All the paperwork and forward planning traditionally involved with sorting out summer holiday or Christmas holiday schedules can now go out the window. A number of Anglo-Saxon businesses are implementing the ‘unlimited vacation’ policy. The high-profile boss of Virgin, Richard Branson is the most recent convert and has put it in place for 170 employees in his New York and London offices. He intends to roll it out to the other offices in the Virgin group. “Flexible working has revolutionized how, where, and when we all do our jobs. So, if working nine to five no longer applies, then why should strict annual leave (vacation) policies?” challenged the charismatic entrepreneur on his blog (1) making a case for a concept that is still impossible to implement in France given its own strict labor laws.
Unlimited vacation time: dream or nightmare for human resource departments?
‘Unlimited vacation’ is coming into vogue in the U.S where 1% of businesses have already implemented the system (‘unlimited vacation’ is a shorthand version for a company policy that allows its employees free to manage his/her time with the sole proviso that the work objectives are accomplished). This new wave is hitting the headlines as the boss of Virgin; Richard Branson recently indicated that some of his employees were already working with this new policy and that he was looking to roll it out to other areas of the group. The businesses who have already adopted or are tempted to adopt this new policy argue that since technological advances have blurred the lines over working time then they might as well forget about using time as a measurement tool. What are the costs and benefits of this policy? Two subject matter specialists answered such questions from Planet Labor.
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