Birthdays are special for many, but in corporate work culture, they are often overlooked. Employees often feel uncomfortable or guilty about requesting the day off, worrying about how it will affect their leave balance, making it hard to enjoy the celebration. This is where companies like Alphanumero are stepping in to make a difference. Recently, its founder, Abhijit Chakraborty, introduced a unique birthday-centric leave policy that many are applauding. Known as the “Birthday Plus One" policy, it grants staff two extra holidays each year—one for their birthday and another for a loved one’s birthday—without affecting their standard leave entitlements.
“We’ve recently started a ‘Birthday Plus One’ leave day-off policy. Every team member gets a holiday day-off on two additional days in a year. 1. Their own birthday 2. Any one of their near and dear ones’ birthdays. Both days are treated as Holidays. Their leave balance isn’t impacted," Abhijit Chakraborty wrote on LinkedIn.
Chakraborty also shared that in his early career, taking time off for his birthday was met with a “strange look" from his boss.
“If it’s someone’s birthday, they deserve a gift. Not a leave deduction and weird reactions. And the Plus One leave is equally important. It provides the team members the scope to plan and celebrate someone else’s birthday. And once we grow more as an organisation, we’d probably make it a Birthday Plus Two. The more the merrier. A super skilled and super-efficient team deserves all this and more," he added in his post.
Take a look at the post below:
Chakraborty’s initiative quickly garnered praise, with online users flooding the comment section with enthusiastic reactions. Here’s how people reacted:
One user excitedly shared, “I love, love, love taking my birthday off to celebrate myself! I’ve taught my husband to do the same as well, so I take off work to celebrate his day too! Now with my son recently born, I intend to take time off for his birthday as well! Nothing wrong with taking the day off to celebrate another trip around the sun for yourself and loved ones!"
Another commenter added, “I have seen birthday leaves, but a birthday leave for your dear ones birthday, that’s new and welcoming."
One individual described the concept as “creative," while someone else expressed, “Never heard about this “birthday plus one leave", but this is so thoughtful and I hope more companies add this! “
“Now that’s a policy that truly celebrates people! A day for you, and a day for someone you love—what better way to show that work-life balance matters? Good Initiative," read another comment.
Comments
0 comment