Smoking employees can not be considered as a factor affecting the formation of their wages, the press service of the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Russian Federation said. They noted that this approach can be regarded as discrimination in the labor sphere, which is prohibited by law.

“According to the Labor Code, restricting rights or establishing benefits that are not related to the business qualities of workers is unacceptable ... Thus, smoking cannot be considered as a factor taken into account when establishing wage systems,” TASS quoted the ministry as saying.

It is noted that the Labor Code provides the employer with all the tools to ensure labor discipline in such a way that breaks for a smoke break do not affect work processes.

“The code also provides for employers the possibility, by agreement with the employee, to establish flexible working hours; create conditions for a healthy lifestyle for workers, ”added the press service of the Ministry of Transport.

The department noted that they support work aimed at improving public health, including smoking cessation.

The department noted that they support work aimed at improving public health, including smoking cessation. A comment from the Ministry of Labor followed in response to one of the points of the Health Ministry's Public Health Promotion program published last week.

In it, among other recommendations, in the section on smoking prevention, employers were asked to introduce a system of fines and incentives for smoking employees.

To implement this practice, it was supposed to assess the economic losses incurred by the enterprise due to tobacco consumption by employees, and based on this, develop a flexible system of sanctions and incentives.

In addition, the Ministry of Health proposes to introduce at the enterprises a whole series of measures aimed at combating smoking. For example, to equip places for exercise and plates with apples near the workspace, which can be an alternative for workers to smoke breaks. Another measure is the organization of contests and competitions between employees, united by the theme of a healthy lifestyle.

In any case, so far these proposals are advisory in nature and not binding, Oleg Salagai, Deputy Minister of Health of Russia, explained.

“To introduce or not to implement these or those practices is a question that must be decided by employers on their own. There can be no talk of any directivity, ”the official said on the television channel Russia 24.

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Serious problem

Commenting on recent reports on smoking, the sober Russia project leader and member of the Public Chamber, Sultan Khamzaev, in an interview with RT, expressed the view that tobacco use does harm the economy.

“We calculated that the average smoker per day underperforms from 3 to 4 hours. That is, the process of smoking itself takes about so much time. Reaching the place, standing for a smoke, going back - all this is what a person does during working hours. This, of course, negatively affects his performance and the performance of his institution, ”said Khamzaev.

According to the expert, this situation is unfair to non-smokers who receive the same salary, although they spend more time at the workplace. The interlocutor of RT also expressed the opinion that many smokers work worse than those who abandon this habit.

“The smoker in the long run is less efficient at work. He is always in a bad mood, health problems, etc. ... Therefore, we support the initiative of the Ministry of Health, ”concluded Khamzaev.

Emphasis on promotion

In turn, the chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Social Policy, Valery Ryazansky, in a conversation with RT, noted that it would not be possible to introduce a system of fines proposed by the Ministry of Health without having previously agreed on this with the employee. Therefore, according to him, it is more effective to encourage workers.

“First of all, I would take advantage of motivational methods. Because, of course, penalties can hardly be introduced due to the fact that for this it is necessary to make special exceptions to the collective agreement in order to take advantage of such sanctions, ”the senator noted.

He also recalled that in Soviet times, extra days for vacation were received by people who did not take sick leave, regularly engaged in sports and took care of their health.

“So here any forms are good that could save people from bad habits,” he added.