Divorce Pay: A Modest Proposal for a New Policy

Human resource professionals now accept the fact that employee relations policies which enhance the mental health of workers also pay off for the enterprise through greater productivity and lower absenteeism.  Work-life initiatives such as wellness programs, employee assistance counseling, personal holidays and bereavement leave are common today. 

But something is missing.

During the process of writing a new personnel policy on Wedding Pay for a major corporation with a humanistic employee-oriented philosophy, it became apparent that one personal event which has a major impact on employee resiliency and productivity was being overlooked.  Although this discovery was made long ago, the situation has not changed.  The following program was first presented in 1993.  It is a suggestion for discussion by organizations confronted with distracted, depressed and/or anxious employees suffering from one particular and (unfortunately) increasingly common life crisis:  divorce.

Sample Divorce Pay Policy

The Company recognizes that a divorce creates financial havoc, mental distraction and emotional stress that can affect work productivity and diminish the quality of presenteeim.  It can be either a time of depression or a time of joy for the employee; but an extreme employee reaction of any kind also affects the work unit, the immediate supervisor, the Human Resource department and the Payroll department.  This is particularly true when child support payments or garnishments are involved.  To enhance the probability of successful employee transition through this difficult period, the company will provide a reasonable amount of paid time off to either celebrate or mourn, under the conditions specified below.

Eligibility will be determined under the same terms as Vacation Pay.  The request for paid Divorce Leave may not be granted until the final divorce decree is issued by the court.  The option must be exercised within ninety (90) days of the approval date.

Appropriately, the length of Divorce Leave entitlement will be based on the length of the marriage, using the same schedule applied in the Severance Pay program, but substituting "Years Married" for "Years Employed."

In addition to the paid time off, a $1,000 Attitude Adjustment Stipend will be allocated.  That sum is intended for any combination of the following qualified employee expense purposes:

• psychiatric treatment
• new housing search
• wardrobe renovation
• rehabilitation cruise
• bar bills
• online dating service fees
• internet or newspaper singles advertising

To draw against the $1,000 stipend, appropriate documentation must be presented to the VP of Human Resources for approval.

This benefit may not be incurred more than twice during any five year period.  It does not extend to a divorce following remarriage to a prior spouse when either of the two parties had previously invoked this policy upon the dissolution of their earlier union. 

E. James (Jim) Brennan is Senior Associate of ERI Economic Research Institute, the premier publisher of interactive pay and living-cost surveys. Semi-retired after over 40 years in HR corporate and consulting roles throughout the U.S. and Canada, he’s pretty much been there done that (articles, books, speeches, seminars, radio/TV, advisory posts, in-trial expert witness stuff, etc.) and will express his opinion on almost anything.  He is known to have a sense of humor.

The 1993 version of this proposal was co-authored with Gloria M. Wall, who was Vice President of Brennan, Thomsen Associates, Inc., at the time.  Gloria held HR management posts at diverse organizations, writes personnel policies (usually serious ones) and is past president of the St. Louis SHRM chapter.   

Image courtesy of mbeckerlaw.com

Comments

[Paul Hebert]

Seems to me the same issue as we have with health care - after the fact payments - nothing for prevention.

The real stress (and I'm guessing - haven't been divorced --- yet ---) is during the process of divorce - not necessarily following the decree. Just a thought.

[E. James (Jim) Brennan]

Whose monkey is it? Also just a thought.

[Laura Schroeder]

Sounds like compassionate leave. Even better if you're thrilled to be getting a divorce. Seriously, I'm intrigued by the idea but think the bigger benefit would be flexibility to pick up kids on, etc. Divorced parents tend to have more shuffling when it comes to kids. Time off to establish a routine would probably help with this.

[Windsor lewis]

I have to agree with Laura that an extension of work-life flexibility for affected employees to establish a new routine would be just as valuable as monetary compensation (if not more so).