I have wanted to have my own blog for a long time. I have no idea why it took so long to happen. What was I doing on all those days when I was clearing leave?
Clearing leave. I will admit that it is a phrase that I have once used myself when someone asked me why I was not going to work one fine morning. First, some background on the concept...
Many of us work for firms which emphasise work-life balance. This translates to a generous leave quota and also pressure on the supervisor and the employee to plan well in advance on how this quota will be effectively consumed. There is also usually a catch - you cannot encash or carry forward unused leave except under extremely dire circumstances (for example, you intend to get married next year and could use help with both the cash and the carried forward leave - dire indeed). So, usually there is a drop-dead date each year after which unused leave just vaporises and the counter resets to zero.
For my firm, that date is the 31st of March. Today is the last working day before the deadly reset. The last opportunity for many of my colleagues to swallow leave that the HR system would swallow if they did not beat it to the table. Which explains why my office is practically empty. A majority of my colleagues have indicated that they are at home clearing leave. The ones in the office expect my sympathy on how they have not been able to clear leave.
Well, the last time I told my friend that I was clearing leave, his immediate response was, "Why does taking a day off have to be veiled behind a I-have-such-a-terrific-work-ethic-that-I-take-leave-only-when-forced-to excuse?" I used to use the same excuse. I don't, anymore.
All of us know colleagues who cannot accept the notion of a workplace without them. They do not take leave. There are also those who take leave and promptly log in to the office computer network from home. Of course, there are always those few who take leave, promptly log in to the office computer network from home and then read blogs like these.
All of us know the good intentions behind requiring employees to take leave. We all need a break, we need some time away from the really annoying people at work so that we can take our toll on the really annoying people at home, the office cleaner needs some time to take a good look under our desks and clear those objectionable secrets we have stashed inside those cobwebs.
Really... come on... it should not be so difficult for anyone to come to terms with the fact that we are actually not that important at work... that the solid 100-year old companies that we work for will grow into solid 100-year-5-day old companies with or without us... that the last sign of hope and reassurance that our bosses seek in a moment of despair is NOT that we are still labouring away on the office computer network when we are supposed to be resting at home... that our employer is not a ball that will drop if we let go, but a stone that will just roll a little less further when we are not kicking it on its way.
Take your leave. Stop clearing it. If you can't, pretend that you are getting married next year, encash it and pass me the dough. I'll use it for the next vacation that I have already planned.
