Key takeaways:
A lot of different things fall under the helpfully broad umbrella term of ‘leave’. From life events to statutory entitlements, illness to career progression, super common to surprisingly niche, there’s a whole world of reasons why employees might want or need time away from work. You might even invent a new type of leave. A modern company with its finger on the pulse will be labelling and tracking them all.
It’s not about being nosy, or drawing up a leader board for fewest days off (this is presenteeism – not a healthy habit, FYI).
So what is it about? One thing: Data.
Let’s take a look.
Lucy runs a small but busy creative agency in Manchester. The close-knit team thrives on being a bit different and loves to be unique. They want their company, as well as their work, to stand out from the crowd. The team are super hard working and always show up for each other, but there’s a common theme in this high-energy bunch: midweek burnout.
Using Leave Dates to collect and analyse their leave data, Lucy spotted a pattern of more sick days during busy project cycles. She was initially baffled – the team loved their work and she knew they weren’t ducking out because of a lack of commitment or interest. But as a creative herself, she knew that you can only pour from a full cup, and burned out people aren’t the most creative. You can only maintain a high level of energy and enthusiasm for so long before your tank runs empty.
Lucy didn’t want anyone to feel they had to be so present for the team that they let things reach crisis point before being forced to ring in sick rather than just taking a break. She came up with the idea of Duvet Days – a kind of leave for when you just don’t want to get out of bed; when you’re not ‘sick’, but you’re tired and can feel your energy and enthusiasm lagging. A warning sign that, if ignored, is sure to lead to sickness further down the line.
She decided everyone should get four of these duvet days a year, no questions asked. She announced the new leave type in their typically quirky fashion – from under her duvet at home, telling the team she was recharging her creative batteries and that they should do the same when they needed to. Then she logged into Leave Dates and created the new type of leave and allocated 4 days to each team member, days that could be instantly booked with no questions asked.
It didn’t take long before the bookings started coming in and, lo and behold, within 6 months, there was a dramatic decrease in unplanned absence. Beyond the data, though, the happy faces in the office were evidence that staff morale was higher than ever.
People can be reluctant to take leave for the benefit of their mental health, the remnants of a stigma that is hopefully on its way out for good. Using custom leave types to ringfence downtime with the specific and stated purpose of supporting mental health helps to create a culture that genuinely promotes wellbeing.
Whether is Duvet Days or Pawternity leave, our custom leave types feature allows you to create and categorise your own leave types. We have a range of default types (eg study leave, public holiday, sick leave, unpaid leave), but you can edit, delete or add to these as needed. Just give it a name, description and a colour, then set the allowance (or leave it unlimited). You can also choose whether the leave type is visible or hidden on the wall chart. If, for example, you were to introduce menstrual or menopause related leave, you might find that staff weren’t overly keen on broadcasting when they were using it. Hidden leave makes this ‘need to know’ only.
Data is one of the most valuable internal resources you have. It’s not just about numbers and stats – data tells a story. It reveals so much about your company, but also, crucially, about your employees. Best of all, it’s free! If you’re using a comprehensive leave management tool, all this data gold is at your fingertips, ready for you to turn into insights that can drive, among other things, retention or recruitment efforts. This is just one of the many ways that great software can save you time, money and effort.
Creating your own custom leave types is easy in Leave Dates. Account admins can use the Leave Types function in settings to create these with a few clicks.
You can even give leave types their own policies to follow.
Many companies are getting creative with their leave offerrings as a way to attract and keep great talent.
Here are a few examples:
Our wonderful customers from Word Monster, awarded one of the UK's best workplaces, give their team birthday leave and more.