The Orange group offers 'breathing leave' to its employees

At Orange, some employees have the possibility of taking up to a year of leave while receiving their salary. Explanations.

Since January 2022, employees of the Orange group with at least ten years of seniority can take “breathing leave”, reports Les Échos Start. In total, the persons concerned will be able to be absent for three to twelve months. The latter will affect at least 70% of their salary .

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'We can see a form of weariness among some employees'

As the daily newspaper specifies, this unique program - developed before confinement - allows employees to recharge their batteries and come back more motivated:

« We can see a form of weariness among some employees who joined us a long time ago and who seem a little lost on the future in the company. The idea is to give them the opportunity to think about how they want to manage the rest of their journey with us. “, explains Gervais Pellissier, HRD of the group. ' To benefit from this program, employees must join structures or programs that contribute to the general interest. ».

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Indeed, those who will benefit from “breathing leave” can join associations, NGOs, take training or work in another company to develop their experience and obtain new skills.

This break concerns employees who have worked at Orange for at least ten years. But that's not all ! They must have been in office for a year. To participate, employees have the task of putting together a motivation file examined by an internal commission.

« The hierarchy of an employee cannot oppose it, it can simply postpone the project for a year if the period is not optimal, for example if an engineer is working on a large file. , says Gervais Pellissier.

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For the moment, this program is limited to 250 candidates per year, specifies the site. But the band of the Cac 40 aims to offer this leave to 1,000 employees per year during 2023.