Employee Leaves For You: 5 Types of Leaves You Might Have Not Known
In the grand scheme of things, big or small businesses find unique ways to retain their employees. The happier employees are, the likelihood of improvement in productivity rate and retention can be within grasps. These things are all associated with employment or employer branding. It is a strategy that human resource offices promote to project the company in good light and present itself as a good place to work at. If you hear a friend telling you how much she loves working for the company she is in, it does not always mean that she is compensated well but might probably be because of the many perks and benefits she enjoys being employed in that company.
Of course, employees love benefits that help them with:
- Work flexibility.
- Physical and mental health care.
- Development opportunities.
- Leisure.
- Leaves.
From the simple gym membership, free meals, free travels, and incentive and bonus programs, companies have certainly innovated their retention strategies and have become even more generous with offering them to their employees. With unique ways, you can give your workers a mood lift on a bleak day and help them regain energy and motivation which can lead to overall efficiency. One of which that employees love is a paid leave of absence. We are familiar with the 5 common types such as below:
- Vacation leave.
- Sick leave.
- Maternity leave.
- Paternity leave.
- Bereavement leave.
These employee leaves are traditional in approach and very conservative while others have already been redesigned to fit the needs of the modern employee.
Here are some of the novelties:
Family leave:
This leave is not to be misconstrued as either maternity or paternity leaves. Officially offered by Deloitte, a multinational professional services network that has offices in over 150 countries, this employee leave consists of a 16-week paid time off for not only new parents but also to those who need to take care of a family member who is ill. Unique to Deloitte, it only proves that their organization fosters empathy and care for both their employees and their families.
Unlimited vacation:
A crowd favorite. Despite its seemingly impossible offer, this is true. Paid vacations may no longer be limited to a certain allowance. Big companies like Netflix, Twitter, and LinkedIn have been implementing this transformational change in their benefits packages. Unlimited vacations do not fall short of their promise. Employers give their employees the liberty to decide how long their vacations should be. They keep an open mind about individual differences when it comes to decompressing, recharging, and remotivating their employees which positively turns employee productivity rate at an all-time high. The threat of immoderation, however, can pose a risk but according to Strauss (2017), most employees actually take lesser time off with this leave imposed as it only transpired a greater sense of personal responsibility and conscious behavior towards their employers.
Donated leaves:
This is helpful for employees who do not have enough sick leave days to cover for a genuine recuperate period. As usual, companies still have a prescribed number of days that a sick employee can avail of but unlike vacation leaves that you can easily determine how many nights and days you can spend away, it is hard to say when the employee can go back and report for work. With donated leaves, staff members can contribute their sick leaves to their colleagues. Companies believe this is a big step for their employees having to put compassion and kindness to practice and this gesture is helpful in creating bonds and ties within working teams. The art of giving invites a helper’s high — the uplifting and gratifying feeling that people usually experience after doing a good deed.
E.O.F.O:
Or every other Friday off. In the office of the World Wildlife Foundation, according to Halzack (2013), employees are asked to take Panda Fridays in which they take every other Friday off as an effort to lead in their environmental advocacies and principles by example. By closing down offices, they are reducing their carbon footprint. Electricity, heating, air conditioning, and other utilities are put to rest even for a while. Employees also do not need to commute to work leading to less smoke emission.
Leave to start a business:
This proves that your employer truly cares about your productivity and gives you more opportunities to some more money. In fact, in Sweden, they have established a law regulating this. Rudquist (2013) mentioned that Swedish employers are encouraged to provide their employees a vacation lasting for half a year which should be solely dedicated to putting up their own businesses. This leave presents as a move to support employees who have business aspirations but they can only do it once per job.
These leaves might be too ideal for the common workplace but you can always check and tap your employees if this is something they can benefit from. Gauge and weigh pros and cons. Just remember to ensure your employees are provided with ample time off so they can get back to work with a new perspective. There are other more leave policies that are really employee-centered and this attracts both fresh grads and employees alike.
