8 Types of Office Leaves
There are many types of office leaves that an employee requires, and companies that rank high on best places to work create a good leave management system.
Paid office leaves are a major component of a company’s expenditure. It is an essential factor in employees in caregiving, managing their mental health, education, and more. Wherever work from home has been ill-managed, stress has taken a toll on employees, and many are quitting work. In such a scenario, it is important to understand office leaves better. The World Economic Forum has recently released a study of the impact of covid-19 on office leaves.
We all take leave once in a while. Most companies have some rules for these leaves. Looking at the types of office leaves that exist, can help a company formulate its leave plans better. There are many advantages to building a robust office leave system. Apart from creating a good work-life balance, it also enables companies to attract the best talent. A company is also concerned with ensuring that leaves are not misused and are too many to negatively impact effectiveness and motivation. Understanding different types of leaves will also enable an employee to communicate his/her needs to take an off in a more transparent manner.
8 Types of Leaves: Explained
Following are the eight most common types of leaves:
- Sick Leave: Taking a leave when you fall sick is called sick leave. The pandemic era saw this happen a lot, and there is hardly anyone who has worked in a job for long and not taken a sick leave. Everyone falls sick from time to time. This is also an easily understood leave and is granted readily. The work from the home era could change how this leave is managed as some types of illnesses will allow an employee to work on a remote basis.
- Casual leave: This is one of the most common forms of leave. Employees take casual leave because there is a certain number of days in a year that a company allows for it. Employees take it to fulfill some urgent tasks such as visiting a bank, attending verification, Parent-Teacher Meetings, vaccinations, etc. Casual leaves are of two types:
- Half-day leave: A half-day leave is often enough for an employee to conduct the task at hand. This is a preferred form of leave and many bosses may even waive it all together from attendance records.
- Full-day leave: A full-day casual leave is also common. However, such leaves are usually taken with prior permission.
Maternity leave: Women form an integral part of the workforce, and in keeping with their childbirth event, all reputable organisations have created a maternity leave. Women need to manage their health and more so towards delivery. Maternity leaves help them undertake this. Most companies allow up to 10-15 weeks of paid maternity leaves. Some companies have a provision for a long maternity leave of more than a year. The work from the home era will change how we look at maternity leaves as women can stay at home longer and be at work.
- Paternity leave: The concept of paternity leave is still at a nascent stage. Some companies provide long paternity leave, allowing the male employee to provide for his baby better. Most companies allow the employee to stay away from the office for a few days. Remote basis work may help in allowing longer paternity leaves.
- Marriage leave: Companies give a few days off to their employees who are getting married. The duration of these leaves varies from one company to another. Some firms also allow leaves to an employee attending a marriage of someone extremely close, such as a family member.
- Bereavement leave: Bereavement can be emotionally and psychologically very difficult on a person. The passing away of someone close can be very difficult for an employee. Also, an employee may be required to provide support to his family when such an eventuality happens. Under such circumstances, companies all over the world provide leaves to an employee to take care of himself and his family.
- Sabbatical leaves: In some of the top companies worldwide, there is a provision to take a sabbatical. A sabbatical is taken for many reasons – to undergo education, manage a crisis, or even just to take a break from a career. Sabbaticals are usually unpaid leaves and can last long.
- Vacation/Privilege leave: All companies provide an option for employees to go on a short vacation of 15-30 days. This can be termed as a privilege leave or a vacation. The duration of this office leave varies as per the designation and rank of the employee. Senior employees often get more privilege leaves than junior ones.
Most of the office leaves that an employee takes fall under one of the eight categories. More classifications can be created, such as religious leaves, public holidays, and more. A sound office leave system helps foster the required work-life balance, enables an employee to be effective in life, and thereby, in his profession. Companies that aspire to be the best places to work, provide a reasonable system of office leaves.
