Nowadays, some businesses have opted to ban smoking within the office premises. Furthermore, selected government offices have also banned the use of tobacco products in public areas. However, from a personal perspective, I cannot help but agree that these policies are a breach of an individuals freedom to do what they want.
Smoking has been seen to increase job performance. The average life of a corporate employee revolves around working 8 hours a day, sleeping, and then going back to work again the next day, not counting the overtime duties they have to undergo for the additional pay. That is why it is never really a surprise when they turn up the next day dissociating. Resulting in a decrease in their overall work performance. That is why smoking as bad as it sounds has been the constant gateway for office workers to increase their work performance to alleviate their work productivity from suffering .
On another note, smoking has arguably proven itself to be a way to relieve stress. According to a study conducted in Cebu City philippines, people who work in office-related jobs have been seen to have had an increased risk of suffering from stress-related disorders. Ranging from sleep deprivation to just having a generally negative mood daily, that is why office workers have been eager to leverage themselves from these and that is where smoking comes in. Based on a case study conducted by students from Cebu on the effects of smoking. It was found out that more than half of the respondents reportedly felt less stress when they started smoking and was able to go about their day normally after doing so.
Conclusively, banning smoking in certain areas is not only a breach of personal freedom of employees but also a hindrance for them to relieve stress and to maintain good efficiency.