What Is It Really Like To Have Unlimited Vacation? An HR Exec Shared What Issues Come Up

What is unlimited vacation?

"We initiated the policy when the company started, so we've been doing it for six or seven years now," Michele said.

One of Know Company's values is flexibility, the executive shared.

That means the unlimited vacation approach works "really well" for employees because it allows them to be able to make the choice about which days off work better for them.

"For us, it is an unlimited number of days per year within some policy guidelines," Michele noted.

How does unlimited vacation work?

You might be wondering how it's possible for every employee at a company to have unlimited vacation days.

For Know Company, unlimited vacation was something that had to be worked through before it was rolled out company-wide.

They had to figure out how it worked with five people and then a bigger team of 10 people, 15 people and so on.

"Scheduling is the hardest part of it," Michele said. "We have to do a lot of educating the supervisors about how to manage the time."

That includes knowing how to appropriately distribute workloads throughout a team when someone is off and having supports in place so people can actually take a vacation.

"The biggest thing that we want to be conscious of is that it's a shared perk between employees," she said.

"One of the requirements is that there needs to be proper coverage during somebody's time off and that it's balanced between team members."

According to Michele, if somebody has taken less vacation in the year than their co-workers, they will follow up with that employee and make sure they have the opportunity to take time off.

While vacation days are unlimited, there is actually a maximum amount that a person can take off at a time.

Employees are able to take up to four weeks at a time but there is no limit to how many times they can do that in a year.

Then, to ensure this job perk actually works, there is a requirement for notice time.

Michele revealed that the general rule is employees need to give notice of their vacation time that's at least five times the amount of time off.

So, if you're taking one day off, you need to give five days' notice but if you're taking four weeks off, you need to give 20 weeks' notice.

"That just helps the team actually plan around it and prepare for what's coming up," the exec said.

What are the benefits of unlimited vacation time?

While the biggest pro of an unlimited vacation job perk might be obvious — you get unlimited vacation days — there are a few more benefits for employees, according to this HR executive.

"All of our time off is paid vacation," Michele said.

Also, the company has found that when people are given the freedom to take time off, take care of themselves and do things that are a priority to themselves, "they just come back so much healthier and more refreshed."

There has been "a really good response" from employees about this job perk and it's even a reason why people choose to work for the company as well.

"When people are on vacation, we're pretty strict about them not working," Michele cited as another pro of unlimited vacation.

That's because if somebody is working during their time off and they were working at 20% of their normal capacity before they left, they might only come back at 50%.

"When we're reinforcing this kind of full rest, so you're completely disconnecting as often as you need to for your mental health, you're coming back so much stronger," Michele said.

Then, employees could be working at 80% capacity when they come back and able to think more clearly while being more engaged in what they're doing, the executive continued.

"They find enjoyment in it again because they're not stressed."

According to Michele, if you know that you're not limited to your vacation days and are able to use that time to recover then it's easier to come back and care about your work again.

What issues come with offering unlimited vacation?

You might expect there to be a lot of issues stemming from an unlimited vacation policy whether that comes from employees misusing the benefit or it not working for everyone.

However, that's not really the kind of drawback that has been experienced at this company.

"We haven't had any negative feedback on it," Michele said.

"The only issues that come up are when people feel like it's not available to them," she continued.

If an employee feels like their workload is too heavy and they can't take time off, managers typically sit down with that worker and reprioritize what their workload is like so that they can actually take advantage of their unlimited vacation days.

Self-induced stress like this can happen but working through it to make sure employees get all the time off they need is possible, Michele noted.

"With actually taking it, we don't get pushback from people. It's available to everyone," Michele said. "We don't have people resenting others who are gone all the time. People are able to take it themselves."