Smoking wastes time: Japan firm gives non-smokers 6 extra days’ leave

Non-smoking employees at one Japanese firm are getting six additional days of paid holiday to compensate for the time their colleagues spend puffing away at work.

Piala Inc, a Tokyo-based online commerce consulting and marketing company, kicked off the programme in September after an employee complained that non-smokers were working more than smoking colleagues who frequently disappear to light up.

''Because our office is located on the 29th floor … it takes at least 10 minutes for a smoker to go down to a common smoking room in the basement and come back,'' spokesman Hirotaka Matsushima said.

''But at the same time, it's true that smoking room conversations are mostly about work … they exchange ideas and consult each other. So we decided it's better to give rewards (to non-smokers) than punish the smokers.''

Matsushima further said, "One of our non-smoking staff put a message in the company suggestion box earlier in the year saying that smoking breaks were causing problems.

"Our CEO saw the comment and agreed, so we are giving non-smokers some extra time off to compensate."

"I hope to encourage employees to quit smoking through incentives rather than penalties or coercion," Piala Inc chief executive Takao Asuka told Kyodo News.

Employees have been quick to take advantage. To date, no fewer than 30 of the company's 120 employees have taken additional days off under the new system since it was introduced in September, said Matsushima - himself a non-smoker who has used the additional paid holidays to take his family to a hot spring resort for a couple of days.

The scheme has also encouraged four people to give up smoking, he added.

According to the World Health Organisation, 21.7 per cent of Japanese adults smoke. The figure is higher among males and older generations.

Japan lags behind other developed nations in terms of smoke-free policies and the social pressure to quit is less intense.

Unlike many western countries, smoking is permitted in certain sections of restaurants. But most companies in Japan have banned smoking in the workplace and set up smoking rooms and tobacco use has been falling, in line with the global trend.

The Telegraph reports that Japanese companies are increasing efforts to protect employees from the impact of second-hand smoke, with Lawson Inc, an operator of 24-hour convenience stores, in June banning smoking in its head office and regional offices.