employee<\/strong> loses that day.<\/p>\nCulture<\/h3>\n Duvet Days allow employees to be upfront, rather than having to \u201cinvent\u201d an excuse for a sick day. This fosters a culture of honesty and integrity from your employees. The old saying goes: treat them like children and they\u2019ll behave like children. \u00a0Treat them like adults, with respect, and you\u2019ll get the same back.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve worked in a company before where employees were not paid for sick days, but were allowed to use their holiday entitlement to cover their sick day instead. \u00a0This company were half the way there. \u00a0The employee was losing the day, but they were still being dishonest about it and calling in sick.<\/p>\n
Flexible working is a growing trend in many sectors, and if you\u2019re in the kind of industry where it\u2019s a challenge to recruit and retain talented employees, then Duvet Days are simple way to offer an additional competitive benefit.<\/p>\n
Potential Pitfalls<\/h3>\n There are certain times of the year, or big events (if England ever reach a World Cup Final!) where Duvet Days have the potential to cause problems. The simple solution is to be aware of these times and stipulate that, for obvious reasons, Duvet Days cannot be taken.<\/p>\n
For all of their champions, Duvet Days also have the odd critic too. The most common argument against them suggests that it gives people an easy justification for having too many drinks the night before, knowing they can take the next day off. The fear is this could make people less likely to take responsibility for their own behaviour. It\u2019s a valid point, but isn’t it likely those people are already behaving like this and simply pulling a sickie anyway?<\/p>\n
And indeed, Duvet Days are not appropriate for all types of company. Depending upon the industry, culture or average age of your workforce, you may feel that the concept simply wouldn\u2019t work for your particular business.<\/p>\n
A Rose by Another Name<\/h3>\n It might seen like a new idea, but it\u2019s actually been practised in similar ways for a long time. In India, employees are entitled to Casual Leave \u2013 usually one or two days that can be used to attend to personal matters, but can\u2019t be used for holiday.<\/p>\n
South Tyneside Homes<\/a>, who use The Holiday Tracker to manage their employee sickness, have implemented a concept called \u201cStuck Not Sick\u201d. If an employee has unforeseen childcare issues, or a burst pipe, they can ring in at the last minute and make use of a Stuck Not Sick day. The employee is essentially using some of their Flexi-time without prior approval.<\/p>\nIn Conclusion<\/h3>\n So essentially Duvet Days are a last-minute holiday. \u00a0The key is that they come from an employee’s entitlement where a sick day does not, and that they contribute towards fostering an honest company culture. \u00a0I’d love to hear any feedback from people who have already implemented, or are considering implementing Duvet Days.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Photo by Jessicaalderson on Wikimedia Before we dig into what Duvet Days are, let\u2019s start with a fact: 19% of workers admitted to \u201cpulling a sickie\u201d in one year alone. (Source) That\u2019s one in five of your employees faking sickness to take a day off. So if it\u2019s happening anyway, why not take control, give […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-60","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sickness","category-staff-benefits"],"yoast_head":"\n
How Duvet Days Can Reduce Your Sickness Absence<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n