Future of work? IKEA scraps casual work, increases annual leave and parental support

Human-centric workplace policies are essential for ensuring the wellbeing of employees – particularly women, who tend to take on the bulk of caregiving responsibilities.

One company taking the lead is IKEA Australia, which this week launched new, progressive policies to support co-workers and their families better.

IKEA will remove casual roles, increase annual leave, and offer leading paid parental leave.

The Sweden-based furniture retailer’s new Enterprise Agreement includes an introduction of a fixed rostering option, a four-day work week, full and part-time employment only with no casual roles, five weeks of annual leave, paid parental leave regardless of tenure, and superannuation on unpaid parental leave.

Elin Åhlund, people and culture manager, IKEA Australia, said these new policies are meant to foster a culture where workers can “bring their whole selves to work” as well as “making employment in the retail sector a strong and steady career option for Australians”.

“While retail is synonymous with a casualised workforce, at IKEA our focus is on creating predictability, flexibility and security for our co-workers,” she says.

“We want to have an IKEA workforce which mirrors the diversity of the world around us, and to do that we need inclusive policies and conditions for our co-workers to thrive both at work and at home.”

IKEA’s new paid parental leave policy doesn’t require tenure, meaning that up to 26 weeks of paid leave is available for all co-workers, regardless of family formation. And for up to 26 weeks, workers can elect to receive superannuation on any unpaid parental leave.

All IKEA workers will now be employed on a full-time or part-time basis, rather than a casual role. Along with this, workers can opt into fixed rostering, giving them flexibility in their schedules.

This is meant to reduce the mental burden of those with caring responsibilities trying to organise personal commitments around their work – a particular win for women, considering they’re more likely to take on these responsibilities at home. In fact, of the 77% of women who reported experiencing burnout, according to Women’s Agenda’s 2023 Women’s Ambitions Report, 63% cited it as relating to being overwhelmed by trying to balance career and home responsibilities.

IKEA workers are now able to elect a ‘four-day week’ along with a number of other leave options, including five weeks of paid annual leave for all co-workers, six weeks for overnight workers, and those who work on weekends get at least one weekend off every four weeks.

There’s also grandparent leave for workers to spend time with grandchildren, natural disaster leave for those affected, Indigenous cultural and ceremonial leave for Indigenous or Torres Strait Islander workers, and observation of alternative days of significance other than public holidays.

Workers who are affirming their gender may take leave for this as well. And for anyone undergoing fertility treatment or supporting a partner doing so, can take up to five days of paid leave per year.

This article was first published by Women’s Agenda.