Companies stick to 'special leaves' offered during Covid times

Employees of India Inc, who were eligible for specially curated leaves amid the Covid-19 pandemic, will continue to receive those benefits despite the ebbing of infections, multiple HR chiefs told ET.

Most of the leaves - like recharge, mental well-being, bereavement and unlimited wellness time-offs - were rolled out during the peak of the pandemic.

Many companies have opted to continue with these even as offices have reopened and most sectors are performing at pre-pandemic levels.


A survey conducted by Aon and shared exclusively with ET also confirms the trend.

At least three out of 10 companies in the country introduced new types of leaves in 2021-22, according to the survey that covered 1,300 companies across more than 40 industries.

These leaves were first rolled out temporarily, but companies have adopted them for good, according to Aon.

“As companies start to embrace the new normal of return to work combined with hybrid working and continue to grapple with high attrition and employee burnout, several organisations are including additional leaves as part of their HR policies and benefits,” Roopank Chaudhary, partner, human capital solutions at Aon in India, told ET.

These include extra sick, bereavement, well-being and recharge leaves to cope with the burnout and work stress that employees are struggling with, Chaudhary said.

ET reached out to executives at companies like Flipkart, KPMG, Tech Mahindra, Mondelez, Amdocs and new-age companies like CoinSwitch Kuber and Adda247, who also confirmed the trend.

When the pandemic hit, IT services company Tech Mahindra introduced over 10 policies including leave policies. The company has decided to continue with these, which include three days of bereavement leave and special Covid-19 leaves, said a company spokesperson.

“As the modes of employee engagement evolve in today’s (hybrid) workplace, it also requires the adoption of a relevant approach to leave and break policies,” said Krishna Raghavan, chief people officer, Flipkart.

The homegrown e-commerce company, majority owned by US retailer Walmart, has unlimited wellness leaves for employees in place. These were first rolled out in 2021 as part of the pandemic response. “These can be used for recovering from any illness, injury, or even if they just need a mental health day,” Raghavan said.

KPMG, which introduced quarterly pen-down breaks in October 2021, is continuing with these.

“To ensure that our people and partners spend some quality time with their loved ones and for their own well-being, we offer a 4-day or 3-day pens down break mostly clubbed with a Friday or Monday,” said Sunit Sinha, head of people, performance and culture at KPMG in India.

KPMG also has ‘block leave’ or dial-down leave, where offices remain closed during the last week of December every year.

Mondelez India has introduced ‘Care Giver Leave’ to enable colleagues to take time off to care for their immediate family members, said HR chief Shilpa Vaid.

CoinSwitch Kuber, a crypto investing app backed by investors including Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), Tiger Global, and Sequoia Capital, has two weeks of bereavement leave, two days paid off for charity work undertaken by any employee, birthday leave, etc. in place.

“We have also introduced a mandatory monthly recharge day — one extended weekend every month — to ensure employees take a break from work without asking for it,” Zeeshan Ramlan, director and HR head, CoinSwitch told ET.

Government job preparation platform, Adda247, has rolled out recharge leaves and an unlimited sick leave policy. “Recharge leaves will enable employees to take time off after meeting rigorous deadlines or to celebrate special occasions in life,” said Anil Nagar, founder and CEO, Adda247.

Reetu Raina, global head of talent management at Amdocs, said “through our ‘Vacation without Limits’ program, we empower our employees to plan their time off, get recharged and come back to work rejuvenated by enabling their wellbeing.”