Anti-smoking program in your company

Faster skin aging, lung cancer, ischemic heart disease are just some of the ailments that await smokers. Not to mention the similar effects of passive smoking. Therefore, there is more and more talk about introducing anti-smoking programs for companies to help employees get out of addiction.

Cigarette break during work

Going for a cigarette while working is up to 40 minutes a day and 20 days a year, which entails serious financial losses for employers. Labor law does not in any way apply to breaks related to smoking a cigarette. Therefore, general rules are adopted, according to which an employee who performs an employment relationship of more than 6 hours a day is entitled to 15 minutes of break, and over 8 hours - another 15 minutes. Therefore, this time can be used to eat lunch or go out for a cigarette. The employer may set other breaks in the regulations - e.g. for employees who smoke cigarettes, introduce 15 minutes of unpaid break, not included in the working time. The smoker will be able to divide this quarter into 3 breaks of 5 minutes each.

Anti-smoking program in the company

According to research, over 70% of smokers want to quit, so it is worth introducing some changes in your company that would be beneficial for both parties. In Poland, there are two programs for companies that decide to implement healthy reforms in their enterprises, namely: "Don't quit, or it will come back" and "Company without smoke". These programs are designed to improve the company's health and reduce the scale of tobacco addiction among employees. Moreover, there is nothing to prevent the employer from proposing, for example, anti-smoking workshops. Proprietary enterprise programs developed in cooperation with addiction treatment clinics are becoming more and more popular in this field.

If a company invests in an anti-smoking program, after a year it can get as much as 400% return on investment (this data is provided by anti-smoking program websites). In addition, you should take into account the profit related to:

• the smoker does not spend up to 40 minutes during the day on a cigarette break,

• the smoker did not stay on a longer sick leave, which was caused by a slower recovery after infections,

• not exposing co-workers to secondhand smoke, which would also affect their health,

• improving the concentration of employees after quitting the addiction.

Anti-smoking program and Employer Branding

The anti-smoking program is one of the areas of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Employer Branding. The introduction of such a program may be associated with building a positive image of a modern company that cares about the health of employees and is aware of the financial losses caused by an employee addicted to cigarettes. Moreover, such a company can be perceived as one that notices the problem and looks for effective methods to help solve it.

The employer also gains a trusted and stable team. Quitting addiction in most cases results in less stress for employees, better concentration and more efficient work. Throwing an anti-smoking program on a company deposit undoubtedly pays off with a better image of the company and financial profit.