Flexibility and Choice Through Leave Entitilements: Implications of the Danish Experience

Abstract

Work pressure has increased for many people in New Zealand in the I990s. Around a third of the workforce work more than 40 hours a week, the pressure to continuously up skill or res kill is growing, more women have joined the workforce, job and career insecurity has increased, and the eligibility age for receiving superannuation has risen. At the same time, 'underemployment' exists in terms of part-time workers wanting more hours and with unemployment stagnant at around six per cent. Innovative Danish Leave schemes introduced in the I990s offer one way of addressing the problems of work pressure and under-employment simultaneously. The paper describes the leave schemes, the reaction of the workforce and outlines the associated social and economic costs and benefits. In particular, the analysis will focus on the trade-off between more employee flexibility, increased ups killing and improved family relationships on one hand, and, on the other hand, minimising both the fiscal implications and costs on individual employers. Finally, a possible application of similar leave schemes in New Zealand is discussed.