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Over the course of the 21st century, the nature of leaves of absence has changed in the workplace from simply a necessary regulatory requirement. Today, leaves are a benefit that can make an organization stand out in the race to attract and retain the talent needed to compete and innovate. Ultimately, leaves happen when life happens, be it taking time away to recover from a medical procedure or condition, to bond with a new child or to care for an ailing family member.
In recent years, however, news stories have begun to appear on the supposed “emerging trend” of requesting a leave of absence for unorthodox reasons. These are said to include tending to pet-related needs (new adoption/time to bond, caring for an ailing pet or grieving their loss); taking an “adult gap year” (stepping away from responsibilities to travel, volunteer, study or focus on personal growth and self-discovery); or recovering from a romantic breakup (so-called “heartbreak leave”).
Such unusual rationales for taking a leave of absence make for attention-grabbing headlines, but what’s really happening in the leaves ecosphere? Is today’s workforce expecting employers to honor requests that are markedly removed from the traditional reasons employees have applied for a leave? And how can an employer prevent abuse if they open the door to unorthodox leave requests?
Investigating the impact
Rather than scoffing at unconventional leave requests, employers should consider the potential impact of a broad swath of life moments on an employee’s performance, engagement and mental state and ponder whether it would be possible to expand their leave benefits to be more flexible and adaptable.
Let’s begin by taking a closer look at the impact of a romantic breakup on an employee’s ability to function effectively at work. A recent survey of more than 1,000 U.S. employees found breakups have a clear impact on employee performance:
- 43% reported a negative impact on productivity or ability to focus.
- 38% experienced lower motivation or engagement at work.
- 25% recognized an impact on their attendance or punctuality.
- 23% reported impaired decision-making or problem-solving.
- 17% noted negative impacts on relationships with colleagues or managers.
While one-third of workers said they have called out sick or used PTO to recover from a breakup, there are clear demographic differences. Younger workers are most likely to take time off to recover from a breakup, with Gen Z leading the pack at 47%, followed by Millennials (45%), Gen X (31%) and Baby Boomers (11%). Interestingly, men (36%) are more likely than women (28%) to call out after a breakup.
One in three workers feel employers should offer formal days off to recover from romantic loss, but companies are unlikely to revise their policies to include bespoke time off for heartbreak leave—or pet caregiving, world travel or personal growth-seeking, etc. Instead, they are taking the opportunity to extend some of their existing leaves to be more inclusive.
Take bereavement leave, for example. Increasingly, employers are recognizing it’s not just the loss of an immediate family member that causes life-altering pain and sorrow. This is leading some companies to broaden bereavement leave policies, expanding both the time available as well as the family relationships associated with the policy.
However expansive an employer makes their bereavement policy, one thing is abundantly clear: the death of a loved one is a traumatic event in an employee’s life and giving them time to process and grieve is not only the right thing to do for them in the moment, it may also prevent them from having to take a longer, more serious mental health leave as a result of not being granted the opportunity to process a loss in its immediate aftermath.
Broadening the bank
While still a relatively new concept, some organizations are looking at broadening their leave banks to ensure they are supporting the needs of today’s diverse workforce. As recently as five years ago, for example, there was a huge focus on paid parental leaves, giving moms and dads time to bond with their newborns. With a growing number of young workers delaying having kids—or deciding not to have a family at all—such benefits have declining value in the eyes of a significant portion of the workforce.
Such cultural trends are driving the move away from specific types of leave—eight weeks of parental leave, for example—toward a bank of weeks that can be used for a broader set of reasons that an employee decides to take a leave. It’s all about breaking down the barriers, such that time is time and you take it when you need it.
While HR and Benefits pros are interested in exploring a more flexible approach to leave, we’ve not yet seen tremendous uptake. As companies consider making a change, frank discussions must take place due to the cost and productivity impacts of such a policy. There are also inevitable concerns about the potential for abuse. What’s to prevent an employee from taking a few weeks of leave to drive their new sportscar cross-country, for example? And would that be a problem if the employee was in need of some time to de-stress and “find themselves” on the open road?
Ultimately, it’s all about recognizing that leaves are a core component of an organization’s overall benefits strategy and that it can be complicated to strike the right balance between giving people the time they need and ensuring that time is not used inappropriately. One of the leading consultants in the leave market coined a phrase I really like: “moving at the speed of trust.” This is one of those areas where trust goes a long way. Granted, no one wants to be taken advantage of, but a flexible leaves policy isn’t necessarily any more ripe for abuse than a rigid one.
Leading organizations ultimately spend a lot of time, money and effort designing benefit programs, including leaves, to attract and retain talent. That said, the goal should not only be to ensure the time is available for an employee when they need it, but to deliver an exceptional leave experience as well. You can have the best leaves design in the world, but if nobody can figure out what they need to do in their moment of need, it’s not going to make a difference. (Read Donna Dorsey’s Leadership Voices article for insights into the role of HR and people managers in delivering a stellar leaves experience.)
Whether someone is taking a leave to welcome a new family member (two-legged or four-legged), perform caregiving duties or embark on a soul-searching hike in the Swiss Alps, the last thing they need is to be bogged down by a cumbersome process that’s hard to understand and challenging to navigate. A high-tech, human touch benefits administration solution like Alight Worklife® is essential to simplifying and streamlining the leaves process and delivering the kind of benefits experience today’s employees expect.
