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

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

#31

Post by smileysteve »

Unlimited Vacation Works at my Company

- because people talk about their trips and vacations

- because people are motivated to work ( example, somebody traveling for a month teleworked for a week to not be way out of the loop

- most people take a long weekend, week, and more rarely, 2 weeks at a time.

The biggest concern from Management is that employees feel guilty, aren't taking enough vacation (there isn't a lot of abuse.) Management actively encouraged one of my 2 week vacations to set an example to show people to take vacations.

Does it work as well as it is advertised? From an accounting perspective, yes. From a not worrying about managing people's vacation time yes. From a team management for meetings / projects - not always - more/better notice could work better. From a people perspective? the same people who overwork themselves tend to not take vacations - so not the best for keeping stress down.

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

#32

Post by apohn »

I worked for an established software company (~3000 employees) that had unlimited vacation.

How much vacation people really took varied greatly by managers and which part of the organization you were in.

There were no minimums and no real philosophy or best practices around vacation. The core engineering groups had good managers and people took 4 - 6 weeks (spread over the year) and would completely disconnect from work during their vacations. People could take 2-3 weeks in a row without much fuss being made.

With exception of support, if you were in a customer facing role your manager was probably a workaholic and made it very difficult to take a vacation or even enjoy vacation when you took it. However, they would constantly trot out unlimited vacation as a perk and act like it was your fault for not taking vacation. I knew people who disconnected for a week for the birth of their baby and felt completely unprotected and overwhelmed with backload of work by the time they came back.

I'm never going back to a company with "unlimited" vacation again unless I know the group I report into strongly protects and encourages at least 3+ weeks of vacation

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

#34

Post by user5994461 »

In practise, it means that holidays days are simply not accounted for.

Otherwise, it's like usual, tell your team in advance and write the days on the calendar.

There is no abuse. If anything, most people don't take enough because it's not accounted for && there is noone to remind them of "you gotta take 10 days before January [or your current quota be lost][and you're gonna burn out because you work too hard]"

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

#35

Post by Declanomous »

bbcbasic wrote: post #20
mcpherrinm wrote: post #9

"Unlimited Vacation" is sometimes used to mean "no vacation" or "very limited vacation". But I don't think that's actually the way many employers think about it. It's more often a way to say "no accrued vacation". That's important in California, when you leave a job, your employer has to pay out unused and accrued vacation. That can be a big liability to keep on the books, so you can remove it with an unlimited vacat…

Just a fuck over the employee for 4% of their earnings thing.

Pretty much this. I always keep about 7 days of vacation banked as a insurance policy. One of my friends was laid off with about half his company, and everyone got "paid through the end of the week." He had a 5 day vacation planned the next week, and they weren't going to pay him for the vacation he had notified them of months in advance. I have an emergency fund, but I'd prefer to save that money and get an actual paycheck if anything happens.

On top of that, banked vacation is a way to have some funemployment if you get an extra week between leaving on job and starting another. It's basically like taking a vacation anyways.

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

#36

Post by probinso »

I've worked at three weeks,5 weeks and unlimited. The reality is that I like 5 weeks more than Unlimited. When I was working unlimited I actually was able to take as much time as I wanted, but it was obvious that different employees had different trust levels in the vacation system. No one would stand in my way, but it was very apparent that certain people were just not comfortable either with me leaving or with taking the time they need themselves. Additionally having unlimited time off means that you do not earn that value when you quit. I have used the money from saved up vacation to sponsor my next job search. This gives me enough time 2 develop new interests and gain traction on a new project.

When I was working at 5 weeks, I generally average using four weeks a year

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

#37

Post by frankhorrigan »

yankyou wrote: post #19
justsorneguy wrote: post #2

I usually wait about a week before activating my unlimited vacation. This frees me up to look for my next job, which must also offer an unlimited vacation policy. I've been doing this for about thirteen months. I project my annual income this year will be around $1.7 million. So far, it has worked very well and I would recommend the arrangement to anyone.

Have you considered outsourcing? Hire a few more more smart people to activate their unlimited vacations. Split the winnings. Imagine the cash if you did it recursively!

"What do you do for work?" "We're on vacations."

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

#38

Post by Jemaclus »

I've taken 6 weeks so far this year, and I'll take another week by the end of the year. I got married this year, then I went on a honeymoon. I was also in 8 other weddings over the past four months, each of which required a couple of days off for travel. My boss has been extremely understanding, and I don't think it's hurt me professionally at all. When I get back from my vacation, I work a little harder for a similar amount of time. That said, I've completed all my official tasks (and then some), so there's little to complain about, I think.

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

#39

Post by wayn3 »

wreath wrote: post #27
NumberCruncher wrote: post #22

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 reasona…

Is this how it works for startups as well? Which part of Germany are you referring to?

It is not so much "common" as it is "law". The law mandates a certain amount of holidays in addition to national holidays.

Its 23 or something along those lines of mandated "days off".

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

#40

Post by hacknat »

My company is cool in that it has unlimited vacation, but you are mandated to take one week off per quarter.

I would be lying if I said that even that gets everybody taking 4 weeks off, but the founders have made themselves very clear, so I feel quite safe following the rules and then some.

The development team actually has come up with an (internal to the team) target of 6 weeks. I'll probably be successful in hitting it by the end of the year.

In addition we have most of the holidays off that you'd expect.

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