Why businesses should give employees unlimited vacation time

[andrealynn]

Anecdote, but most of my friends that have this policy pretty much never take a full vacation.

[irishbride2]

I skimmed but I would hate it because I would feel like I couldn't take days but a set number would make me feel like I could take them all.

[havarti]

"As long, that is, as they felt "100 percent comfortable" that they were up to date with their work and their absence would not affect the business or their careers."

This seems...ominous.

[jln]

I would need some structure, or at least a maximum number of days. I think leaving it that open could have negative effects.

[meshaliuknits]

Dec 2, 2014 18:24:37 GMT -5 irishbride2 said:

I skimmed but I would hate it because I would feel like I couldn't take days but a set number would make me feel like I could take them all.

I have a set number and don't feel like I can take them all. And then my boss asks me why my vacation bank is always so high.

You, dude. It's high because of you.

[irishbride2]

Dec 2, 2014 18:32:51 GMT -5 meshaliuknits said:

Dec 2, 2014 18:24:37 GMT -5 irishbride2 said:

I skimmed but I would hate it because I would feel like I couldn't take days but a set number would make me feel like I could take them all.

I have a set number and don't feel like I can take them all. And then my boss asks me why my vacation bank is always so high.

You, dude. It's high because of you.

In full disclosure I've never had a vacation day to spend so I really don't know what I would do.

[pt716]

I technically had unlimited vacation days as a grad student. I was paid off a stipend and did not have to record my days off. But considering that the only holidays I didn't work were thanksgiving and Christmas, I am not sure it worked in my favor. Plus it was always really vague as to how much time we could take even for those holidays. I far prefer a more structured, clear approach.

[Deleted]

My friend's company does this. Surprisingly it seems to go okay. She takes quite a lot of time--probably 4-5 weeks between sick and vacation.

[hopecounts]

I think this is extremely work environment dependent.
One of my good friends husband is a CPA and his firm has a take time when you want to as long as it isn't Tax Season policy as a trade off for the insane hours they work during Tax Season.
So since their kids aren't in school they take a fall family week vacation and then he takes a couple weeks once he is out of Tax Season and all caught up to spend time with them and give her a break.
Works for them and he just got a promotion so must not be doing any damage.

[lys]

Since no one else does my job, I have to have things caught up (and work ahead when possible) and then play mad catch up when I get back.
Really sours my attitude toward long vacations.

[alexis]

Dec 2, 2014 18:25:45 GMT -5 havarti said:

"As long, that is, as they felt "100 percent comfortable" that they were up to date with their work and their absence would not affect the business or their careers."

This seems...ominous.

Definitely! This could easily turn input a no vacation policy because who ever feels this way?

Obviously an employee taking excessive vacation days would receive some kind of disciplinary action, so this is not unlimited vacation as much as it is mystery vacation days.

I suspect at most companies this policy would not work out to be beneficial to the employees.

[rugbywife]

We don't get vacation time in education but as admin I do get 5 lieu days to make up for what I work during the summer when I am not 'technically' paid.

From what I here, there seems to be a mix of ways people do or don't access this time…some take it religiously, usually all 5 in a row so they can go on a holiday middle of the school year. Some never take any of it because it is a PITA since we don't get replaced when we are away. Some take it here or there, to go to a kid's hockey tournament or take a long weekend.

Thing is, if you gave us unlimited lieu time, I don't think we would take any more or less - it just isn't feasible to take much more because we just have to be in the building more times than not.

[Velar Fricative]

I understand both arguments but I am okay with unlimited vacation as long as workers really aren't expected to check email, take calls, etc. while they are on vacation, and as long as workers who take more vacation than others but still get their work done aren't frowned upon just for taking more days off.

[vanillacourage]

My most recent company looked into doing this, not really as a benefit to employees but so they would no longer have to pay out accrued vacation when an employee quit. 

/grinch

[josieposy]

I'm sure this works in some fields, but when you have clients that need stuff RIGHT FUCKING NOW OR THEY'LL DIE with little to no advance notice it's not so easy.

[gault]

This may be a novel, innovative concept now...but that doesn't mean it's a good one.

I would hate this and feel guilty every time I needed a day, or 4 in a row, off. Is anyone ever 100% confident in where their work is? Shit pops up all the time.

[rugbywife]

Dec 2, 2014 19:45:40 GMT -5 vanillacourage said:

My most recent company looked into doing this, not really as a benefit to employees but so they would no longer have to pay out accrued vacation when an employee quit. 

