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Our Vacation Policy: Take Some

blogs.balsamiq.com

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Re: Our Vacation Policy: Take Some

#2
The company I work for recently adopted a NetFlix style "we don't track vacation" policy. It's been about nine months, and anecdotes (no data available - we don't track!) suggest total vacation time taken is less than half of last year.

I suppose that whether that's good or bad is pretty subjective.

Re: Our Vacation Policy: Take Some

#5

HR policies that treat people like professionals and adults are refreshing. Sadly, not everyone can afford to hire only those who will act this way. It's expensive, and not always worth the cost.

Exactly. It's the best system, but only works when dealing with the best people.

Re: Our Vacation Policy: Take Some

#6
post #2

The company I work for recently adopted a NetFlix style "we don't track vacation" policy. It's been about nine months, and anecdotes (no data available - we don't track!) suggest total vacation time taken is less than half of last year. I suppose that whether that's good or bad is pretty subjective.

Right.

Unless you literally mean take as much vacation as you feel is right and no matter how much you take (even 4 weeks straight), we won't ask questions, then I'd rather have a specific number.

For sick time, I think this is a great idea. I have unlimited sick time where I work, so I only take it when I'm really sick. It's like the saying that what gets measured gets done. The measure of legitimate sick time is not "do you have the time" but "are you sick," so that's what people use to judge when taking sick time. If it was "do you have the time" then as long as they had the time, people would feel fine taking sick time, even if they weren't sick.

If you tell me I can take as much vacation as I want as long as I need a vacation, then even to take a half-day, I need a justification. Every vacation day, or part of a day, becomes a risk that I'm going to look like I'm taking too much vacation.

Re: Our Vacation Policy: Take Some

#7
post #2

The company I work for recently adopted a NetFlix style "we don't track vacation" policy. It's been about nine months, and anecdotes (no data available - we don't track!) suggest total vacation time taken is less than half of last year. I suppose that whether that's good or bad is pretty subjective.

My company did the same. It must be a fad among CEOs.

While on the face of it this policy looks like an improvement, it turned an entitlement into something that depends on the generosity of one's boss. Also, keep in mind that when quitting you don't get any accrued money. I highly dislike it.

Re: Our Vacation Policy: Take Some

#8

HR policies that treat people like professionals and adults are refreshing. Sadly, not everyone can afford to hire only those who will act this way. It's expensive, and not always worth the cost.

They also only last until the company hits a certain size, and someone starts taking 4 months of holiday a year, because they can. In countries where you can't easily be fired, anyway.

Most stupid HR policies come about from an employee abusing the system. Come in before 9:30! No sick pay! etc etc

Re: Our Vacation Policy: Take Some

#9
post #2

The company I work for recently adopted a NetFlix style "we don't track vacation" policy. It's been about nine months, and anecdotes (no data available - we don't track!) suggest total vacation time taken is less than half of last year. I suppose that whether that's good or bad is pretty subjective.

I've seen similar situations. People wind up never knowing if it's really ok to take vacation, so they don't. If the folks in charge are the workaholic types, the answer is usually perceived to be "no", even if it's not.

Re: Our Vacation Policy: Take Some

#10
After the rogue trader incident at SocGen, the investment bank I was working for required people to take a week of vacation at a time (HR would actually verify compliance). Employees would have to declare in advance that they were planning a mandatory vacation so IT could suspend their remote logins and disable their card access to the building.
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