Do you ever take the day off just because it’s your birthday?
Have you rung work and told them you’re sick so that you could have your birthday off?
It seems that more and more businesses are giving employees the day off, with companies like American Express advertising for staff with the promise that “as a special thank you, you will never have to work on your birthday again!”
News.com.au published the article Birthday leave the latest office perk claiming that the practice is becoming more widespread.
Of course there’ll always be someone willing to pour cold water over someone else’s good idea.
Organisational psychologist Christopher Shen welcomed the initiative but warned that it might be open to abuse.
“It’s a wonderful initiative but the complexities need to be considered and some boundaries set,” he said.
“People could start trying to replace their own birthday with a another special day such as a wedding. I think that’s problematic because it makes it difficult for managers to assess the merits of these claims and it opens up the prospect of discriminatory behaviour.”
Mr Shen also warned about the threat to staff morale if birthday cakes disappeared from the workplace.
“These events are seemingly unimportant but can actually be critical to building a good atmosphere at work,” he said.
I was a little gobsmakced with the idea that birthday cakes would disappear from the work place just because the person wasn’t there on that particular day. What happens for those who have a birthday on the weekend? If your workplace is anything like ours, we just have the cake before or after the day. Thankfully there are some people who can think things through.
Courtney Tippett, marketing project manager with telco Fone Zone, which offers birthday leave to all its employees, said her company had a different solution to the cake problem.
“We have it the day before,” she said.
So, would you take your birthday off if you were offered the opportunity? I love my job so I don’t mind being at work on the day. Besides, I’d probably end up be the only one at home. That’s no way to celebrate.
Do you think birthday leave is a good thing?
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It’s very interesting this one Rodney. I have and haven’t had to work on my birthday over the years. I do enjoy having the day off if it is a regular day off, and I’d be lying if I said I haven’t asked my boss for the day off. But these have all been casual jobs doing casual hours so they can always be made up. As far as full time work goes I would be more than happy to come to work. It means you can have a celebration with work collegues, who are like a 2nd family to me. Then you can go home and celebrate with the family at the end of the day.
Personally I much prefer going to work on my birthday. I know that probably is a bit sad but I think you have more fun.
First of all we have a tradition where the person whose birthday it is brings in a cake to share. So immediately everyone knows it’s your birthday and you feel a bit special.
When my birthday is on the weekend it doesn’t seem the same.
I agree, Tim. It’s great if you get to share the celebrations around. 🙂
cellobella, don’t you make up for weekend birthdays with a cake on Monday? Surely that would be even better because you get to extend the celebrations.
I don’t mind working on my birthday. I’m single and live away from my family, so it helps me keep my head straight 🙂 (not a huge fan of birthdays at the moment!)
it was fun to have birthday leave, on one of my jobs … just a day to celebrate life – whether with others or just by myself … but since my b.day falls in the middle of a frigid canadian winter – i think i would prefer to have a birthday holiday – to somewhere warm! *smiling* … not asking too much, eh?
blessings on you!
Paula, it might help you keep your head straight but I hope you still do the cake thing at work and celebrate a little.
Saija, maybe we should swap birthdays or hemispheres. I have my birthday in the middle of winter here in Perth.
Of course Perth winters aren’t quite as severe as Canadian winters. 🙂
I’d love to have my birthday off…..but only if I have someone to spend it with. Last year, my birthday was on a Wednesday and that happened to be the day I worked at home. I was all by myself and was SO lonely. My birthday’s this Friday and it looks like the same thing will happen again…except this time I don’t have a job anyway.
When it was usual to collect money to buy a present I did take the day off twice. I hate being the point of interest with everybody looking on whilst you unpack and try to look, ahhhhh! When usally it´s more, “oh?!”
These days it´s just my immediate colleague and me exchanging presents – and it´s usually something to eat, too. So on my birthday I now can go to work with no problem again 🙂
For the others I put sweets on the table and that´s it.
To be honest I never did bake a cake in my life! But then, I don´t like sweets much!
Very good thought provoking post. Personally I’d love to have my birthday off as “perk benefit”. Where I work we celebrate birthdays once a month for all that are having birthdays in that month so getting to take that day off would be super.
As far as the solution to birthdays that fall on the weekend, I would say the person should choose either the Friday before or the Monday after. Or it could even be set so that if it falls on Saturday you get Friday, if it falls on Sunday you get Monday. Either way it equals to a nice long weekend.
Anyway, thats my two cents.
Sarah, I hope you find some way of celebrating at home alone. If I had the opportunity to spend my birthday at home alone, I’d put some great music on the stereo and bury myself in the pages of a good book. 🙂
Iris, I loved your line, ” …. you unpack and try to look, ahhhhh! When usally it´s more, “oh?!”
I’m sure we’ve all had that experience. 🙂
Thanks for dropping in, Rick. Wow, everyone celebrates once a month. I guess each work place has to find a system that works for them but I love the fact that we have a cake for each person on their particular day. I think it makes the person having the birthday feel more special.