[LQQK]

Albert Steptoe.  Are you sure you are a window cleaner and not a reporter for the daily papers?

Silly comment.

Anyway, the law states an employee is entitled to a break of at least 20 minutes after working for 6 hours.

You dont offer that, as stated here

instead we tend to stop for the odd ten mins here and there.

You are breaking the employment laws.


I thought you wanted advice mate, if you dont like the answer dont bother asking in the first place.

[Sseddon]

I wouldn't employ a smoker. I smoked for 30 years and had a heart attack at 45 caused by smoking (according to the cardiologist). I don't want to be around someone who smokes. Aside from that, as an employee, it is ludicrous the amount of fAg breaks some take. Plus, don't forget, legally if you allow a smoker x fAg breaks a day, you have to offer non-smokers the same time off.

[Jack Wallace]

Albert Steptoe.  Are you sure you are a window cleaner and not a reporter for the daily papers?

Silly comment.

Anyway, the law states an employee is entitled to a break of at least 20 minutes after working for 6 hours.

You dont offer that, as stated here

instead we tend to stop for the odd ten mins here and there.

You are breaking the employment laws.


I thought you wanted advice mate, if you dont like the answer dont bother asking in the first place.

Yes I wanted advice, but instead from you i got criticism based on something I never asked about, If my guys CHOOSE to take a few breaks during the day instead of one long one I can’t stop them as I am not there. As I stated (which you chose to ignore) they can take a full lunch break IF THEY WISH!
My question was "are there any laws regarding smoking!" Which thanks to the helpful folk on here has been answered.

[LQQK]

If it was critiscism it was constructive critiscism, you ought be to take that if you're up to employing people.

In your original post you stated that you dont stop for lunch. Id have thought most people would be grateful if someone else pointed out an instance where they could be sued or criminalised, still each to their own.

Lets hope your employee doesnt do his own research and sue you.

[darren clarke]

how can the lad smoke if where you are working is classed as a work place  and smoking at a work place is banned? 

[D woods]

If he has only been working for you four a couple of weeks and he is already upsetting your other worker, just say to him it is not working out and replace him.

The longer you leave it the harder it will be to get rid of him.

[AuRavelling79]

It is against the law for an employee to smoke in a works vehicle.

[bobby p]

as long as he is doing  a normal amount of work, smokings not a big deal


 nobodys perfect !

[David Kent @ KentKleen]

Jack, some on here live in the real world, some dont, I know where you are coming from, to many out there dont like hard graft and are happy with there £50 beer money from cleaning windows. I personally run a similar system to you, with us grabbing breaks here and there thruout the working day and are all non smokers. Nothing against smokers at all but I hate to see them sat on a customers wall having a fAg break, as your employee you new guy cant smoke in the company vehicle so he must be 'lurking' around a customers property somewhere. Where does the fAg butt go?
IMO i like to keep it all 'pro' for the customer and think they appreciate it.
fAgs during his lunch break, no problem. (outside the van and away from customers)
Make it company policy, JOB sorted!!
good luck   

[alanwilson]

surely you set a target for them to meet?

Both our lads smoke and honestly I don't mind if they do as long as they don't smoke on or in properties.  Daily targets are always met and everyone is happy.

Ask your other lad who doesn't smoke if it is bothering him.

By the way - 8am to 4.30om is 8.5hrs, they are entitled to a minimum of I think 5mins per hour, atop being so miserable and just get on with it.

[Jack Wallace]

surely you set a target for them to meet?

Both our lads smoke and honestly I don't mind if they do as long as they don't smoke on or in properties.  Daily targets are always met and everyone is happy.

Ask your other lad who doesn't smoke if it is bothering him.

By the way - 8am to 4.30om is 8.5hrs, they are entitled to a minimum of I think 5mins per hour, atop being so miserable and just get on with it.

Alan I am not sure why you think I am being "miserable" I try very hard to be a good boss after many years of working for tos**s myself. My lads do have targets to meet; the lad I have put the new guy out with is very competitive and exceeds the target every day by enough to cover his wages plus his bonus. He earns extremely good money for a lad who is only 21
My concern is, by taking on someone who smokes it’s obvious he will never match up, which is ok as long as he at least hits the targets. but I don’t think he will if he is stopping every half hour for a 5 min cig break.
The problem in the short term is, as a 2 man team the targets have to be different, but if one guy is working hard whilst the other is hiding behind the van having a puff it annoys guy number 1 as it affects his bonus. How would you feel is someone was affecting your wages so you were having to work harder to carry him?
I don’t have a problem with the new guy in any other way, he is presentable and does a good job. He wishes to work slightly differently to us in so much as wanting to stop for a "full" 30 min lunch break but that’s no problem.
Out of curiosity I asked him to time guy number 1's breaks yesterday. Across the day he took 35 mins, Oh and was 5 mins late for work but that’s ok with me as I have said before.
Some of you have the impression of me as being a miserable old git who wants slaves working for him.
You could not be further from the truth, but I do expect an honest and equal day’s work for what I pay. I do not feel a smoker gives that.

