While it’s OK to take time off for your pet, we don’t need a seperate leave category. Photo: Treatibles.
Mental health leave. Menstrual leave. Pawternity leave. Gender affirmation leave. Every year, an Australian workplace introduces a new form of time off, creating precedents for others to follow.
It strikes me we are moving in the wrong direction, with growth in the category of leave types causing stigma, inequalities between workers and undue pressure on employers.
A more progressive approach would be to abolish all types of leave and give workers a Paid Time Off bank – 40 days a year for both holidays and unplanned absences – and let them use it as they see fit.
The ‘sickie’ is an institution in Australia, but it’s always been a subjective concept.
In any given workplace, some will call in ill due to a slight hangover, and others will drag themselves to the office when dying of pneumonia. There’s also a mystery illness in Australia that afflicts certain workers on Fridays more than other days, especially during weeks that precede a long weekend.
The introduction of mental health leave is a recognition of a growing problem but it puts employees in the unenviable position of sharing intimate details of their private lives with HR departments. As something that is both sensitive and can’t be disproven, it may on occasion be open to misuse. An employer asking for documentation seems like a bully.
Caring for a sick relative (using carers’ and parental leave) is a legitimate reason for absences. However, it can cause resentment among workers with no children who don’t have an equivalent form of time off and may have to shoulder the workplace burden in offices during school holidays.
More recently, organisations such as the Australian National University and ANZ have introduced gender affirmation leave. This is paid time off for those recovering from gender realignment surgery, re-doing identity documents or changing their wardrobe. While this may be important for a marginalised group, where does it end? Should there be an entitlement for furries?
It’s the same with pet bereavement (or pawternity) leave, which the Commonwealth Bank offers. Some may really need it, but do we also let people mourn the demise of a beloved plant?
Having multiple forms of leave divides workplaces, defining people in different subgroups rather than bringing them together. It’s also unfair. A single employee with no kids might end up with 20 fewer days off per year than those who sit next to them.
Unplanned absences in workplaces are becoming like our welfare system. This dehumanising, bureaucratic mess categorises people to emphasise their weaknesses (I’d replace all Centrelink payments with a universal basic income, but that’s another topic).
When it comes to leave entitlements, a system of Paid Time Off banks for employees would be better than what we have now. This has been used effectively by many corporations in the United States. There’s no sick leave, personal leave, gender affirmation leave, annual leave or any other category. You just get a block of days off. How you use them is your business.
An allocation of 40 days for every employee, regardless of identity, seems fair to me. That gives people enough time off, whether they’re ill, caring for kids, burying a pet or changing their gender. There’s also no need to drag yourself to a doctor to justify your absence in an era when GPs are overloaded with too many appointments.
It would also vastly simplify administration for HR and payroll departments, reducing disputes with employees over complex and subjective entitlements.
Those who don’t take unplanned absences get an extra three weeks of holiday at the end of the year.
Could this encourage people to work while sick? People do that quite a lot now – changing leave arrangements is unlikely to alter behaviour. Having a bank of 40 days at the start of the year would give the majority of sensible employees the flexibility to do what’s best for them.
Some may also argue that a single bank leave system is unfair to those prone to sickness or women who take on most of the caregiving burden. But if we need to support such groups, why should this be the responsibility of employers? It may be fine for big public service departments, but our economy is increasingly reliant on small businesses, operating on lean staffing and tight budgets. Productivity is falling in Australia, and record numbers of small enterprises are going bankrupt. If we need to look after the vulnerable, the government should step up, not a start-up with three employees.
A single Paid Time Off bank for all employees, regardless of race, gender or ethnicity, would give unions and activists something they have always fought for – true equality. It’s a concept we should all get behind.
Original Article published by Oliver Jacques on Region Canberra.
