Smokers are costing employers up to £2.1 billion every year according to the first ever study of the detailed cost of smoking to UK businesses.
The report, by the London School of Economics (LSE) on behalf of NHS Smokefree, has estimated that the staggering costs are dominated by illness absences for smokers (calculated at 1.77 excess sickness days per smoker per year, or £1.1 billion) and by smokers taking cigarette breaks (£1 billion a year).
At a time when businesses are looking more than ever at ways to reduce costs and increase productivity, the findings provide a compelling case for employers to help workers quit smoking.
Employers can ask for free support that is available from the NHS in the workplace, such as one-to-one or group support sessions with trained stop smoking advisers. Drew Collins from NHS Stop Smoking Services explains: “Smoking is bad for your health and bad for business. If employers want to save money and look after their workers’ health, they should get in touch with their local NHS Stop Smoking Service. We can come into workplaces and help people to stop smoking at no extra cost.”
The London School of Economics has created a new formula that shows employers the genuine cost they bear for smoking employees.* Professor Alistair McGuire, Head of Social Policy at LSE and lead academic for the report, explains: “The formula reveals just how much of businesses’ bottom line is going up in smoke every year and how small changes, with a little help from the NHS, could result in major savings.
“Taking the formula and applying it nationally shows the current total estimate of employer direct costs is £2.1 billion per annum. This doesn’t even include the indirect costs to company image from employees smoking outside the premises, or to the dissatisfaction felt by non-smoking workers who perceive smoking colleagues to be shirking as they take smoke-breaks.”
Dr Linda Bauld from the University of Bath and UK Centre for Tobacco Control Studies adds: “Research has shown that offering stop smoking support in the workplace is an effective way to help smokers to quit. What works best is a combination of support from a trained adviser, either in groups or one to one, and access to stop smoking medication. This is exactly what NHS Stop Smoking Services can offer, and employers have an important role to play in helping their staff succeed at stopping smoking."
Trevor Carmichael, Operations Manager at Parcelforce in Rotherham, said: “We have been running a course with a trained NHS stop smoking adviser for three months. The adviser has been very flexible and fitted in with the needs of our business in terms of running support sessions during times that fit with our shift patterns - sometimes at 6.30 am.
“The support we have received has been excellent and there is definitely a positive feeling in the depot, amongst both smoking and non-smoking colleagues.”
For more information employers can call 0800 731 6418. Trained local NHS stop smoking advisers can offer free group or one-to-one stop smoking sessions within a company workplace, or at convenient sites in the local community. Advisers can also attend company staff health events, or run introductory sessions to assess staff interest if that better suits work patterns. They can also train a company’s HR or occupational health team to deliver stop smoking advice.
