This year, Kate Sherburn, head of legal at toilet paper company Who Gives a Crap, was training for a marathon. As part of her training, she would go for a long run early on Sunday mornings, so she could be home by 8.30am to be with her children.

By Monday morning, she was exhausted, but luckily was able to access her employer’s life leave. That gave her the time she needed to recover and reduce the likelihood of injury by having a massage and doing an extra Pilates class. Between February and April, Ms Sherburn took four days of life leave, spread over eight Monday mornings.