{"id":747,"date":"2016-08-03T10:00:36","date_gmt":"2016-08-03T10:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/?p=747"},"modified":"2025-07-01T17:20:23","modified_gmt":"2025-07-01T17:20:23","slug":"unlimited-paid-vacation-kiddin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/unlimited-paid-vacation-kiddin\/","title":{"rendered":"Unlimited paid vacation? Are you kiddin’ me?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Some companies, both here and abroad, are experimenting with unlimited vacation, or \u201cdiscretionary time off\u201d as it is known in HR circles.\u00a0 And we\u2019re talking about paid<\/u><\/em> time off, not unpaid leaves of absence. Sounds crazy, doesn\u2019t it?\u00a0 What\u2019s to prevent someone from heading for the beach and never coming back?\u00a0 How are we supposed to get anything done if our people are coming and going whenever they feel like it?\u00a0 Clearly, these are legitimate concerns.\u00a0 To learn how the early adapters of this unusual perk are trying to address those concerns, please continue reading below.<\/p>\n

Unlimited paid vacation?\u00a0 Are you kiddin\u2019 me?<\/strong><\/p>\n

First, \u201cunlimited paid vacation\u201d is really a misnomer . . . there are limits, but those limits are not expressed in days or hours.\u00a0 That is, you are still expected to carry out your job responsibilities, on time, and within acceptable levels of performance.\u00a0 So the limiting factors are really defined, not by the calendar, but by the demands of your job.\u00a0 You can take as much time off as you want, whenever you want to, provided your job responsibilities do not suffer.\u00a0 For that reason, \u201cdiscretionary time off\u201d is really the more accurate, descriptive term for what we\u2019re talking about here.<\/p>\n

Second, unlimited paid vacation isn\u2019t a perk that works for all individuals in all companies in all industries or in all cultures.\u00a0 It works best for individuals who, thanks to cell phones, laptops, and the internet, can work from just about anywhere . . . from home, from a coffee shop, or even from the stands of their kid\u2019s soccer game.\u00a0 Conversely, it\u2019s tough to make sense out of a \u201cdiscretionary time off\u201d policy if your work force must conduct its work exclusively within the confines of your facility, as in manufacturing, for instance.<\/p>\n

Americans take less time off than most other industrialized countries.\u00a0 In fact, many of us fail to take the time off each year that we\u2019re entitled to take.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 In part, it\u2019s due to job security . . . people are afraid to take the time off out of fear that their job won\u2019t be there when they come back.\u00a0 It\u2019s also due to a notion (usually misplaced) that nobody can do my job like I can, and I don\u2019t want somebody else getting it all screwed up.<\/p>\n

So if our employees aren\u2019t using the time off they\u2019ve already got, what\u2019s the point in making it possible for them to take more?<\/p>\n

Discretionary time off . . .<\/p>\n