Management Cut Construction Workers to Just One Smoke Break a Day—So They Made Sure It Lasted 90 Minutes
Shutterstock
A relaxed work environment can be good for morale especially when there’s no reason to be super strict since the work is getting done. Adding too many rules can really annoy the hardworking employees.
In this story, the construction crew were allowed to take as many smoke breaks as they wanted, but they never abused the policy. They made the breaks quick and at times when they’d just be standing around anyway.
But then the higher ups made a new rule.
The crew had no choice but to comply, but they complied in a way management wasn’t expecting.
Let’s read all about it.
Boss says contractors can only have one smoke break during our shift
A little background, I work on a building site. We’re renovating a building on a university to be ready for the students in September, so we’re on a pretty tight schedule.
Dispite this, we’ve been making good time.
I work on the electrical team with 6 engineers including me and the supervisor.
The job site rules sound pretty relaxed.
We had just finished installing some lights so me and two others headed off to the smoke shelter while the supervisor sets up the next job.
There’s no general policy when it comes to smoke breaks. As long as you’re getting your work done in a reasonable amount of time, you’re pretty much free to do whatever. This helps to keep work moral high.
We generally take about 5 minutes.
This is kind of odd.
As we’re stood there talking, the site managers walks past us. He didn’t say anything but we could feel him staring daggers into us.
We just smiled and continue talking.
After we finish, we walk back on site and get our next task. The day continues as normal.
Uh-oh!
The next day, we’re informed by the supervisor that we will only be allowed to take one smoke break per day, and we would need to let him know before we took it.
We protested, but supervisor told us it was out of his hands.
While we only took around 3/4 smoke breaks, there was a noticeable drop in morale for the day.
Little did they know I was planning my revenge.
He was determined to make the most of the smoke break.
A few years prior, I took a trip to Cuba and brought back some cigars. I slipped three into my bag before I set off to work the next day.
We finish off a task and let the supervisor were taking our smoke break for the day.
I headed straight for the break room to grab my cigars and meet my co-workers at the shelter.
Barely able to contain my smile, I ask “Hey, wanna try a cigar?” Their faces light up as they realise my malicious compliance. They told us we could only have one smoke break. They didn’t say how long.
Let’s see how the manager reacts when he sees what they’re doing.
About 15 minuets in and our cigars half way finished, the site manager spots us and comes over to ask what the heck we thought we were doing.
We just told him we were taking our smoke break and we just wanted to make the most of it.
He let out a loud laugh and we continued talking for a while.
He let us know that people higher up in the company weren’t happy with the progression even though we were ahead of schedule.
Finally, success!
We told him how we usually take smoke breaks between tasks and how this wouldn’t affect our productivity.
And he gave us permission to take smoke breaks whenever we want since we seem like good people. Just don’t bring any cigars and don’t tell the other workers.
Never Miss a StorySign up to get our BEST stories of the week straight to your inbox.
Our supervisor nearly doubled over with laughter when we told him.
Yes, it was dumb, and yes we could have lost our jobs over this. We’re lucky he had a good sense of humour. Was it worth it to see the look on his face? Absolutly.
They definitely handled that well; although, it would be better if they quite smoking.
Let’s see how Reddit responded.
This person sees a universal truth in this story.
Another person points out the odd reality of being a contractor.
This person suggests two options.
If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a woman who finds herself in a tough spot when a coworker reports her for the “policy violation” of having her personal water bottle at the register.
Another person points out what they didn’t like about the ending.
It’s really not fair to change the rules just for a few people and not for everyone. Management didn’t learn their lesson.
There’s no point in being hard on the employees when they’re ahead of schedule. If anything, they should be rewarded for their hard work not reprimanded.
Enjoyed this story?
Sign up to get our BEST stories of the week straight to your inbox.
