Australia's Department of Tourism, Industry and Resources has banned cigarette breaks, forcing nicotine-addicted workers to wait until lunchtime.
The department's secretary, Mark Paterson, told the Sydney Daily Telegraph that the response so far among its 2,000 employees is overwhelmingly positive. He said employees who want to kick the habit are being given help, including stop-smoking courses.
Robyn Richmond, who studies smoking bans at the University of New South Wales school of public health, believes the department will start a trend.
Employers are now beginning to say we're not giving you any time off now because people who are not smokers are not getting any extra time off, Richmond said.
