The real cost of smoking, in dollars, for the business:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/06/130603192958.htm

Companies pay nearly $6,000 a year for each employee who smokes:

“By drawing on previous research on the costs of absenteeism, lost productivity, smoke breaks and health care costs, the researchers developed an estimate that each employee who smokes costs an employer an average of $5,816 annually above the cost of a person who never smoked. These annual costs can range from $2,885 to $10,125, according to the research.
Smoke breaks accounted for the highest cost in lost productivity, followed by health-care expenses that exceed insurance costs for nonsmokers.”

 

I think meditation breaks could actually make up for themselves with increased productivity, in certain fields at least, though I have no concrete evidence to back that up. Suffice to say if others get frequent breaks to smoke, why can't I get a quick destress meditation break? Meditation has been shown to be highly useful in allowing the mind to amalgamate itself, thereby quite possibly being useful for activities of creativity and intense mental activity, rather than perhaps just a menial lever pulling variety.