Dive Brief:
- Spotify, the Sweden-based music, podcast and video streaming service, has launched a flexible public holidays program. The program allows employees to swap holidays on which they usually have off for days that have meaning to their culture, religion or lifestyle. Spotify says it has 90 nationalities across their Sweden and U.S. offices.
- Employees may choose to work on a day that's a public holiday in their employer's country and take off another day of their choice in its place, says Spotify. For example, employees who don't celebrate Christmas may work that day and take off another religious day, such as Yom Kippur or Diwali. Employees also may swap a nationally observed day for a cause they support, such as International Day Against Homophobia, according to the company.
- Spotify officials explained that cultural norms often are foisted upon people without regard for their personal beliefs, observations or lifestyles. The company says it wants to expand diversity and allow employees to be themselves.
Dive Insight:
As workplaces become more global and more diverse, offering a flexible public holiday program can help set a tone of tolerance and create a culture of inclusiveness.
In addition to the improved engagement and retention that may well come with that, employers who adopt such programs could potentially enjoy fewer staffing shortages during public holidays. Such policies may also help reduce the significant levels of stress that employees report feeling around the holiday season, without needing to limit that time off to a specific holiday.
On the other hand, it could add another layer to HR's already substantial tracking burden.
