This Company Just Gave Non-Smokers 6 Extra Days Off To Compensate For Cigarette Breaks

A company in Japan has taken a creative approach to motivating its employees to quit smoking. Piala Inc., a Tokyo-based organization, is giving its non-smoking staff six extra days of vacation per year. Introduced in September, this new policy is meant to compensate for puffing-related breaks, which are said to consume about 15 minutes each.

“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,” Hirotaka Matsushima, a spokesman for the company, told The Telegraph. “Our CEO saw the comment and agreed, so we are giving nonsmokers some extra time off to compensate.”

The company’s head office is on the 29th floor of an office block in the Ebisu district of Tokyo. Anyone wanting a cigarette had to go to the basement, taking around 15 minutes for each trip.

At least 30 of the company’s 120 employees have already taken advantage of the perk and taken extra time off since the changes have been made. According to the company, the scheme has also encouraged at least four people to kick the habit.

“I hope to encourage employees to quit smoking through incentives rather than penalties or coercion,” Piala Inc CEO Takao Asuka told Kyodo News. The World Health Organisation reports that 18.2 percent of Japanese adults smoke (the figure is higher among males and older generations). Do you think non-smokers should get more paid leave than smokers? Or is that unfair to those who smoke? Let us know in the comments.

Piala Inc. head office is on the 29th floor, so anyone wanting a cigarette has to go to the basement, taking around 15 minutes for each trip