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What I think is a more interesting ideas is this: minimum vacation time. You must take at least X vacation days / weeks per year. I think that would be the best of both worlds and avoids the psychology wherein no vacation is had, which is toxic
I switched from a job with 3 weeks of vacation (that would be 4 by now if I had stayed) to one with no policy. My take on it is I can take 3-4 weeks a year without feeling guilty. I honestly think every responsible and competent adult (and I purposefully leave those terms imprecise) should have no vacation policy. Vacation should be a fact of life: take it when you need it, don't take it when you can't, and work as m…
You want to be an independent contractor. That is cool, but not what an employer is. Do you think responsible adults should just pay employees whatever they need and can, and not agree on a number in advance? Why or why not?
What I think is a more interesting ideas is this: minimum vacation time. You must take at least X vacation days / weeks per year. I think that would be the best of both worlds and avoids the psychology wherein no vacation is had, which is toxic
Define vacations, if its synonymous with going away(traveling) to some other place, I would say vacations are first world luxuries. Especially in the US, its easier for your guys because the basic thing required to travel namely food, travel prices and hotel accommodation are relatively cheaper. Also international travel is easy since you almost get Visa to any where if you are a US citizen. And for most US citizens dollar having a higher exchange rate is huge plus.
In most middle class families in India, you would be shrugged as a spent thrift for spending a lot of money while your peer is saving money to buy his own house.
What I think is a more interesting ideas is this: minimum vacation time. You must take at least X vacation days / weeks per year. I think that would be the best of both worlds and avoids the psychology wherein no vacation is had, which is toxic
With that said, when unlimited vacation time is implemented well, it can be amazing for both the company and employees for a number of reasons:
1) You don't worry as much about things like sick days or one-off PTO. Work doesn't always follow a 9-5 schedule, so if you end up working 60 hours in four days, you can just take Friday off - it feels like less of a big deal if you don't have to worry about 'losing a day.'
2) Do you need to leave early to make a flight? Don't worry about entering it into the system, just do it.
3) If people are legitimately sick, they won't come to the office and infect everyone out of fear of 'using a sick day.'
4) Holidays get a lot easier. Do you not mind working between Christmas and New Years, but want to take time off for Eid/Rosh Hashanah/Diwali/Festivus/whatever? All of a sudden it's not a big deal. It's also great for parents, who don't have to worry as much about child care if their kids have random day off of school.
5) You can take a 'big trip' without losing all your days. The consecutive days, rather than the one-off long weekends, are the bigger issue for a company. I've actually found it easier to take a long trip when I didn't have to worry about losing all my days.
Companies are nervous about this arrangement because they worry employees will abuse it, but again, that's a management issue. You have unlimited vacation time as long as you are getting your work done. If you're taking so much time the work isn't getting done, then the issue isn't vacation time, it's a performance problem, the same as if you showed up every day and just played on facebook.
Because the management piece of it is so important, there are also things companies can do to make a system like this work better:
1) Create a mandatory 'real vacation' by requiring employees to take at least a week off, in a row, once a year. If employees feel like they can never take time off, they'll get burnt out and you'll lose great people. If you make a vacation mandatory, people will feel more comfortable taking the time, and the company will reap the rewards of happier, clearer thinking people. Plus, many people, especially in creative or professional jobs, get inspired when they're able to step away from the day to day for a little bit.
2) Make telecommuting easy, so that employees can still check in even if they're not in the office. Sometimes, people only really need a half day, but don't mind sitting on e-mail in the morning. Or they have their kids around all day and would love to get the opportunity to talk to some adults. The important thing here is to be flexible, and make sure that telecommuting doesn't become "we can make you work wherever, whenever, even on vacation."
3) Have real performance management. This isn't about annual reviews, it's about managers that provide ongoing, regular feedback about how employees are doing against the company's goals, help them understand when they're falling short, and work non-performers out of the organization. Top performers will get turned off by anyone abusing the policy, even more than management.
Also, freedom from incompatible work environments would be nice. It is way too noisy where I work. At the very least they should provide nice ($300-400) noise cancellation headphones without me having to beg.
If you feel guilty or pressured when taking vacation then perhaps you need to find a better company. The mind and body need breaks.
Another less likely employer benefit to be considered is that in roughly half of that U.S. states, employers must pay out accrued vacation time if there is a policy in place. An example from California's vacation faq ( http://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/faq_vacation.htm ): "For example, an employee who is entitled to three weeks of annual vacation (15 work days entitlement per year x 8 hours/day = 120 hours vacation entitlem…
I've always assumed this is exactly why silicon valley companies have unlimited vacation policies. They know their employees won't take much vacation time, and this way they won't have to put the balance on the books.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I've always assumed this is exactly why silicon valley companies have unlimited vacation policies. They know their employees won't take much vacation time, and this way they won't have to put the balance on the books.
I don't think that would work. When we set up our company handbook, we had to include an actual number of vacation days, even though we have an minimum-number-of-days policy. I think Trinet (HR-as-a-service) made us.