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The research by Elephant Smart Business also revealed that over 80 per cent of non-smokers believe they work harder than their co-workers who smoke.

The survey, carried out across 120 Irish businesses, shows that the average smoker will spend about five per cent of their time, or 25 minutes a day, outside smoking.

Despite the study showing that 81 per cent of non-smokers believe they work harder than their smoking colleagues,  just 23 per cent of managers agreed with this belief.

Some companies were really taking the issue seriously, according to Linda O'Reilly of Elephant Smart Business, “After one customer implemented our system, he discovered that smokers within his staff base, spent over 5 per cent of their time smoking. He then offered to pay for smoking patches if they would give up.”