They might not lose days, but I have seen offices where folks huddle around the trash can outside the back door for five or ten minutes every hour and a half.
I wouldn’t ask the question though. It is rare enough these days that you could smell it on the clothes.
That may/may not be true re: wasted time outside to smoke.
I have seen a trend of late, sadly, that there is a lot of wasted time in the work place. Be it phone calls, talking, texting or surfing the internet. I read an article recently that said if Facebook wasn’t allowed on the job, folks wouldn’t take the job. Go figure.
Gee....ya' think that may be because the smokers have been forced to go outside?
I remember a time when I had an ashtray on my desk and could light up a cigarette and keep on working without any disruption whatsoever.