Stop me if you've heard this before.
A survey carried out by consumer website Watch My Wallet (no, I've never heard of it either) claims that "more than half of British workers (58 per cent) resent colleagues who smoke and think the time they take for cigarette breaks should be docked from their wages".
This afternoon the Daily Express asked me for a quote so I responded as follows:
"Everyone is entitled to a break. Some choose to have a coffee break, others make personal phone calls. A cigarette break is no different to that.
"Rightly or wrongly many smokers believe that a cigarette break provides useful thinking time and helps them re-focus on their work. That in turn can make them more not less efficient than their non-smoking colleagues.
"People operate at different speeds and the hours we work is not the only factor when judging someone's productivity or their value to a business.
"Would the BBC dock Jeremy Clarkson's wages and argue that he is less productive because he takes the occasional smoking break?"
I'd love to see them try.