CIPD People Management have highlighted research discovering a new workplace phenomenon, ‘leaveism’, which is having a negative impact on employees’ wellbeing. ‘Leaveism’ is when employees use allocated time off – such as annual leave entitlements, banked flexi-hours and re-rostered rest days – when they are in fact unwell. The same term can also refer to working outside contracted hours, e.g. holidays or on allocated days off, when an employee is well, but overloaded and unable to manage their workload. The research found that 76% of employees who have practised leaveism have done so to avoid being labelled as ‘poor performers’ or ‘unable to cope’ with their workload. Organisations should therefore be mindful of the leaveism phenomena, and have a strategy in place to mitigate against the consequences. 

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