a smoking question??

Question

this is a long one.
my mother works in a paint factory.two years ago they brought the smoking ban in and provided a smoking shelter.my mother asked if she could smoke in her car in the company car park and was told no.she has to clock out to go to the smoking shelter. which is situated in the carpark .so she asked if she could leave her car outside company property and smoke in there, she was told no because she cant leave the property in her 15 min break because she gets paid for it . every thing was fine until they took two sides of the shelter down yesterday due to legislation. she is dreading winter coming as it will be freezing in the ''shelter'' can she legally ask not to be paid for her breaks so that she can leave the site to smoke out in her car?

dave s : i would love my mum to give up smoking, but she is a hard working law abiding citizen. shouldnt she be allowed the right to smoke if she so wishes or have smokers totally lost all rights in this country

cowboy: its not the company car. its her own. she doesnt want to inflict her smoke on anyone. she just wants to have a smoke in her own place on her own if need be

Answer 1

If she has to clock out and clock in again then technically during that period she's on her own time and should be able to go and have a ciggy in her own "off premises" car.

Answer 2

It sounds as though the cards ( health laws) have been stacked against the smoker on company property and bought labor time. How to maintain a healthy habit has been taken out of the hands of the employee because the product has been proved to be of great harm and costly law suits against a company,( to name a few) The risk of other health issues from being exposed to weather instead of shelter does cause a confrontation between those who are habit bound and those who are hell bound to save a life. Is this legal? the law would probably support the efforts made by the employer. these decisions need to be made before a product is manufactured for consumption, nip it in the bud, so to speak. The stress of forced pattern changes is also a health risk. But it is only a test.

Answer 3

I used to smoke years ago, and when I was at work all us smokers would have to smoke outside. There was no shelter of any kind. In the winter it was a bit cold yes, but the average cigarette only takes a couple of minutes to smoke, the same amount of time it might take to walk to the corner shop, she's not going to catch hypothermia.

They will have had to take the sides of the shelter down so that it is not an enclosed space, at least they still have the roof if it is raining.

Answer 4

I have heard of a lot of smoking stories in my time, but this one takes the cake imo. I don't really see why your mother can't smoke in her car, in the car park when the smoking shelter is in the exact same place.

It kinda seems like the managers of the company are just having a sook about it because they probably view people taking smoking breaks as a loss of productivity.

I don't know if you have a workers union where your mother works, but if you do I'd take the issue up with them.

Alternatively though, your mother could always give up smoking.

Answer 5

Tell her to do it and then take every other week off saying that she has a cold in winter. The company will still have to pay her and if she really does get sick she can sue for the company damaging her health. There are laws that state people have to smoke outside but also laws that protect the workers. Research up on them and you may find the whole thing a little contradicting.

Answer 6

Apart from the 'give up smoking' angle, which I know isn't as easy as all that, I don't see why your mother can't ask for unpaid break time to give her a chance to go out to her car and smoke in the winter. As long as she is not taking longer for breaks than everyone else and affecting productivity as a result, it shouldn't be a problem.

She should approach the employer about this. After all, she is the only one who will be losing out here by losing her wage for that 15 mins. Chances are the employer will be more inclined to just let her go than go through the hassle of calculating that 15 mins of unpaid time every day.

Answer 7

I am a non smoker and have never allowed people to smoke in my house or around my children but I do feel a bit sorry for smokers as it must be very hard to give it up. Perhaps you could help her to do so. Unfortunately my eldest son smoked up till the ban and all my nagging could not get him to stop. He has now given it up because of this ban so it is a good thing.

Answer 8

Every company in the UK have working conditions. Everyone is aware, or should be aware of what they are. The smoking law has changed and if the company deem you smoke outside then that´s what you do. The other alternative is to look for another job.
Once you are at work you should remain there. If every person that wants to go outside for a smoke clocks on & off everytime, it would be a nightmare for payroll office & management accounts. As I said, you have conditions of work and you must abide by them.
It may be a good idea to allow people to clock on and off for cigarette breaks, they might then realise how much time off they are getting and how costly the exercise would be to them when they get their payslip.

Answer 9

i think thats a bit extreme, its not as if any of her colleagues are going to be in the car with her while she smokes! I am supposed to clock out too when i take a smoke break, but i refuse to. The way i look at it, if we could smoke at our workstations we wouldnt have to clock out, its not our choice to go outside for a smoke. Your mum is lucky our job didnt even provide a shelter when they imposed the ban, we have to stand outside our building. I know there are lots of people who are going to jump on the bandwagon here and say we shouldnt be smoking, but i do and its my basic right to smoke if i want!!!! I work hard for my wage and should be allowed to spend it whatever way i want.

Answer 10

Unfortunately she has blown it I think by being to nice.
Why ask if she can sit in the car in the first place? Just do it! I am sure no one would have said anything.

Question is this. Is there a rule that says employees cannot visit their cars in break time? If there is then she must ensure that this rule is being applied to everyone else also. If not, then she can do what she wants inside her own car. It’s her property and she cannot be told not to smoke in it by anyone.

Answer 11

Here in Scotland the smoking ban has been in force for over a year now, and I'm sure there have been many instances such as this. Your mother should check her contract to see if she has the right to change her breaks to unpaid. Personally, I doubt it. She will just have to accept the rules like everyone else (I'm sure she's not the only smoker in the factory).