For ideas on how to spend your green leap day, click here

Traditionally the day when women can propose to men, this February 29 will leap in a new direction with companies encouraged to give their staff the day off to help to tackle climate change. The National Trust will announce today that all 4,800 staff and 49,000 volunteers will be told to take the day off to help to reduce their own carbon footprint.

Other companies and organisations – which all get an extra day’s labour free out of salaried staff in a leap year – are expected to join the Green Leap Day initiative. National Trust staff will be paid for the day. In an unlikely alliance, the Trade Union Congress welcomed the move and said that it hoped other employers would get involved in helping staff to tackle climate change.

It is hoped that the intitiative could become a national 24-hour scheme for environmental improvement. Employees will be encouraged to use the day to change their lighting for energy efficient bulbs, create a compost heap, arrange recycling facilities or to visit a school or youth club to explain the impact of climate change.

Dame Fiona Reynolds, director-general of the National Trust, said: “Climate change is one of the biggest challenges we are facing today. At the National Trust, we are looking at the impact of all our activities and how we can reduce this impact.

“Now we want our staff to do the same. If everybody gets involved, this means over 54,000 people could reduce their impact of the environment.” Staff will be asked to file a brief report of what they have achieved, but there will be no disciplinary action against those discovered to have spent the day in front of the television or in the pub. Those who oppose the idea will be allowed to work as normal.

The trust, which has 3.5 million members, hopes that the scheme will be joined by other employers who may have previously regarded February 29 as simply an extra day’s free labour.

“We want organisations of all sorts and sizes to come on board in whatever form they are able, to encourage people to do something for the environment,” Dame Fiona said. “There are over 29 million employees in the UK, if just one million changed one light bulb and turned their thermostat down by one degree it would save 351,000 tons of carbon.”

Many of the trust’s 300 historic houses and gardens and 49 industrial monuments and mills do not open until the start of March, but staff at those that are operating will be told that they can take the day off later in the year. Many premises that would not be be open are normally staffed to prepare for the start of the season.

Brendan Barber, General Secretary the TUC, said: “Giving employees an extra day off work while encouraging them to think about what they can do to go greener sounds like a great idea. More employers should be thinking about how to give their staff a better work-life balance. It is time for the Government to take a leaf out of the National Trust book and create new community day bank holiday.”

But Stephen Alambritis, of the Federation of Small Businesses, said: “The vast majority of small employers would not be able to cope with giving their staff the day off. There needs to be a reality check about what is possible in a small business.”

Work ethics

Good boss Lana Morgan, the owner of the Pacific Direct toiletries firm, surprised her employees in 2006 by flying 30 of them to Barbados for an all-expenses paid holiday. She said she could not remember when an employee last left the company

Bad boss The Accident Group sacked its 2,500 employees en masse by text message in 2003. The texts warned the workers that their salaries would not be paid

Good boss Antony Kent, a Midlands barber, treated his 75-strong workforce to a particularly apt treat last month: he took them to see Sweeney Todd

Bad bosses A survey of 3,500 employers in 2005 found that four out of five were cancelling Christmas parties because of either the cost of the decorations or because they led to arguments and official complaints about harassment

Good boss Google has a reputation for treating staff well with its army of “funsultants”. Its California headquarters includes a volleyball pitch, climbing wall and games room. Its star piece however is its “party plane” – a Boeing 767 that has been reconfigured so that up to 50 employees can regularly enjoy partying in the sky

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