The high cost of employees who smoke

Many people will argue the point that having someone in the office that smokes does more than just damage to that person and that there are many other disadvantages of having employees who smoke.The reality of the matter is that smokers cost businesses millions of dollars each year in various different forms.Here is some more information about the high cost of employees who smoke.

Having employees who smoke while at work has an immediate and very dramatic effect on the way work is done.The fact that smoke breaks are taken naturally interrupts the day for those who are going outside to smoke, but it also disrupts the day of the people who are still in the office who don't smoke.Even though a smoke break may only be 15 minutes, having someone cover work or do something else during an employee's smoke break can really make their day more difficult and frustrating.This makes them less effective employees and also affects the relationship between them and the employees that smoke.This is a bad dynamic to have in an office or other work environment, especially when people work in teams or are required to collaborate quite a bit while they are at work.

The cost of lost time is clearly evident for those who take smoke breaks.These breaks are supposed to take about 10-15 minutes and are given several times a day.This amount of time over the course a week totals at least a few hours if the employee is very strict with their observance of the smoke breaks, which is frequently not the case.This translates into very real costs for the business and the employees are paid for the time they spend outside while smoking instead of inside getting things done.The amount of time with multiple employees that smoke over the course of months or years becomes very substantial and motivates many employers to offer incentives to help their employees stop smoking, especially if they are already interested in quitting.

Many people find it difficult to understand what loss of productivity or decreased employee effectiveness or morale actually equates to in numbers, but there has been a lot of research about how much a smoking employee really costs a business in any given period of time.The Center for Disease Control and Prevention has estimated that the average cost of a person who smokes is about $3,400.This comes from about $1,700 in lost or decreased productivity and about $1,700 in additional medical expenses.While this doesn't seem like a lot of money to some businesses, especially larger ones, it can really add up quickly and make a significant impact on the employee and the business as a whole.These real costs can impact the bottom line and come directly from top line profit figures.If the employee didn't smoke, these costs wouldn't exist and there would be additional money to pay them a bonus or to have additional earning that could then be put back into the business.

Employees who smoke can also adversely affect the name and reputation of a business.While there are millions of people who smoke regularly, there are also many more who don't smoke and who don't appreciate it when others do.This is particularly aggravating to non smokers when they are working with a business and someone is unprofessional and starts smoking while doing business with them or indicates that they smoke, whether intentional or not.It's important for you to understand that there are many different ways having employees who smoke can affect not only your bottom line in the business, but the whole business and the culture you strive to create and keep intact.