[Sunshine/Cleaning]

It's obvious that you are comparing the two lads you have at the moment which is kind of unfair as one has more experience than the other. You also seem to come across as thinking smokers are slackers which is why, on a topic you started, you are getting some flack.

I have employed smokers and non smokers and never had a problem with the smokers, in fact one of the lads on this forum who helped me out with work recently worked his socks off, he is a smoker. A mate who helped out with some work who is a non smoker couldn't get past 1:30 and had to go and 'run some errands'. I'm a life long non-smoker by the way.

I'm sure you are a great boss and apologise for my sharp remarks if they offended. It's just when someone feels a 'group' of people are 'this or that' it comes over as unreasonable. (The why are JW's so cheap post is an example).

It's always a tough one when you have two different characters working along side each other, some work hard for the extra cash others are happy with their day wage. I hope you get it sorted as your No.1 guy sounds like a great worker.

[darren clarke]

It's obvious that you are comparing the two lads you have at the moment which is kind of unfair as one has more experience than the other. You also seem to come across as thinking smokers are slackers which is why, on a topic you started, you are getting some flack.

I have employed smokers and non smokers and never had a problem with the smokers, in fact one of the lads on this forum who helped me out with work recently worked his socks off, he is a smoker. A mate who helped out with some work who is a non smoker couldn't get past 1:30 and had to go and 'run some errands'. I'm a life long non-smoker by the way.

I'm sure you are a great boss and apologise for my sharp remarks if they offended. It's just when someone feels a 'group' of people are 'this or that' it comes over as unreasonable. (The why are JW's so cheap post is an example).
It's always a tough one when you have two different characters working along side each other, some work hard for the extra cash others are happy with their day wage. I hope you get it sorted as your No.1 guy sounds like a great worker.

i never started the cheap wc post to have a go at JW,  the reason i asked it was when i was knocking i was getting a lot of my wc charges less and when asked who he was they told me,  i know who they was and they where JW,  thats why i asked if it was just this area or JW in general,  as there seems to be a lot of them where i am

[Sunshine/Cleaning]

It's obvious that you are comparing the two lads you have at the moment which is kind of unfair as one has more experience than the other. You also seem to come across as thinking smokers are slackers which is why, on a topic you started, you are getting some flack.

I have employed smokers and non smokers and never had a problem with the smokers, in fact one of the lads on this forum who helped me out with work recently worked his socks off, he is a smoker. A mate who helped out with some work who is a non smoker couldn't get past 1:30 and had to go and 'run some errands'. I'm a life long non-smoker by the way.

I'm sure you are a great boss and apologise for my sharp remarks if they offended. It's just when someone feels a 'group' of people are 'this or that' it comes over as unreasonable. (The why are JW's so cheap post is an example).
It's always a tough one when you have two different characters working along side each other, some work hard for the extra cash others are happy with their day wage. I hope you get it sorted as your No.1 guy sounds like a great worker.

i never started the cheap wc post to have a go at JW,  the reason i asked it was when i was knocking i was getting a lot of my wc charges less and when asked who he was they told me,  i know who they was and they where JW,  thats why i asked if it was just this area or JW in general,  as there seems to be a lot of them where i am

Maybe not but it shows the leap our minds take when we start to assume things. Smoker=slacker, cheap window cleaner=JW or benefits cheat. Simply because that is one fact we know about them.

I'm sure you both didn't mean to sound polarized in your view, but that can be how things come across when you put 2 and 2 together. Same as I did with the 'Polished Insurance' scratched glass thread. Got that one totally wrong!! 

[s.w.c]

i would have thought running all day without breaks is risky when employing staff, as they run the risk of repetitive strain injuries due to lack of breaks, who are they going to blame for that.

[alanwilson]

Jack

Whatever way you look at it, its the issue of this guy stopping for smoke breaks that annoys you.  Why don't you let it go for a while and see how it goes?  After say a month ask the non smoker if he feels there are any issues to address and tackle it from there.