More than 40% of employers are offering this perk that workers really love

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If your workplace isn’t offering “Summer Fridays” this year, you may want to forward this story to your boss!

In a survey of more than 220 HR leaders worldwide, the business advisory company Gartner found that 42% of the organizations it sampled are offering “Summer Fridays” this year.

That’s a more than 20% increase in the number of organizations that offered the perk back in 2015.

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Summer Fridays: Does your workplace offer this perk?

“Summer Fridays” are days when organizations give employees the flexibility to leave early or perhaps take the entire day off. Perks like these can help employers retain workers who place a high importance on work-life balance.

“As the number of employees feeling more confident about their personal job prospects increases, companies must find creative ways to reward and retain their top talent,” said Brian Kropp, HR practice leader at Gartner. “Giving employees the gift of time via Summer Fridays is one low-cost way to improve employee engagement, which in turn can increase employee productivity and drive business results.”

However, even if companies can’t offer a “Summer Fridays” program, Gartner says there are a few things managers can do to keep employees happy this summer:

  • Allow staff to work from home more frequently during the summer
  • Enable employees to shift their hours to either come in earlier or later
  • Encourage employees to take PTO without guilt

A separate study by the staffing firm OfficeTeam also found that flexible schedules and the ability to leave early on Fridays are the most desired summer perks.

Does your workplace offer a “Summer Fridays” program? Take our Twitter poll below:

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