/grinch

INTERESTING!!! I wonder if that is part of it!

[vanillacourage]

Dec 2, 2014 19:57:32 GMT -5 rugbywife said:

Dec 2, 2014 19:45:40 GMT -5 vanillacourage said:

My most recent company looked into doing this, not really as a benefit to employees but so they would no longer have to pay out accrued vacation when an employee quit. 

/grinch

INTERESTING!!! I wonder if that is part of it!

Yeah. To give context, apparently companies have to carry that accrued vacation (not sick) on the books at all times because the money legally isn't theirs.  The company was a nonprofit who considered the policy to avoid having to carry it, thus making their finances look better. 

[newgirl412]

My company has unlimited PTO. We have 5 sick days and unlimited vacation days. We have to request our vacations 2 weeks ahead of time and I have never seen anyone have issues with getting requests approved. Everyone loves the unlimited time.

[forreals]

I would not like this at all. My work is never done. It's the nature of the job. Plus, right now we are at about 50% staffed because loads of people quit and it takes forever to fill vacancies. If I didn't have actual vacation days I would never be able to take time off if I had to be sure there would be no issues if I did.

Are there really jobs where folks feel like their work is all done and there will be no problem with their absence? Even with project based jobs,, don't employers overlap projects or asking a new one immediately upon completion of the last one?

[forreals]

Dec 2, 2014 20:06:25 GMT -5 newgirl412 said:

My company has unlimited PTO. We have 5 sick days and unlimited vacation days. We have to request our vacations 2 weeks ahead of time and I have never seen anyone have issues with getting requests approved. Everyone loves the unlimited time.

How much would you say that people take per year?

[discogranny]

Lurker here. My company (commercial architecture firm, small company) has had this policy for the last two years. It works well for us as a company because it took away the feeling people had that they absolutely must take every day they are allotted by the end of the year. We find people feel better about taking time off for things like the birth of their kids (non-delivering spouse obviously) and it led us to offer fully paid 12 week maternity leave since that essentially could just be called an extended vacation under the policy. We had concerns that new moms might ask for even more time since they are technically allowed, but so far it's kind of been an understanding that 12 weeks paid is generous and no one has. We did allow someone to stay home an additional two weeks but she was expected to be fully working from home and meeting deadlines during those two weeks.

It's not a free for all, if you put in a request and it's seen as excessive or incompatible with your current workload due to short notice, your supervisor has veto power. This obviously doesn't apply for emergencies, etc. It tends to work best when we see a lull in team work load coming, we've had a few people get killer deals on last minute vacations since they can mostly take whatever, whenever as long as it works with their team.

The expectation does exist that you will at least check your emails a few times a week if you have service and forward things on to your supervisor or team as needed. Yeah, it sucks to check email on vacation but it's the trade off for being able to take multiple weeks off per year without penalty.

ETA: I just looked at our system and the most someone has taken this year (non-mat leave) is 6 weeks. The least is 5 days. This number is a combined total of both what would be considered personal days and vacation days. 

[LoveTrains]

Dec 2, 2014 18:25:45 GMT -5 havarti said:

"As long, that is, as they felt "100 percent comfortable" that they were up to date with their work and their absence would not affect the business or their careers."

This seems...ominous.

So basically that means now you never get to take vacation.

I personally LOVE it when the office is closed and no one is working. That means no one is on their email bothering me, and I'm not freaking out about what everyone else at the office is doing or what I am being looped out of. So last week was awesome because my work was closed Wed - Fri and I barely got any work emails during that time. 

[newgirl412]

Dec 2, 2014 20:10:05 GMT -5 forreals said:

Dec 2, 2014 20:06:25 GMT -5 newgirl412 said:

My company has unlimited PTO. We have 5 sick days and unlimited vacation days. We have to request our vacations 2 weeks ahead of time and I have never seen anyone have issues with getting requests approved. Everyone loves the unlimited time.

How much would you say that people take per year?

It ranges from 2 weeks up to 7 weeks. Majority fall in the 3-4 week range. This is for employees that have been with the company 2 years up to 8 years. Our company is only 14 years old and besides the owners, the most tenured employee is 8 years.

[LoveTrains]

Dec 2, 2014 20:05:10 GMT -5 vanillacourage said:

Dec 2, 2014 19:57:32 GMT -5 rugbywife said:

INTERESTING!!! I wonder if that is part of it!

