This Working Life Is more annual leave the answer to preventing burnout?
Mar 15, 2026
Carol Kulik, workplace research professor focused on recovery and autonomy. Shae McCrystal, labour law professor explaining legal leave frameworks. Greg Day, IKEA co-worker experience manager on five-week leave in practice. They discuss IKEA’s five-week trial, planning and uptake, the ACTU proposal and legal angles, how extra leave supports autonomy and the cultural barriers that stop people actually taking time off.
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IKEA's Five Week Leave Experiment
- IKEA rolled out five weeks of annual leave for all co-workers and treats it as a universal benefit rather than a selective perk.
- Greg Day says it improved rest and is used in recruitment, and they plan holidays per business year to manage uptake.
Plan Team Holidays Before The Year Starts
- Plan holiday rosters proactively at team level to make expanded leave operationally feasible.
- Greg Day advises teams to lock in some dates before each business year and keep flexibility for changes.
Autonomy From More Leave Reduces Burnout
- Extra annual leave increases employee autonomy and control, which strongly predicts better physical and psychological health.
- Carol Kulik links that autonomy to reduced burnout especially in low-control sectors like retail.