Real support at work means vacation when you need it the most

Hello, please let it work.

I am Bethan Staton, Associate Research and Career Editor, standing for Isabelle today and next week.

The heat wave finally broke here in London – at least for now. I’m obsessed with thinking about how temperatures can change our lives, from the dangerous situations facing global workers to the hits of hot climates. My climate colleague wrote a great piece about this a few years ago. But how are readers affected now? Share your thoughts with us at bethan.staton@ft.com

Elsewhere in the work world, the UK government is forced to make U-turns on benefits, particularly scrutiny, for efforts to bring more people with disabilities to work. The minister had packaged the changes as part of a greater will to increase the proportion of people in employment, but there are other ways to do this. More details are below.

Life events rely on flexible bosses

Last week I came across a concept that made me think about vacations to improve my work-life balance.

It is called “life leave.” It is offered to employees in addition to annual leave, and is called days or weeks of paid leave because daily duties, inconvenience (and sometimes even fun) life throws at you.

You may need to drive your mom to the doctor, wait for someone to fix the fridge at home, or go to your child’s sports day. One of the few employers I have met, Clarion Housing Group gives staff five days of life event leave. Clarion’s Chief Human Resources Officer, Catlyn Jones said: It “means that beyond traditional policies, creating a culture where they feel trusted, empowered and valued.”

That’s amazing. But I also thought that this kind of vacation is really unusual. Have you not allowed a hardworking team member in the morning to deal with an explosion of washing machines or an uncomfortable parent just to be an understanding boss?

The same thoughts happened to me when I read about certain Vogue-esque holidays, such as grandparents’ holidays, heartbreak, or holidays to grieve my pet. They all sound nice at first. But would it be better to provide a flexible work policy and a culture of understanding, support and trust so that staff can decide what events can be put into their profession?

That’s what many employers think, according to the chartered HR Research Institute. In a 2023 report, almost two-thirds of organizations offer jobs from home on a regular or ad hoc basis, with over half giving staff “informal flexibility.” This wasn’t just limited to office work. 65% of the organization gave frontline workers a certain degree of flexibility.

In the UK, all employees have the right to require flexible work and annual leave qualifications. There are also some legal qualifications for holidays, such as family emergency. However, as management professor Ellen Ernst Kosek points out, the regulations are far better than in the US.

Kossek supports informal flexibility, calling it a “single deal.” That’s one of its drawbacks. To entrust things to your employer is not unfortunate to a tyrannical boss, but great for those who work in an atmosphere of trust and equity. “The organization is rugged,” Kossek says. “What you want is a consistent policy.”

Still, she’s not keen on a “slicing and dicing” holiday. Especially in a diverse workforce, it makes a large number of staff happy, but it can eliminate others unfairly (imagine someone paid time to grieve their pets while they couldn’t get the same thing to take their colleagues to the hospital). Also, “Do you really want your boss to know that you are experiencing menopause?”

Kossek is advocating a generous “bucket” of sheltered vacations that can be used on a variety of things, and is available to all staff. The life event leave adopted by Clarion actually seems to fit the bill well. The company emphasizes that the holidays are comprehensive and based on trust and discretion. But that’s just part of the puzzle.

At CIPD, policy and practice manager Claire McCartney says it will “embine a broader culture of support,” and flexibility is essential for effective leave policy. This means training for managers, but plan carefully. And potentially, spending.

As Kossek reminded me, flexibility must be “built into the system.” Co-workers must be there to cover staff that are off. And you can’t put more stress on the part of the attendees. What you can do easily with tasks that are always done from a computer looks very different even for frontline services.

Ultimately, it is a flexible work culture built on mutual respect, and it makes room for life messiness good for workers and for companies interested in attracting and maintaining them. But it’s not enough to just trust the manager and team to make this happen. “We need more paid formal leave, but we also need to create a culture of compassion,” Kossek said.

Five Top Stories from the World of Work

Starmer Guts UK welfare reform to avoid commons defeat: government humiliating climbs on reducing disability benefits means governments won’t save money, and raises doubt on their promise to bring more people to work

Dress up or give up: Trials for commuting float dresses or tweed suits in hot weather? For those of us who have struggled with heatwave tube journeys and cycles, here are some ideas on how to adapt.

The extraordinary life and mystical death of a carbon credit broker: this story is a wild ride that transitions from abandoned coastal mansions to questionable carbon credit and sea death.

Look at physics and stop using carbonated drinks. Employers can intervene and stop the escape of the illness. Some employers think so — and are intervening to help staff who lack government services.

The beginning of the next financial crisis: This vast and worrying long reading by Pirita Clark, especially our work and career columnists, are divided into an uninsurable world and its widespread outcome.

One more thing. . .

Are young people having enough sex? In this thoughtful review of two very different books, New Yorker author Jia Tolentino considers the question and why we care so much. While accepting this issue can make us feel pure or voyeuristic, this essay has a much more thoughtful idea of ​​what we need to connect with others and feel human.