Ask HN: How does unlimited vacation policy work in your company?

From this thread:

>> a few people who take a bit more holiday than others, but I don't think they are over-stepping what's reasonable

>> as long as you're being reasonable, and you communicate your intention early enough for deadlines

>> If it is being abused your manager will speak to you about it.

Maybe it is just me but I miss the "unlimited" part of the "unlimited vacation policy". Unlimited is not always reasonable, non-abusive, manager-happy-making. It is unlimited.

For example at my last job I took over a process where my predecessor struggled getting things done and missed deadlines regularly. I am not a genius but too lazy so I automated the hell out of the process so that I only needed 3-4 days a month to accomplish everything on time. With an "unlimited vacation policy" I just could have taken the other 16 days of the month off. But seriously, does this actually happen to anyone? Only if is your business and you are your own boss.

[edit] Hier in Germany it is common to have 30 days holiday a year. Nobody would call it "unlimited" but "not enough".

This makes me think of ISPs and the whole conundrum with their false definitions of unlimited. How do you abuse unlimited?

I worked in one place where the policy changed while I was there. In my experience, people don't take any more time than they did under the prior 'limited' vacation policy. The only beneficiary was the company, which wiped accrued vacation (a liability) from it's balance sheet, making it look more attractive as an acquisition target.

We have an unlimited policy. People seem to take 3-4 weeks on avg by my guess, although I'd love to see hard numbers on that as I suspect it is higher, however we don't track it.

There have been situations where it was abused, and those people tend to not last long. In general if your work is getting done well, nobody cares. If you start dropping the ball it becomes a discussion around performance expectations.

As a type A person, it has been hard for me to learn that it is OK, and in fact important, for me to take time off.

What has worked better for me is to use it more as a gradual thing. I might take a day off or work a short day a few times a month. It helps me fit life in, get more rest, and manage stress better because I'm releasing that pressure more frequently than if I waited several months to take a week off.

I still might take longer stretches off, but don't feel any where approaching what I can only describe as desperation for a break I felt at previous jobs.

As a result I'm sure my productivity is higher, and I'm much less interested in fielding the frequent recruiter pitches I get because most of the time I know the companies they are pitching could never offer me something comparable.

If you find a company that implements this policy well, it quickly becomes one of the most valuable parts of your comp package. At a certain point in life the value you place on your free time increases dramatically. So a benefit like this grows in value at the rate for which the value you place on your time increases.

Where I am now, it depends a lot on your individual initiative and your immediate manager.

We have some departments where everyone takes 4-6 weeks per year, and others where I'm pretty sure only a couple people have been out for longer than a sick day here and there. That's down to the individual managers, I think, and an example of a good way for an unlimited vacation policy to fail. Top brass certainly sets an example of taking plenty of time.

My manager has been on my case lately, encouraging me to take more PTO (I've probably already taken 15 days so far this year, and it'll be close to 25 by Dec 31). The guy who sits on one side of me takes 3-4 day weekends every couple weeks all summer so he can go camping and hiking with his girlfriend. The guy who sits on the other side took two weeks mid-year and that's it. A guy who regularly showed up about 2-3 times per week and worked half days when he did (despite being hired as a full-time employee) was let go.

For me it's better than the last place. 10 days combined PTO minus a medical or family event and one bad cold doesn't even leave you with enough time to take a full week vacation, let alone an additional mental health day here and there. Perfect recipe for burnout.

Here, at the end of a particularly rough stretch, I've learned not to feel the least bit guilty about taking an extra day to recover, or even to do so multiple times in a month. I come back motivated and focused instead of exhausted and resentful, and get more done in 4 good days than I would in 5 miserable ones.