{"id":16999,"date":"2015-10-09T16:13:29","date_gmt":"2015-10-09T20:13:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/creator\/?p=16999"},"modified":"2020-03-30T18:27:53","modified_gmt":"2020-03-30T22:27:53","slug":"why-more-companies-are-offering-unlimited-vacation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/why-more-companies-are-offering-unlimited-vacation","title":{"rendered":"Why more companies are offering unlimited vacation"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong>Americans are used to one or two-week vacations, and a restricted number of days off from their jobs. But nowadays, unlimited vacation policies are popping up at companies big and small that see the benefits it can offer.<\/p>\n<p>Employees at the Virgin Group headquarters are granted this privilege, while <a href=\"http:\/\/money.cnn.com\/2015\/07\/13\/pf\/general-electric-unlimited-paid-time-off\/\">43 percent of workers at General Electric<\/a> don\u2019t have a limit on the amount of personal, vacation, and sick days they can take. While only about <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/bw\/articles\/2014-09-25\/why-a-tiny-number-of-companies-offer-unlimited-vacation-time\">one percent of companies in the United States<\/a> currently offer unlimited vacation time or time off, the advantages of this policy are apparent.<\/p>\n<p>Considering implementing an unlimited vacation policy at your startup? Here are some of the upsides of it, as well as precautions from other businesses so that you can create the most effective policy possible.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Employees are happier, healthier<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>While a 21-year-old straight out of college may be willing to put in long work weeks and take no time of, this lifestyle is not feasible for people with a lot on their plates.<\/p>\n<p>Sonya Merrill, chief people officer at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.zestfinance.com\/\">ZestFinance<\/a>, says that her company has always provided unlimited vacation time in order to attract diverse employees.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe implement benefits, like unlimited vacation, that cater to a variety of lifestyles and backgrounds,\u201d she says. \u201cProviding unlimited vacation helps employees balance work and home, whether that means spending their days with their children, observing religious holidays, pursuing their passions, volunteering in the community, or just taking a break to refuel their thinking and creativity.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Since unlimited vacation days offer flexibility to workers, Rebecca Price, senior vice president at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.sailthru.com\/\">Sailthru<\/a>, says that her employees, who take off two to three weeks per year, are more satisfied.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have happier employees who take time for themselves: they go to doctor appointments, or can be home to accept deliveries,\u201d she says. \u201cIt makes for people who can balance work and life better.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Companies get better results<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>If employees are constantly working, it doesn\u2019t mean that they\u2019re actually being productive. Price says that by allowing unlimited vacation time, Sailthru can focus on results and eradicate wasteful activities that don\u2019t add value.<\/p>\n<p>Tobey Fitch, head of people and organizational performance at <a href=\"https:\/\/prezi.com\/\">Prezi<\/a>, has experienced a similar situation because of the unlimited vacation policy. He says that more hours on the job doesn\u2019t equal productivity.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt helps our managers focus on what matters: results and performance, and improving the user experience,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Employees come back ready to work<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Everyone needs downtime so that they can refocus on their work. Though his company doles out unlimited vacation, Fitch says that some workers still don\u2019t take advantage of it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey have to be encouraged to take a break and refresh themselves,\u201d Fitch says. \u201cSome employees like more black and white guidelines and can be uncertain how to manage it initially, but they learn, and it\u2019s part of being an engaged employee.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dillan Bryant, director of people operations at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.umbel.com\/\">Umbel,<\/a> says that her company will give employees two weeks of mandatory vacation and two additional weeks of recommended time off.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt forces people to decompress and unplug,\u201d Bryant says. \u201cA very few use more than we&#8217;d like, but most use less.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>The downside<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Though it\u2019s rare, these companies report that sometimes their unlimited vacation policies have been abused. Price says that usually, \u201cthose people typically don\u2019t have a long tenure at the company or they have to work to revamp how they work within the policy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>When instituting the guidelines, Price says that there is a learning curve for higher-ups at companies.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt takes training and time for managers to navigate team politics around vacation time,\u201d Price says.<\/p>\n<p>Unlimited vacation policies are sometimes vague, and misunderstood by employees. Simon Berg, CEO of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ceros.com\/\">Ceros<\/a>, says that at his company, \u201cit can be somewhat unclear what the expectations are on each team, in terms of giving notice and coordinating schedules.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>To remedy this, Ceros is \u201cputting some additional policies in place to make the details clearer to everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Whether or not you choose to closely track vacation time depends upon your company culture and how productive your employees are. Prezi was founded in Budapest, where workers receive a lot of vacation time.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs our European business peers would have us notice, it\u2019s healthy for professionals to take three to five weeks of holiday time a year,\u201d says Fitch. \u201cWe assume that\u2019s what our people are taking.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Merrill wouldn\u2019t say the average time that employees take off, however, she is proud of her company\u2019s policy and that they provide unlimited vacation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur employees take more vacation time than most Americans,\u201d she says. \u201cAnd we think that&#8217;s great.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Photo by Lauren Kallen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u00a0Americans are used to one or two-week vacations, and a restricted number of days off from their jobs. But nowadays, unlimited vacation policies are popping up at companies big and small that see the benefits it can offer. Employees at the Virgin Group headquarters are granted this privilege, while 43 percent of workers at General [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1498,"featured_media":17003,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[43902],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16999","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-professional-development"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v22.4 (Yoast SEO v25.3.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Why more companies are offering unlimited vacation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Considering implementing an unlimited vacation policy at your startup? 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