{"id":223412,"date":"2026-05-12T11:32:41","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T11:32:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/ignacio-de-la-calzada-labor-lawyer-smoking-during-work-hours-is-completely-legal-but-it-doesnt-count-as-time-worked\/"},"modified":"2026-05-12T11:32:42","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T11:32:42","slug":"ignacio-de-la-calzada-labor-lawyer-smoking-during-work-hours-is-completely-legal-but-it-doesnt-count-as-time-worked","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/ignacio-de-la-calzada-labor-lawyer-smoking-during-work-hours-is-completely-legal-but-it-doesnt-count-as-time-worked\/","title":{"rendered":"Ignacio de la Calzada, Labor Lawyer: “Smoking During Work Hours is Completely Legal, But It Doesn’t Count as Time Worked”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n
\n<\/picture>
Two workers take a break during their workday to smoke (Infobae montage with images from @laboral_tips \/ TikTok and Canva)<\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Understanding Smoking Breaks at Work<\/h2>\n

Going outside to smoke during work hours is a common practice for many employees. However, it can lead to conflicts if not properly regulated. Labor lawyer Ignacio de la Calzada, known on TikTok as @laboral_tips, sheds light on when these breaks are permitted and what companies can demand in return.<\/p>\n

The Legal Basis for Smoking Breaks<\/h3>\n

The primary rule is straightforward: smoking during designated break times is totally legal. As de la Calzada emphasizes, \u201cDuring a break between shifts or within the designated break of a continuous shift, the worker can do practically whatever he wants.\u201d This means employees can opt to smoke during their official rest periods without issue.<\/p>\n

The Dilemma of Unscheduled Breaks<\/h3>\n

Conflict arises when workers choose to step out for a smoke outside their designated breaks, especially if it happens repeatedly throughout the day. According to de la Calzada, such actions may lead the company to argue that this time is not part of the effective working hours and can be claimed back. If an employee continuously takes five-minute breaks to smoke, the company has grounds to request that these minutes be compensated.<\/p>\n

Regulations and Break Times<\/h3>\n

The Workers’ Statute specifies that if an employee’s working day exceeds six hours, a minimum break of 15 minutes must be provided. This break is counted as effective working time only if stipulated in the collective agreement or individual contract. It is crucial to differentiate between officially recognized breaks and additional unsanctioned breaks.<\/p>\n

When employees take legal breaks to smoke, they cannot be discriminated against for their choice. However, frequent unsanctioned breaks could be viewed differently, leading to potential issues within the team, especially if non-smokers feel they are at a disadvantage.<\/p>\n

Possible Consequences and Recommendations<\/h2>\n

De la Calzada warns that if these unsanctioned breaks are not part of the planned rest, companies have the right to demand that this time be recovered or even deducted from pay. If the behavior is recurrent and coupled with prior warnings, it could escalate to disciplinary action or even dismissal.<\/p>\n

To minimize misunderstandings, companies should implement clear internal policies regarding smoking breaks. This includes specifying when employees may go outside to smoke, whether they must clock in and out, and how this time is to be accounted for.<\/p>\n

Proposed Solutions for Fair Smoking Breaks<\/h3>\n

One suggestion from de la Calzada is to distribute rest time more equitably. For instance, if an employee has a total of 30 minutes of break time, this could be structured as one continuous break of 15 minutes followed by three five-minute smoking breaks. Such a system would need to be firmly established in the company’s internal regulations, communicated effectively to all staff, and monitored with precise time logs for transparency.<\/p>\n

By fostering open communication and establishing clear guidelines, companies can prevent disparities among employees and maintain a more harmonious workplace environment.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n


\n
General News – 2<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two workers take a break during their workday to smoke (Infobae montage with images from @laboral_tips \/ TikTok and Canva) Understanding Smoking Breaks at Work Going outside to smoke during work hours is a common practice for many employees. However, it can lead to conflicts if not properly regulated. Labor lawyer Ignacio de la Calzada, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":223413,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[52324,4116,5089,6497,801,34961,1361,1594,2534,3526,269,319,4315],"class_list":["post-223412","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mazagine","tag-calzada","tag-completely","tag-count","tag-doesnt","tag-hours","tag-ignacio","tag-labor","tag-lawyer","tag-legal","tag-smoking","tag-time","tag-work","tag-worked"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223412","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=223412"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223412\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":223414,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223412\/revisions\/223414"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/223413"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=223412"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=223412"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=223412"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}