Hatched has introduced a policy that will allow staff to choose their own public holidays.
The Celebration Leave policy allows employees to work on a scheduled public holiday, if they choose, and substitute it for leave on an alternate workday.
The staff of the independent media agency can take an ‘alternate’ day that suits their personal needs and celebrate practices, beliefs and identity, including cultural, religious or sexual orientation/identification.
Hatched staff can swap out up to four gazetted public holidays each year. For example, an employee could choose to work on Good Friday or Queen’s Birthday and instead take off Chinese New Year, Diwali, Hannukah or International Day against LGBTQIA+ Discrimination.
Alternatively, staff can opt to work on January 26 and take another day to celebrate Australia Day.
The policy was created by Hatched’s internal Belongings & Connections team, a committee focused on ensuring Hatched provides a welcoming and comfortable working environment for all staff.
Hatched senior media executive and member of the Belongings & Connections team Laylaa Khan said: “Our ultimate goal is to make it possible for everyone to celebrate who they are. At Hatched, we are dedicated to being the most inclusive we can be, to allow for diversity and all the greatness that comes with it. This policy demonstrates the agency’s commitment to the cause.”
Virginia Scully, Hatched’s People & Culture director, said: “We applaud the Belongings & Connection team for coming up with this policy to support diversity in our organisation. It’s yet another example of the difference of the culture at Hatched, only made possible by our people.”
Hatched is an independent, Australian owned media agency with a passion for combining the craft of media with creativity to deliver more effective outcomes for clients. They focus on providing smarter advice that delivers greater impact while being a catalyst for positive change in the industry.
The agency with clients including Open Universities Australia, AIA Insurance, Cars24, Bapcor, Kennards Hire, Vision Super, Moose Toys, CPA Australia, Dairy Australia, Judo Bank & Mirvac.