Do employees actually take vacations at companies without a predetermined number of vacation days?
Yes, indeed :)
Rules for Work: The Zaarly Employee Handbook
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Re: Rules for Work: The Zaarly Employee Handbook
#12Re: Rules for Work: The Zaarly Employee Handbook
#13>If you want to coast, we recommend you apply for a job at Craigslist Catty much? Amusing assertion given that Jeremy Zawodny works there.
Plus they aren't even in the same ballpark.
Re: Rules for Work: The Zaarly Employee Handbook
#14Do employees actually take vacations at companies without a predetermined number of vacation days?
yes, but you also don't get paid out vacation time when you leave, and there's always this social pressure to not take long trips (3 weeks, anyone?)
Re: Rules for Work: The Zaarly Employee Handbook
#15These rules are nothing new. Every company seems to start this way and then eventually each of these principles die with a little regulation here and a little adjustment there.
That's why we have a "Bill of Employee Rights" (called something else that only makes sense in our culture) that require a majority vote (contemplating 3/4th majority) of the company to change. If someone changes them outside of this scope, there would be a revolt.
Policies that can be changed willy-nilly by some higher-up are really just meaningless platitudes (redundancy for emphasis).
To clarify, not every policy and procedure (of which there are precious few) are in there, just the big ones that that shouldn't change without everyone agreeing (results only work environment, unlimited vacation/sick, profit sharing, etc.).
Departmental ones, like "test coverage should be > n%" or "we should answer every customer service request in under n-minutes" are totally up to each group to manage as they see fit.
Re: Rules for Work: The Zaarly Employee Handbook
#16Re: Rules for Work: The Zaarly Employee Handbook
#17Every time I see a startup that starts with a Z, my first thought is: "Is that the boob thing?" (Zivity)
Re: Rules for Work: The Zaarly Employee Handbook
#18IANAL, but while I think it's nice that they give these sorts of freedom, this sort of "no rules!" attitude can become a liability as a company grows.
When Jane gets told, "sorry you can't take 10 weeks of vacation this year", even though Tom got 10 weeks of vacation, you leave yourself open to all kinds of legal trouble. What looks like bureaucracy and bloat in bigger companies are most likely regulations put in place to protect both employee and employer rights.
I think the key to any HR policy, even an overt lack of HR policy, is to make sure its applied consistently.
Re: Rules for Work: The Zaarly Employee Handbook
#19I am just curious... Do these "take as much vacation as you want" policies work out well in practice? Or do the policies unintentionally create a competition to vacation less? Can anyone who works at a company with one of these policies share their perspective? How much is the approximate median vacation time taken?
Re: Rules for Work: The Zaarly Employee Handbook
#20I am just curious... Do these "take as much vacation as you want" policies work out well in practice? Or do the policies unintentionally create a competition to vacation less? Can anyone who works at a company with one of these policies share their perspective? How much is the approximate median vacation time taken?
Our unlimited vacation time comes with a (not enforced, but strongly recommended) mandatory minimum per quarter. Thus, we don't have everyone taking four weeks off in December, but I help remind the developers to take time to recharge. So far, just me going "you haven't taken a vacation in a while" is enough of a nudge to remind people to go.