Workers at a district council in eastern England must now clock off and back on if they take a cigarette break.
Staff at Breckland Council in the eastern English county of Norfolk will no longer be paid for time spent smoking after proposals agreed earlier this year came into force on Monday.
Council leader William Nunn said the policy formalized an agreement made in consultation with staff.
"Our flexible working system allows smokers to take smoking breaks without affecting the amount of time spent working and this brings fairness for all," Nunn said in a statement e-mailed to reporters on Monday.
Breckland Council said staff have viewed the new smoking breaks policy positively, although there has been no one employed to make certain it was enforced.
Smokers' lobby group Forest said everyone was entitled to a break during work and described the plan as "tyrannical," the BBC reported.
"Many smokers believe having the occasional cigarette allows them to refocus," a Forest spokesman told the BBC.
Staff work at the council to a "flexitime system" which means they take breaks at different times and if they go out to buy a sandwich they clock in and out by swiping their cards.
The new smoking policy is permanent but will be reviewed in six months, the council said.
英格蘭東部一家地方議會(huì)日前規(guī)定，工作人員若想出去抽根煙休息一下必須打卡。
今后，英國東部諾?？丝げ祭卓颂m地方議會(huì)的工作人員吸煙所花時(shí)間將不計(jì)薪酬。該提議于今年早些時(shí)候獲得通過，并于本周一生效。
議長(zhǎng)威廉•納恩稱，該政策是與工作人員協(xié)商后達(dá)成的。
納恩在本周一發(fā)給記者的一份電子郵件聲明中說：“我們的彈性工作制允許煙民吸煙小憩一會(huì)兒，但不能影響工作時(shí)間總量，這樣對(duì)所有人才是公平的?！?/P>
布雷克蘭地方議會(huì)表示，盡管還沒人能確定這一政策得以執(zhí)行，但大家都對(duì)吸煙新政持積極態(tài)度。
據(jù)英國廣播公司報(bào)道，煙民游說團(tuán)體“森林”稱，所有人都有權(quán)在工作中小憩，這一計(jì)劃非常“殘暴”。
該組織一名發(fā)言人在接受英國廣播公司采訪時(shí)說：“許多煙民認(rèn)為偶爾吞云吐霧能讓自己再次集中精力工作?！?/P>
該地方議會(huì)實(shí)行“彈性工作制”，工作人員可以在不同時(shí)間段休息。如果他們出去買三明治，就必須刷卡登記。
地方議會(huì)表示吸煙新政長(zhǎng)期有效，但將在6個(gè)月內(nèi)復(fù)審。
