Careers: Unlimited paid vacation is latest employee perk - Finance ...

There?s a new trend in employee engagement: unlimited paid vacation. The companies giving this a go are trying to foster creativity in their employees, improve retention, and reduce burnout, according to a Wall Street Journal article about giving employees as much vacation as they like.

I?d certainly be a pretty happy employee if the company I worked for gave me unlimited paid vacation. And not just because the concept itself sounds divine, but because it shows employees that they are valued and their work-life balance is respected. It also builds trust, which is one of the reasons some of the companies say they're trying it.

A weekend entertainment organizer in Chicago called Red Frog Events is one such company mentioned in the article. They hired their first employees two years ago and haven?t tracked vacation time at all. They also haven?t had anyone abuse the system, but have found that people take a couple of days now and then to refresh and recharge or for family reasons.

Another company with an unlimited vacation policy has had similar results. Employees at LRN, an advisory services firm, took an average of three weeks of vacation before the unlimited vacation policy took effect, and that hasn?t changed now that vacation time isn?t specifically allotted.

There?s something about this that doesn?t surprise me. Based purely on my own observation, it seems that after a certain point people don?t take all their vacation anyway. I?d be willing to bet that a good percentage of people who get more than three or four weeks vacation end up carrying some of it over year to year.

Besides, taking a day here and there probably feels much more reasonable than suddenly deciding to tack on an extra two weeks vacation time and head out on an African safari. It?s not like the average person can afford to take multiple vacations a year, and there?s only so much staycationing you can do.

In some organizations, unlimited vacation time is probably used to make up for lower wages or salary freezes or other factors related to people?s employment that aren?t popular. It?s a relatively low-cost way to make it up to people a little bit, and no doubt fosters some good will as well.

I?d certainly be happy about my employer offering unlimited vacation. Does it appeal to you?

Source: http://blog.yourmoney.ca/2012/11/careers-unlimited-paid-vacation-is-latest-employee-perk-.html

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