Yeah. To give context, apparently companies have to carry that accrued vacation (not sick) on the books at all times because the money legally isn't theirs.  The company was a nonprofit who considered the policy to avoid having to carry it, thus making their finances look better. 

This is why at my organization we don't actually have accrued vacation time. We get 20 days vacation but it is use it or lose it and cannot be carried over for any reasons. It also doesn't get paid out when we quit. So if I leave mid-year and haven't taken my full 20 days, too bad, so sad. This means that it doesn't have to be carried on the books as a liability.

I also worked for a different organization previously that put a cap on how much could be accrued because they had too much on their books as a liability. So they capped it at 40 days per person, you could not accrue any more after that. Once you took some time you could begin accruing again. 

[StrawberryBlondie]

Dec 2, 2014 20:09:24 GMT -5 forreals said:

I would not like this at all. My work is never done. It's the nature of the job. Plus, right now we are at about 50% staffed because loads of people quit and it takes forever to fill vacancies. If I didn't have actual vacation days I would never be able to take time off if I had to be sure there would be no issues if I did.

Are there really jobs where folks feel like their work is all done and there will be no problem with their absence? Even with project based jobs,, don't employers overlap projects or asking a new one immediately upon completion of the last one?

I'm 100% confident when I'm off that there won't be issues in my absence. Sure, there's always work to get done, but nothing catastrophic will happen if I don't check my email for a few days. I'm not that important. Hell, I was gone for 3 months after having a baby and everything was fine.

[pescalita]

Dec 2, 2014 20:42:27 GMT -5 @soudesafinado said:

Dec 2, 2014 20:09:24 GMT -5 forreals said:

I would not like this at all. My work is never done. It's the nature of the job. Plus, right now we are at about 50% staffed because loads of people quit and it takes forever to fill vacancies. If I didn't have actual vacation days I would never be able to take time off if I had to be sure there would be no issues if I did.

Are there really jobs where folks feel like their work is all done and there will be no problem with their absence? Even with project based jobs,, don't employers overlap projects or asking a new one immediately upon completion of the last one?

I guess what I'm saying is, that is why we are a TEAM. Hand that shit off. That's what I do. And when my colleagues go on vacation, they hand off to me. It works out just fine.

Yeah, we're not. I'm the only person who does what I do, and everyone else has too much to do already. We've specifically been asked not to take time off at the holidays that would put more work on someone else's plate.

I am fucking CRANKY at all these articles acting like this is the best most novel thing ever. You think Richard Brandon does anything out of the goodness of his heart?

But that crankiness isn't directed at you sou, it's directed at the fact that I haven't taken a day since August, it took my 5 months to hire help, and I'm about to spend two nights working because I dared enjoy my holiday weekend. My company may offer "unlimited vacation" but there's a lot more they could do for me right now to foster good will.

[EllieArroway]

Yeah, unlimited vacation time would mean nothing at my job where I'm already expected to check my email constantly and never go too far from a computer just in case an 'emergency' pops up.

And by 'emergency' I mean 'the client just realized that xyz needs to be changed to abc and they want it done by tomorrow morning so that they can decline to look at it for five days, and then when they finally get around to looking at it they'll ask us to change it back to xyz.'

[sandsonik]

I would love it but it wouldn't work in my workplace. Everyone already gets at least 23 PTO days, and we can't be out at the end of the month or the last two weeks of the year. ..so most days, half of us are already doing the jobs of two people. If people had unlimited vacation, we would run out of people who could cover. Most positions have one other staffer who understands the duties... maybe two, but no more.

[sugarglider]

Dec 2, 2014 20:31:21 GMT -5 LoveTrains said:

Dec 2, 2014 20:05:10 GMT -5 vanillacourage said:

Yeah. To give context, apparently companies have to carry that accrued vacation (not sick) on the books at all times because the money legally isn't theirs.  The company was a nonprofit who considered the policy to avoid having to carry it, thus making their finances look better. 

This is why at my organization we don't actually have accrued vacation time. We get 20 days vacation but it is use it or lose it and cannot be carried over for any reasons. It also doesn't get paid out when we quit. So if I leave mid-year and haven't taken my full 20 days, too bad, so sad. This means that it doesn't have to be carried on the books as a liability.

I also worked for a different organization previously that put a cap on how much could be accrued because they had too much on their books as a liability. So they capped it at 40 days per person, you could not accrue any more after that. Once you took some time you could begin accruing again. 

This is not legal in CA.

Unlimited may be problematic as well, from a legal perspective, at least in some states (or maybe just CA).