There are just so many types of leaves: sick leave, care leave, compassionate leave, parental leave, pregnancy leave, sabbatical and, of course, green, brown and orange leaves, depending on the season.

But anyway, we shall not digress. The likelihood is this page will go unseen by most. However, there will come a time you’ll need to scrape through the Social Security website. When such daunting time comes, it will be a pain in your bum! A waste of time. Finding relevant information in that thing is as hard as trying to get one of their support people to answer the phone: impossible!

We’ve put ourselves through the unfathomable pain and condensed all the information here for you.

The leaves

Short-term sick leave

If you're feeling unwell, mentally or physically, you should take time off and avoid working.

Short-term sick leave is anything between 1 and 3 days. Due to legislation, these days are considered unpaid leave. Damn Social Security.

However, Significa will get your salary covered (excluding meal allowance). Again, Maximum freedom, maximum responsibility: this is fully based on trust and on your moral values. We are not licensed doctors. Therefore, we won’t be shoving a thermometer up your … anyways, we trust you, and we don't need any documentation. That's the bottom line.

Whether it be taking a break to support your mental health or fighting off a nasty flu and needing to lay low for a few days, having time to recover and return to work in a rejuvenated fashion is all that matters. On an important note, these short-term sick leave days won't be deducted from your holiday allowance.

In any case, we've put together Taking care of yourself and, more specifically, Health and safety , Mental health support within our Support hub to help you further on how to deal with circumstances like these ones.

Sick-leave

More serious illnesses will require longer resting periods: a couple weeks, longer maybe.

In situations like this, you’ll have to ask your doctor for the necessary paperwork so the Social Security can cover your salary in your absence.

This is the point when figuring out how things work with Social Security becomes a formidable task. A true Odyssey.

We took the Homer role and compiled all the information you need to know in Prolonged sick leave.

Child-support

Any parent knows that children will get sick often enough. Too often, sometimes. Should your kids require your full attention as they feel unwell, should you have to pay the doctor a visit, or simply spoil them with love to rush the fever away, the same principle as short-term sick leave applies.

It’s hard to work when we’re unsettled with our kids’ sickness. Let's just stay with them, shall we?

Again, Social Security doesn't cover your short-term leave, but we do. We, the good guys! Oh, and we won't take it away from your holiday allowance.

Longer-term care leave

Unfortunately, there will be times when a couple of days to support a family member won't suffice. We hope this never happens.

But if it does, the same principle will apply: paperwork is needed. Social Security will cover for your salary, so you'll have to face the Odyssey of scrapping through their website to find what you need. With your patience already low from dealing with an ill relative, you’ll have completely lost your temper at this point, so we've compiled all you need to know here: Care leave for your child or family.

Compassionate leave and pregnancy loss

The heartbreaking experience of losing someone dear to us — be it a family member, a friend, or a cherished loved one— is a natural part of life. We know it is an incredibly tough moment that each of us experiences differently.

We want you to take your time to recover, get yourself composed, and be in a state where you're comfortable with getting back to work. We mean it. Please take your time.

Whilst Social Security has you covered for these matters, we realise this is not a one-size-fits-all scenario. Some will need more time to reconcile themselves, some will need less. Both are fine, hence we wish to approach each situation with the consideration and care necessary, for which you can learn more in Compassionate leave.

Pregnancy loss is another utterly heartbreaking event and will be experienced differently from one person to the next. Should you need to know more, please read Pregnancy loss and discuss it with us.

Parental leave

Yeehaa! A little bundle of joy is joining you and your family! Soon, you’ll visit the pharmacy daily to buy more diapers, wipes, creams, bottles, drops for this and drops for that and, well, just about everything and anything you currently don't spend your salary on. Oh, and coffee, you'll need lots of coffee.

This wonderful and exciting time is special, and we're delighted for you! Navigating parental leave can cause a headache, though, but fear not. We've got you covered. Check out all you need to know about Parental Leave.

Oh, and have we told you that you’ll have a Baby kit waiting for you?

Sabbatical

Sometimes, it's great to step away, take a break, see the world, write a book, do a course, or whatever it may be that can give you that fresh shot of energy you've been craving.

After three years of service, you're eligible to take a sabbatical. We'll miss you, of course, and will be counting down the days until we see your pretty face again. Nonetheless, if you're keen to explore, start with a dive into how Sabbaticals work at Significa.

Period leave

We know uteruses can be a bitch, so all women at Significa are entitled to 1 day per month of period leave.

We know how painful this time of the month can be, and thus, compassionately, if you're feeling unwell, just take the day off and rest up.

Don't forget to let your Project Manager know. This will be discreetly managed, and it won't be discounted from your holiday allowance.

Oh, and the daily meal allowance won't be deducted from the day. And also, we have an entire page dedicated to Working on your period.

Other Leaves

Grow on trees.

Returning to Work

We will be super excited to have you back with us!

Regardless of the circumstances under which you took a leave, we'll be taking into consideration the length of time you took off and the circumstances of your leave to make sure your transition back into life at Significa is as smooth as possible.

Each circumstance will be different, of course, so we will work with you to make sure you feel comfortable and ready to hit the ground running once you're back with us. You can learn about Returning to work from long-term leave at Returning to Work.