Akademik

(doo.VAY day)

n.

A company-approved day off that employees can take if they feel too tired to work.

'Duvet days were introduced because we realise that everyone has those days when they just cannot face work,' explains Katherine Nicholls, HR manager at August.One. 'In the past, these may have been days when people would have called in sick or they may have had to be pre-planned as holiday. The beauty of duvet days is that they are not pre-planned and people do not have to pretend or feel guilty about calling in.'

— Roisin Woolnough, "Don't Let Stress Make You Sick of Working," Computer Weekly, February 1, 2001

[Text 100] continues to operate 'people friendly' policies such as three-month paid sabbaticals, interest-free loans for the purchase of personal IT equipment, paternity leave and two 'duvet days' a year for when staff are unable to face work.

— David Sumner Smith, "How to stay forever young," Sunday Times, June 28, 1998

The originator of the duvet day concept was a British PR firm named August.One Communications (the human resources manager of which is quoted in the above citation). They began offering these perks for the pooped back in 1997. Another company called Text 100 soon took up the idea, and they were the first to get press coverage, as shown below.