Molson Coors Brewing Company is offering staff up to two weeks’ extra paid annual leave to be used for significant life events, such as moving house or preparing for a wedding.
The brewer, which produces brands including Doom Bar, Coors Light and Carling, introduced the “Life Leave” on top of its existing 31-day holiday entitlement (which includes bank holidays) and other leave policies, including sickness and compassionate absence.
It will be offered to all staff in the UK and Ireland to improve work-life balance. The leave can be used for significant moments in employees’ lives, which it said are unique to each individual.
HR director for the UK and Ireland Adam Firby said introducing the leave will allow staff to use their holiday for some downtime, rather than for planned or unplanned life events.
“Many of our employees already work on a flexible basis, but we wanted to take this one step further,” he said.
“One of our driving principles is to empower our people to come to work as themselves, without feeling pressure to fit a corporate mould or to always keep their personal life away from work.”
Phil Whitehead, Molson Coors’ UK and Ireland MD, said: “The way we all work has changed. For our people to perform at their best, we recognise they need an employer that provides flexibility and understands their personal priorities.”
Molson Coors is not the first organisation to offer additional leave for unavoidable life events. Centrica is offering staff with caring responsibilities 10 days’ paid leave followed by another 10 days that can be matched with annual leave, on top of their annual leave entitlement; while Vodafone employees who experience domestic abuse are given 10 days’ additional paid leave for court appearances, counselling and finding a new home.
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Accountancy and consulting firm EY is also offering staff in Australia six to 12 weeks of “life leave” to travel, work part-time or to relax. However, the leave is self-funded and must be taken in one or two blocks.
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