2023-10-04 09:26:46
Published on Oct 4, 2023 at 11:00Updated Oct 4, 2023 at 11:26
Well-being at work is becoming a subject of concern for many companies. Axa has just announced the implementation of new measures to improve the health and well-being of all its employees. And the insurer is far from being the only one to take such measures.
Indeed, the increase in burn-out, stress or anxiety at work was responsible for 20% of sick leave last year, according to a barometer from the Malakoff Humanis mutual insurance company. This figure has doubled in two years and is becoming a social as well as an economic subject.
To prevent this, more and more companies are choosing to review the social contract entered into with their employees. If these measures have a cost, they are able to reduce the number of sick leave or become a factor of attractiveness. For example, 82% of parents say they are ready to consider a change of company if it involves better support for parenting, according to the corporate parenting barometer.
· Paid leave
On Tuesday, Axa announced the deployment of new leave for a group of this magnitude in France. Thus, the insurer is offering new days of leave, i.e. 5 days, intended for employees who are parents, caregivers or even victims of violence. These leaves will apply to the group’s 120,000 employees in 51 countries, including 20,000 in France.
Even more radical, companies, still few in number, offer their employees with several years of seniority the opportunity to take a few months off, while receiving all or part of their salary. Thus, since January 2022, Orange employees who have at least ten years of seniority can take “breathing leave” and be absent for three to twelve months, receiving at least 70% of their salary. Employees must “serve the general interest” and get involved in an NGO, teach, follow training, etc.
Other large companies have implemented comparable systems. Accenture or Mazars have been offering leave to their employees who have been with the company for five years. The latter can be absent for three months, receiving half of their remuneration. As for the start-up Artur’In, it launched a sabbatical leave in 2023 allowing employees to be absent for two months… while receiving their entire salary.
· Parenting made easier
Axa also wishes to commit to parenthood, by extending the duration of paid leave to 100% for co-parents, that is to say the spouse of the person giving birth. From now on, co-parents will be able to be absent for eight weeks while receiving their full remuneration, compared to four weeks until now. This measure also concerns same-sex couples.
In the same spirit, Safran offers young parents the opportunity to work part-time at the end of their maternity/paternity leave, for two months following the birth. The employee who chooses this option works at 80%, paid at 90% of their salary. This new right will be activated by all new parents during their child’s first year. In addition, Safran has also provided “support for parental leave” for sick children with serious pathologies, without further details.
· Managed pregnancies
Since October 1, 2023, Safran has also implemented measures which aim to “enable (future) parents to experience the different phases of parenthood as harmoniously as possible”, explains Stéphane Dubois, director of human and societal responsibilities of the group. . The company with 45,000 employees in France plans to organize working hours before and following the birth.
Concretely, each parent engaged in a PMA course will have the right to additional leave. Then, pregnant employed women will be able to reduce their working day by one hour from the announcement of their pregnancy then, from the fifth month, by 20% of their working time, without a reduction in salary.
A comparable system is deployed by Axa. The insurer will offer up to five days of paid leave to its employees who engage in an in vitro fertilization procedure.
· Special care given to women
Purely feminine constraints are increasingly taken into account by companies. Several measures have recently appeared in companies, such as “miscarriage leave” or “menstrual leave”.
Since October 1, the 4,322 employees of the Lyon metropolitan area have had menstrual leave and leave in the event of natural termination of pregnancy. Likewise, women in the professional branch of Syntec – which employs 950,000 employees in France – benefit from two days’ leave in the event of spontaneous termination of pregnancy before 22 weeks.
Other individual initiatives have emerged in recent months. But the various legislative proposals in France to legislate on the subject have all been rejected. Some denounce a “false good idea” which risks stigmatizing women.
· The 4-day week attracts
After some experiments, the 4-day week develops . Thus, companies adopt it to allow their employees to have a better balance between professional and personal life. Still rare, they are gaining ground to meet the aspirations of candidates.
Some are therefore reviewing their organization and reducing working hours but not remuneration, such as Radioshop which designs personalized music playlists. Goodbye to the 35-hour week, make way for 32 hours with eight hours of daily work, compared to seven previously. Companies like the pioneering IT company LDLC have opted for a 4-day, 32-hour week since the start of 2021.
Still others prefer a different mode of operation, like the consulting and technology company Accenture which has implemented “the flexible week”. The idea: to allow employees to organize their schedule according to their needs. Continue at five days, move on to four days, change your pace every week, keep the same schedule all year round… The possibilities are numerous. The whole challenge is to know whether employees and companies alike benefit from it.
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