Financial services firm Deloitte has announced that its 22,000 UK staff can now choose to defer public holiday leave to other days.
As part of a drive to improve diversity and inclusion, all employees can now opt to work on national holidays such as Christmas Day or Good Friday and select another date, which means more to them, to take the leave.
Deloitte said the the policy had been introduced as an attraction and retention tool. With competition for talent fierce, many organisations have been offering staff pay rises, bonuses and more flexible working patterns in order to keep and engage them.
Jackie Henry, managing partner for people and purpose at Deloitte, explained that the announcement follows a recent survey the business undertook. This revealed that the elements staff value the most about the new work model Deloitte launched last year to accommodate new ways of working are flexibility, trust and inclusion, with four out of five feeling more productive in a hybrid work setting.
She said the firm is committed to creating an inclusive environment in which people feel like they belong and are better able to thrive, respecting different backgrounds and individual circumstances.
“Our new approach means that our people can choose to take public holiday leave on the dates that are most meaningful to them, in addition to their contractual and purchased holiday allowance," Henry said. "They are still entitled to take public holidays on the days they fall, or they can take these days off at a different time of the year if they prefer."
UK managing partner Stephen Griggs added that the business is also introducing new work settings and technology to make it easier for employees to work together and with clients, while all new and recent joiners will receive a £500 budget to ensure they have a full range of equipment to properly support them while working from home.
