Where did this mess come from? Since August last year, the provisions of flexible working hours came into force. The supervisor may require the employee to work off the time spent out of the work to settle personal matters. And so it started... Going out for a cigarette divided the employees.
Why should a non-smoking employee work longer hours?
The employee which smokes takes breaks. There might be at least a few of them during eight hours. In total, they may take up to an hour, or even more. It is the time such employee is getting paid for, but does not actually work.
The Mazovian Marshall Office (Urząd Marszałkowski) was one of the first to implement this. Heavy smokers have to work half an hour longer there.
How does it look like in offices in Wroclaw? In the Lower Silesia, in Provincial and Marshall Offices (Urząd Wojewódzki i Marszałkowski), heavy smokers are not obliged to stay at work longer. At least for now.
"A cigarette break in the Lower Silesia Provincial Office (Dolnośląski Urząd Wojewódzki) is not being worked off," says Jarosław Perduta, the spokesman for the Voivode of Lower Silesia.
"The employees may use the lunch break for a cigarette," says Dagmara Turek-Samól, the press spokesman for the province marshal of Lower Silesia.
In the city hall there is an electronic system recording working hours. Theoretically, "ciggie breaks" during working hours are recorded.
"Every time an employee goes out for a break, for business or personal matters, it is recorded. We do not distinguish if the employee goes out to have a cigarette or to solve personal matters. Each private break needs to be worked off," explains Małgorzata Szafran from the press office of the Municipal Office (Urząd Miejski) of Wroclaw.
At the moment, the entrepreneurs are analysing this issue, but they are already talking about the losses caused by "ciggie breaks".
"The employers will make use of the possibility to extend the working hours for the smoker," Zbigniew Sebastian, the president of the Lower Silesian Chamber of Commerce (Dolnośląska Izba Gospodarcza), does not have doubts. "In my opinion, it might do the smokers much good, because they will have an opportunity to reduce smoking. And besides, why those who work are to be the injured party?
"I have encountered this problem decades ago while working at the construction site in the west. There the smokers limited their smoking, as they knew their colleagues frowned upon it. I think that it is not fair that some employees work while others have breaks. Maybe they should earn less?" wonders Krzysztof Mojzych, the entrepreneur, the director of the Lower Silesia Lodge of Business Centre Club (Loża Dolnośląskiej Biznes Center Club).
Is it possible or not, and on what grounds, to extend the working hours because of the "tobacco absence"? The National Labour Inspectorate (Państwowa Inspekcja Pracy) in Wroclaw is expecting this type of questions.
"At the moment we do not have any questions about this matter from the employers or the employees, but the subject is very controversial and we expect questions. The employers may follow the Mazovian Marshall Office (Urząd Marszałkowski), because such breaks mean real losses and lower productivity. It is possible that the National Labour Inspectorate (Państwowa Inspekcja Pracy) will request the interpretation of provisions," says Agata Kostyk-Lewandowska, the press spokesman for the National Labour Inspectorate (Państwowa Inspekcja Pracy) in Wroclaw.
But there are also those who think that there are no grounds for deducting the cigarettes breaks from working hours. Because according to the law, the work has to be performed continuously, and the only exceptions may be meal breaks.
The smokers, at least those working at the computers, don't lay down their arms and say that can use the allowed five-minute-break to "rest their eyes" for a "ciggie" instead.
Jarek Ratajczak
Photo by Janusz Krzeszowski
