I own a large liquor store and have an employee who’s been with me for about 3 years. He works 8-hour shifts, but consistently takes 45 to 50 minutes of smoke breaks per shift. He steps out for a smoke roughly every 1.5 hours, and also takes a 5–10 minute bathroom break every 1.5 hours (which I’m not even counting toward his break time).

This is starting to feel excessive. It’s a retail job, and with the size of the store, we usually run 2 cashiers per shift and 1–2 stockers. But because of his frequent breaks, I feel like I’m essentially down a person and need to overstaff to compensate.

I want to be fair—he’s been with us a long time—but I also think this is out of hand. Is this kind of break behavior typical in retail settings? How would you handle this?

EDIT*

I also offer a quarterly bonus to employees—$1 per hour worked, paid out at the end of the quarter, if they follow all store rules. That includes things like showing up on time, attending every shift (unless there’s a doctor’s note), taking no more than 30 minutes of break time per 8-hour shift, and avoiding any write-ups. It’s meant to reward accountability and consistency.