Stratton-based KCJ Training and Employment Solutions is rewarding non-smoking employees among its 11 members of staff with four extra days of annual leave per year.
This benefit, which came into effect on 2 January 2020, has been implemented to compensate non-smoking workers with an equivalent amount of time to that gained by smokers taking additional breaks throughout the year. If employees can give up smoking for 12 months, they too will be awarded an extra four days of annual leave.
Don Bryden (pictured, right), managing director at KCJ, said: “I was watching the employees that smoke. They have four, five or even 10 cigarettes a day and take around 10 minutes outside each time. I looked at the other guys during these breaks and they’re always on the phones, typing away and trying to do their work, so I thought they should be compensated.
“Last year, I saw something on social media suggesting that workers who don’t smoke should have an extra four days off. Everyone was saying it was a great idea, but nobody said they would actually do it, so I came into work at the start of January feeling generous and told everyone we would kick it off.”
Bryden added: “I’m trying to give something back to the staff, little incentives to encourage them. We took all our staff and their partners to Spain for a long weekend, quad biking and whitewater rafting, and we had an awards ceremony for them later that year.
“It may not make the business more profitable, but it has created loyalty and a positive mindset and the feeling of being a family. The team is very motivated.“