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CIGARETTES

Smoking on the rise in France despite rollout of plain packaging

Attempts by the French government to discourage the population from smoking appear to have burnt out as new figures reveal a rise in the number of smokers.

Published: 2 May 2017 10:32 CEST
Smoking on the rise in France despite rollout of plain packaging
Photo: Lara Cores/flickr

It's perhaps a cliché that the French love their cigarettes, but as they say, there's no smoke without fire.

In fact new figures reveal that even despite the French government's controversial efforts to turn the population off cigarettes, the number of people smoking has gone up.

Since France introduced a ban on branded cigarettes in January 2017, more packets of cigarettes have been sold compared to last year when branding was allowed, according to the country's Customs Office (L'administration des Douanes).

In March alone the French bought four million packets of cigarettes, over four percent more than during the same period last year.

Throughout the first four months of 2017, the French shipped over 1 percent more tobacco products into the country than they did in the same period of 2016, officials say.

French health authorities have however dismissed the significance of the figures. 

“The neutral packet is aimed at changing tobacco’s image and is principally aimed at younger people. Its impact on consumption will only become apparent in the medium or long term future,” said a statement from the Health Ministry's General Directorate of Health (DGS).

“Most current tobacco consumers are already dependent and the change in packaging alone will not encourage them to stop smoking, even if it can contribute to this,” it added.

And while tobacco consumption seems to be on the rise, an increasing proportion of the French intend to quit. According to the Office of Drugs and Addictions in France, sales in nicotine patches and chewing gum has increased by 29 percent since last year.

When neutral, brand-less packaging was introduced at the start of this year it cost the French state around €100 million to reimburse tobacco businesses for the loss of 15 million branded cigarettes that they were no longer able to sell.

Smoking is a factor in around 78,000 deaths in France each year – making it the leading cause of premature death in the country. Around a quarter of adults and a third of teenagers indulge in the habit, according to World Health Organization figures.

by Blyth Brentnall

The French and smoking: Is France really Europe's chimney?

The French and smoking: Is France really 'Europe's chimney'

 

HEALTH

German restaurant owner gives non-smoking employees extra holiday

Would you give up smoking for more time off work? A restaurant owner in the western German state of Rhineland Palatinate has started offering employees who don’t smoke five days of extra holiday.

Published: 23 September 2020 16:19 CEST
Updated: 23 September 2020 18:06 CEST
German restaurant owner gives non-smoking employees extra holiday
Glas (r) and head chef Grüning sit at a table in the restaurant designated for non-smokers. Photo: DPA

“I give employees who don’t smoke five days more annual leave to compensate them for the extra cigarette breaks taken by smokers,” said Helmut Glas. 

Some may see this as patronising, but in his eyes it helps keep the peace at work. 

“Before you could sense some hostility toward the employees who smoke. You’d hear non-smokers mutter things like ‘oh, he’s off for another cigarette break’,” said the 44-year-old restaurateur. 

READ ALSO: Germany set to ban cigarette street ads from 2022

“And they have a point: if you tally up the extra breaks that smokers take, you won’t believe how much working time is lost.” Now, he says, peace has been restored. 

Glas, who runs the country inn Jägerstübchen in the town of Neustadt, remembers exactly when he came up with the idea to offer non-smokers more holidays.

Conflict resolution

“I announced the decision at the Christmas party. It received quite the reception,” explained Glas. He had sounded out the idea beforehand and was therefore largely greeted with approval.

“When I told my employees one of the smokers said ‘great, now I won’t have to deal with rude comments every time I take a cigarette break’’”. Five of his employees smoke and seven don’t – and he doesn’t smoke either. 

One of his employees tried to quit smoking to receive more annual leave, but Glas caught him in the basement with a cigarette. The employee may not have kept the extra holiday, but at least he kept his job, said Glas.

Glas in his restaurant. Photo: DPA

His head chef Steffan Grüning, on the other hand, is trying to persevere: he has given up after smoking for 15 years. 

“The prospect of getting more annual leave was the key motivating factor”, explained the chef. Before a pack of cigarettes would barely last him two days. “The initiative is definitely improving the atmosphere at work,” said the 32-year-old.

But is he not annoyed that he’s received five more days of annual leave this year, only to be stuck at home due to the coronavirus pandemic? “I don’t mind,” says Grüning with a smile, “the main thing is that I have more time off.”

According to data from 2017, 26.4 percent of men and 18.6 percent of women in Germany over the age of 15 are smokers.

Is the policy lawful?

For labour law specialist Nathalie Oberthür, offering additional leave for non-smokers is generally permissible from a legal perspective. “The employees who smoke have more free time because they take more breaks, and so offering extra leave can compensate non-smokers,” she says.

But the decision to grant extra leave should not be taken on the grounds of whether someone smokes or not, rather whether they take additional breaks to smoke. 

Opinion: Why Germany needs to take the smoking ban more seriously

“Anyone who only uses their official breaks to smoke should also receive the extra holiday leave,” said Oberthür. If the distinction were being made solely to punish smokers, that would be unlawful. 

The German Hotel and Restaurant Association (Dehoga) also see the policy as justifiable. “If the employees agree with the decision, then it can be seen as good conflict resolution in the workplace”, said Gereon Haumann, regional boss for Dehoga Rhineland-Palatinate. He agrees that working time is definitely lost through smoking breaks.

Improved efficiency 

“Employees that don’t keep popping out for breaks are simply more productive”, says Glas. “Before you know it that’s ten minutes gone.” 

German employees are not legally entitled to extra smoking breaks. Courts in Germany have made it clear many times that the need for an occasional cigarette is not considered a legitimate reason to interrupt work. 

According to a Hamburg University study published in 2009 by the German Cancer Research Center, smoking breaks cost German companies more than €28 billion a year. 

“I am pleased that the idea has gone down so well amongst my employees. They could have kicked up a real fuss about it,” said Glas.

“As we are a small company it’s possible to maintain such a policy here.” A larger business like the chemicals company BASF would definitely find it more difficult to implement. 

Glas was saddened when he received anonymous hate for his decision on the Internet. “I was accused of discriminating against smokers and told that I’m a nutcase who deserves to be sued” “he said. 

That meant he was all the more pleased when he received a letter from his health insurance provider. 

“They find the idea interesting and want to know more about it –  also as a means of preventative health care,” he said, implying that employees could be inclined not to smoke due to what it would cost them.

 

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