Piala Inc is offering non-smokers extra vacation days. (Representative Image)
A company in Japan is giving employees who don't smoke an extra six days off to make up for smokers' cigarette breaks. Tokyo-based marketing firm Piala Inc introduced the policy after an employee complained about cigarette breaks affecting productivity, according to CNBC.
The company's office is on the 29th floor, and anyone needing a cigarette break would have to go to the basement. The breaks would usually last 15 minutes, which led to resentment amongst employees who don't smoke.
After hearing about the complaint, the company's CEO, Takao Asuka, decided to grant six extra days of paid leaves to non-smoking employees as compensation.
"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," said Hirotaka Matsushima, a spokesman for Piala Inc, according to CNBC. "Our CEO saw the comment and agreed, so we are giving non-smokers some extra time off to compensate."
"I hope to encourage employees to quit smoking through incentives rather than penalties or coercion," Mr Asuka told Kyodo News.
An increasing number of companies in Japan are stepping up efforts to curb smoking, where most bars and restaurants allow customers to smoke. Last year, Tokyo's city government also passed strict anti-smoking rules ahead of the 2020 Olympics.
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