Wellbeing trend employers need to take leave of

Commonwealth Bank employees can access two days paid leave if their pet dog, cat, horse or even goldfish becomes indisposed or dies.

Victoria’s public servants will soon be able to access five days paid leave for period or reproductive health, as reported in the Herald Sun on Tuesday. 

Australia by any measure has generous leave and conditions of employment.

But as the cost of doing business rises and productivity drops, large private and government employers may find delving too far into “wellbeing leave” has adverse consequences. 

Employer responsibilities for staff welfare traditionally involved providing a safe and healthy workplace. Also, standard leave entitlements were available such as annual, sick, long service, bereavement and parental leave. Workers’ compensation protected those injured at work.

Some employers were prepared to go beyond these entitlements for valued employees coping with emergencies.

The underlying principles were that employees worked conscientiously in a safe workplace.

Personal health and wellbeing were private matters.

Some employers, particularly large and government employers, are now moving beyond these principles. They are agreeing to entitlements that address their employees’ private wellbeing. 

The Commonwealth Bank Enterprise Agreement 2023 is instructive. The agreement offers employees several types of paid wellbeing leave, namely pet leave – two days, life leave – one week, gender affirmation leave – 12 months leave with 8 weeks paid, family planning leave – 5 days, planned health appointments – four days, menstruation and menopause support.

Employees of the Victoria Orchestra are able to take paid leave to attend protest marches and NAIDOC week marches.

The Victorian Public Service Agreement offers 27 types of leave, including several that focus on the wellbeing of the employee including 12 months unpaid grandparent leave and 40 days paid leave to attend alcohol, drug or gambling rehabilitation programs.

The attention to an employee’s personal wellbeing can extend beyond the provisions contained in enterprise agreements.

Public servants in Queensland were offered five days paid leave for psychological distress after the Voice to Parliament referendum failed.

At PWC employees receive $295 per annum “to spend on items or activities that support your wellness.” A further $205 a year is given to finance “things that will help support your balanced lifestyle.”

The firm’s employees have birthday leave, so they don’t work on that important day. Public holidays can be substituted to alternative days that better suit an employee’s cultural, religious or individual preferences.

Employees may increasingly focus on their personal circumstances rather than their work obligations.

Bosses have a right to introduce operational changes to improve efficiency, but these changes could be challenged more frequently if they are seen as disturbing employees' personal wellbeing.

Union leaders will seek to extend the reach of the personal wellbeing embrace.

The ACTU is now advocating for menopause, menstrual and vasectomy leave entitlements to be added to enterprise agreements. Personal and carer’s leave has been used to deal with these health issues in the past and a change is not warranted.

What other illness or injury justifies a specific entitlement? Will specific entitlements emerge for heart disease treatment, appendectomy, tonsils removal, shingles, skin cancer treatment to name a few?

Small and medium-sized businesses will be unable to afford most of these indulgences. 

It will damage the economy if smaller firms, many of which are the source of innovation and growth, have less access to talented staff attracted by the private wellbeing perks of large firms and government employment.