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Smoking and the Bottom Line: The Costs of Smoking in the
Workplace
Cost Estimates
This section contains estimates of the individual cost factors, provided in terms of 1995 dollars. Table 1 (see
below) summarizes the results.
The increased absenteeism due to smoking results in a cost of about $230 per smoking
employee every year. This amount reflects the cost to the employer from the nearly two days of additional leave taken by each employee who smokes.
The average cost to employers due to the decreased productivity of employees smoking in non-break periods is estimated to be
$2,175 per smoking employee per year. This amount covers the cost to the employers when smoking takes place on company time.
Using average life insurance premium discounts for individual non-smoking policy holders and applying these discounts to the average premiums paid by
Canadian employers for group plans results in an estimated savings of about $75 per smoking employee annually. Note that these cost savings are for life
insurance only-long-term disability, medical and dental health insurance premium savings are not included.
The cost of constructing and
maintaining a separately ventilated smoking area is estimated to be $65 per employee annually. With annual cleaning costs of about $20, the total cost is for
the smoking area is estimated to be $85 per smoking employee annually. Total Annual Cost per smoker $2565
Source: The Conference Board of Canada. |
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