Friday 17th August 2012 - Timing a cigarette break

This will be a very short post - but possibly a controversial one. 

Every morning I notice a couple of University staff who I know are on timed contracts (in other words, they are paid for a certain number of hours per week, rather than having contracts relating to the overall fulfilment of duties with no set hours of work) having a cigarette break.  I also notice that sometimes such breaks seem to last rather a long time.  I see this on other occasions walking round the university - colleagues who are often to be seen standing outside their buildings with a cigarette in hand, and who I then sometimes see again later in
'normal' coffee settings having a break.

Are smokers allowed to work fewer hours per day than non-smokers?  Or are they expected to make up the extra time they have spent on cigarette breaks by staying at work longer?  Or is the cigarette so refreshing that when they've had a break they make up the time they've lost through increased productivity?   Or is the reduced life expectancy of smokers such that allowing them time off to smoke actually increases the overall pension benefits of non-smokers who will, on average, live longer?  Is there an equality of treatment issue here?