Business Vocabulary: Types of Leaves

Paternity leave, anyone?
Image from askamum.co.uk

Chinese New Year is coming and some of you might have already applied for leaves in order to enjoy a long holiday.

But have you ever wondered what are the types of leaves available for application?

In fact, the types of leaves differ from country to country, company to company, so the list will be too long to list out, but here are some useful and interesting ones I came across in my little research.

Take for example, the types of leaves available to the staff working for the Hong Kong University,

1. Annual leave
2. Compassionate leave
3. Sick leave
4. Maternity leave
5. Paternity leave
6. Professional leave
7. Sabbatical leave
8. Long leave
9. Personal leave
10. Leave for jury service
11. Leave for Auxiliary Defence Services

Among these 11 types, paternity leave can be granted for up to 5 days, which is not bad, but compared with Sweden's 480 days shared between father and mother, er............

Yes, all these Hogwarts professors could apply for sabbatical leave too!
Image from gustavus.edu

Sabbatical leave is a kind of study or research leave for the professors who are entitled to one month leave every 6 months, cumulative!!

For staff at the New Nouveau Brunswich of Canada, the staff enjoys

1. Bereavement leave 
2. Compassionate leave
3. Emergency leave
4. Family leave
5. Funeral leave
6. Jury and Witness
7. Medical/Dental appointments (included in ‘Emergency’ above)
8. Pallbearer leave 
9. Paternity leave
10. Volunteer leave
11. Voting

Bereavement leave (up to 5 days) and Funeral leave (up to 1 day) are separated and listed clearly. Basically, bereavement leave is for the death of

- husband/wife
- father/mother/stepfather/stepmother
- son/daughter (including stepson, stepdaughter)
- son-in-law/daughter-in-law
- brother/sister/stepsister/stepbrother
- grandmother/grandfather
- grandson/granddaughter
- father-in-law/mother-in-law
- brother-in-law/sister-in-law
- other persons living in the household of the employee

whereas the funeral leave is for the death of
- aunt
- uncle

A pall-bearer
Image from georgetwopointoh

There is also a pallbearer leave (up to 1/2 day) if one chooses help carry carry or officially escorting a coffin at a funeral.

Carer's leave
Image from fairwork.gov.au

In Australia, there are leaves as such

1. Paid personal / carer's leave
2. Unpaid carer's leave
3. Paid compassionate leave
4. Unpaid compassionate leave

Actually, the leaves are more or less the same as the usual personal or compassionate leaves but I quite like the term "carer's leave", because it gives me a feeling that as long as you care for someone you love, you get to apply for such leaves.



Vocabulary:
paternity leave -- (n) [U] a period of time that a father is legally allowed to be away from his job so that he can spend time with his new baby
sabbatical -- (n) [C or U] a period of time when college or university teachers are allowed to stop their usual work in order to study or travel, usually while continuing to be paid
cumulative -- (adj) increasing by one addition after another
bereavement -- (n) [C or U] the death of a close relation or friend
pallbearer -- (n) [C] a person who helps to carry a coffin at a funeral or who walks at the side of the people carrying it
escort -- (vb) [T] to go with someone or a vehicle especially to make certain that they arrive safely or that they leave a place



Resources:
Welcome to the Human Resource Section Homepage @ HKU
http://www.hr.hku.hk/benefits/leave.php#compassionate_leave

Paid Leave for Personal and Other Reasons @ New Nouveau Brunswick Canada
http://www2.gnb.ca/content/gnb/en/departments/human_resources/about_us/policies_and_guidelines/leave_policies/paid_leave.html

Personal, carer's and compassionate leave - Leave @ Fair Work Ombudsman
http://www.fairwork.gov.au/leave/personal-carers-and-compassionate-leave/pages/default.aspx

What is personal leave? definition and meaning @ Business Dictionary
http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/personal-leave.html

Paternity Leave @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paternity_leave

Sick leave @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sick_leave

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/pa-ternity-leave
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/sabbatical?q=sabbatical+
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/cumulative?q=cumulative
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/bereavement?q=bereavement+
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/pallbearer?q=pallbearer+
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/escort_1