After shutting down offices worldwide for a week in June to combat workplace stress, dating app Bumble has announced a new leave policy where its 700 staff can take unlimited paid leave, if their manager approves, the media reported.

The new policy includes a plan to shut the office for a week twice a year, the BBC reported.

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The Covid-19 pandemic prompted the change as it “reflected on” the ways staff worked, Bumble said, adding that the unlimited holiday is contingent on staff still managing to complete their work.

“It’s becoming increasingly clear that the way that we work, and need to work, has changed and our new policies are a reflection of what really matters and how we can best support our teams in both their work and life,” Tarek Shaukat, President at Bumble, was quoted as saying.

However, some customer staff across Austin, Barcelona, London and Moscow will continue to work in case any of the app’s users experience issues, the company said.

Bumble has said it’s also offering staff additional types of paid leave including 20 days for staff who are victims of domestic violence and other violent crimes and a minimum of 15 days bereavement leave for miscarriages, the BBC reported.

The pandemic time has been extremely busy for the dating firm as it debuted on the stock market in February, and had rapid growth in user numbers.

According to the latest figures by the company, the number of paid users across Bumble and Badoo, which Bumble also owns, spiked by 30 per cent in the three months to March 31, compared with the same period last year, the report said.

The pandemic has prompted many businesses to look again at the traditional working week.

Earlier this year, accountancy firm Price WaterhouseCooper said that staff would be able to work from home a couple of days a week and start as early or late as they wanted, the report said.

The building society Nationwide also told its staff they can choose whether to work at home or in the office. Oil giant BP has told office staff they can spend two days a week working from home and several banks are examining hybrid home-office arrangements, it added.