Company gives non-smokers more vacation days – 980 CKNW

A company in the U.K. has decided to give four extra days of vacation per year to non-smoking employees.

Swindon-based KCJ Training & Employment Solutions is planning to implement the new policy for non-smokers in early 2020.

“We’re proud to incentivize our staff to quit smoking and to create a healthy workplace within our KCJ offices,” the company said in a Facebook post on January 2.

Is it legal for a Canadian company to give non-smokers more vacation days or time off than smokers?

Jon Pinkus is an employment lawyer and partner at Samfiru Tumarkin LLP. He joined host Lynda Steele on Global News Radio 980 CKNW in Vancouver to discuss employee rights for smokers, and changes that an employer is allowed to make to reward or punish their workers based on their personal habits.

Listen to the interview below, and continue reading for more on this topic.

Is it legal for a Canadian company to give non-smokers more vacation days or time off than smokers?

There are no definitive laws or court decisions that provide a clear answer to this question. Therefore, in theory, employers can decide to give more vacation time to non-smoking employees.

There is, however, at least one B.C. case that touches on the matter.

“To my knowledge, there was a matter before arbitration years ago dealing with a union environment,” says Pinkus. “The employer was attempting to introduce some tough anti-smoking rules that would ban employees from smoking anywhere around the workplace.”

The arbitrator in that case ultimately rejected the employer’s rules. He found that smoking and nicotine addiction is a real problem. To ban employees from engaging in it altogether would have amounted to discrimination.

Pinkus believes that employers who decide to reward non-smokers over smokers run a risk of triggering a human rights complaint.

“For most people who smoke, their habit is a difficult addiction to break. Doing so can result in withdrawal symptoms, which can have a real impact on their health. That is especially the case if they try to do so quickly and without the proper guidance.”

Can an employer stop employees from taking smoke breaks?

Employers in British Columbia do not have to provide their employees with “smoke breaks.”

A company has the right to direct employees to use their actual breaks to have a smoke, rather than excessive small breaks. If employees fail to stick solely to actual break times, the excessive smoke breaks can be counted against their hours worked.

Statistics on Canadian smoking habits

• 4.9 million people smoke cigarettes either daily or occasionally (2008, Statistics Canada)
• Each smoker costs an employer, on average, around $4,200 in productivity each year (2013, Conference Board of Canada)
  • $3,800 of that amount was due to unauthorized smoke breaks and $414 due to increased absences
• Daily smokers take 2.5 more sick days than employees who have never smoked (2010, Conference Board of Canada)

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