A marketing company in Bolton offers employees “hangover days” as it believes it attracts young millennials, promotes trust and is a perk for those who do not have children.
Claire Crompton, co-founder and director of The Audit Lab believes offering these types of perks is key to attracting talent outside of Manchester.
Ms Crompton said:
We wanted to offer something to younger millennials who typically go out mid-week and do the pub quiz. My team book a hangover day in advance, if they know they are going out.
They just work in their PJs, sat at home on the couch.
If people used it two or three times a week and missed important client meetings then we’d have to have a think. But everyone has been really respectful of it so far.
It’s basically a work-from-home day, but we’ve sexed it up a bit to appeal to the younger generation. It promotes honesty as well.
Ellie, a PR manager who works for Ms Crompton on BBC 5 Live’s Wake Up To Money said:
It is about honesty, it’s about people being able to not lie to their managers.
But also, the idea behind it is that parents have a lot of perks at our business but there are not necessarily any for people who don’t have children.
So this is a perk for people who don’t have kids.
However, Dr Jill Miller, diversity and inclusion adviser at the CIPD does not necessarily feel this is the best perk to offer and employers should place more focus on flexible working.
Dr Miller said:
Focusing on flexible working is really positive, especially showing it’s not just for working parents. Looking at why each age group wants flexibility is important.
But labelling them as ‘hangover days’ might not be as helpful if it’s encouraging excessive alcohol consumption. Employers have a duty of care and need to consider that when designing policies. Is it promoting drinking? I’d suggest a rethink on the labelling.
This opinion has been backed by others.
Jonathan Richards, CEO and founder at Breathe, a company that helps to manage HR said:
The concept of implementing ‘Hangover Days’ as company policy is problematic for a number of reasons. Aside from very strongly backing a drinking culture, which already raises concerns if advocated too strongly, it’s adding another contradiction to the mix. We’re overwhelmed with messages firmly frowning upon after hours binge drinking sessions similar to the likes of Lloyd’s of London for obvious reasons – the boundaries between work and leisure are irreversibly blurred and behaviours can quickly spiral from appropriate to inappropriate.
Darius is the editor of HRreview. He has previously worked as a finance reporter for the Daily Express. He studied his journalism masters at Press Association Training and graduated from the University of York with a degree in History.
So a hangover day is just the flexibility to work from home at shorter notice? Sounds like a no-brainer to me. If you’re able to offer that flexibility to staff then why wouldnt you?