.

[redheadedwoman]

Only allowed a fag at our Mail Centre when its break time and most people abide by this.

[UnhappyGremlin]

My manager better hope not.

They have about 10 to 15 a day, for up to 10 minutes at a time.

But then, that wouldn't count, would it?

[Caniel]

Smokers are allowed a fag but it comes out of their meal relief at my office and they seem content with that.

[Mezza]

And still everyone misses the whole point of this thread........

If your on delivery and smoke then taking a few minutes here and there for a smoke that has to come off your meal allowance isn't really an issue.
If your out on delivery you can smoke yourself stupid and nobody will know that all those fags should have come off your meal allowance.

I'm indoor staff - i have a 1.30 delivery within my duty, but for the rest of my shift i'm indoors. If i take 5 mins per fag off my meal allowance i end up with no meal break. Ok perhaps that seems fair,especially to a non smoker. But why should a smoker on delivery have the opportunity to have more fags than me and still claim most of their meal allowance when i can't?


And for the countless people that say smokers should just quit, why should smokers be allowed to skive etc etc etc.
In the same way us smokers could quit, you could start smoking, but it's still not what this thread was about in the first place, a fact about 90% of posters seem to have ignored !

[janitor]

In my old office managers turned a blind eye to smoking breaks, as long as it didn't impact on the job to much, the only time we had an issue was with one person taking the total piss, then managers timed his smoking breaks and deducted it off his overtime at the end of the week, they timed his smoking breaks to an hour a day, so that's what they deducted from his OT. Think he spent more time in the smoking shed than he did in the office, which wasn't good when he was covering the callers or security locker.

[hotfudge]

i don't begrudge people taking the ODD fag break. it is the ones that are out there on the hour, every hour that get my back up.

[TrueBlueTerrier]

But if i have to work 8 hrs a day (5-6 of which are indoors) when others are doing about 6 hrs work a day, why shouldn't i be allowed the odd smoke when i'm not busy?

1. Because people should be working all their paid hours, so they can't make a rule based on people not working all their paid hours.

2. Smoking within RM premises is illegal now so again they can't make a ruling about an act which isn't allowed. Even if you went off site to do it, they still can't officially recognise it.

3. There is no statutory right to a smoking break, so no-one should "expect" to be allowed one.

And still everyone misses the whole point of this thread........

I'll be frank, was there a point to the thread. You were either looking for support that it was unfair you couldn't take an occasional smoking break, some gave you that support. Or you were looking for a loophole or an agreement that allowed you to take smoking breaks - there isn't any.

Is it fair that people are not working all their hours, of course its unfair, but you shouldn't expect to take extra breaks based on others actions when they are outside of agreements. You could of course do exactly what they do, take unofficial breaks, and go home early, but you would be risking the same consequences but with a greater possibility of being caught.