The emerging e-sports and digital gaming platform Mobile Premier League more popularly abbreviated as MPL has launched a new kind of paid leave policy that gives leverage to its employees to detach temporarily from work apps like Google Suite, Slack and the rest of the IT tools. Known as Zen Leave, it encourages employees to set priorities and disengage from work while spending quality time on themselves for an effective work-life balance.
Namratha Swamy, COO of the 350-strong company expressed “We have all experienced it. Even on vacation, it's hard to resist checking work emails and notifications.” Swamy believes this takes away a lot of post-work burden on employees, who can snub work-related calls, messages, meetings, etc., as “Zen Leave breaks the culture of being always on”. Irrespective of the hierarchical order within the organisation, Zen Leave applies to each and every employee.
“We believe in encouraging our employees to truly switch off when off the clock. Zen Leave takes this a step further by ensuring employees can decompress, prioritise their wellbeing, and return feeling refreshed (sic)”, she further added.
Moreover, employees have the benefit of personalising their time outside work. They are also entitled to take multiple Zen leaves in a year through various permutations and combinations of short and long breaks.
MPL issued a statement in which it talked about how it wants employees to focus on personal priorities and growth and reduce anxiety levels.
A survey conducted by Glassdoor in 2022 found that over 54% of employees struggle to disconnect from work during their paid time off (PTO). This issue is even more pronounced among professionals in senior roles. Such challenges can contribute to burnout, mental fatigue, and diminished job satisfaction over time. A few months ago, it was reported that a Chinese retail businessman had introduced ‘Unhappy Leaves’, where employees could take 10 extra days of absence from work if they are not feeling happy or contented at the workplace.
Additionally, a separate study by Qualtrics in the US revealed that 49% of employees worked for an hour or more each day during their vacation, with 24% working for three or more hours daily.
Insights from agencies
