Unlimited Vacations, What Would You Do?

From Memorial Day through Labor Day, offices throughout the country have desks that are empty, computers that stay black and phones that go unanswered. The summer is prime time for people to take time off from work for vacations. It is something about the rising temperature that makes people want to escape from the office.

I have always been a firm believer of using all my vacation time, but I am in the minority of Americans. Every August and December, articles like this one start to appear talking about how Americans leave vacation time unused. Taking time off from work is important for your health. Stepping back and turning off from work can help you be more productive at work. I need my vacations to be a better employee.

Every year. I run into the same problem. I have a list of places I want to go, but not enough vacation time to clear the list.  I always wondered what would happen if I worked for a company that offered unlimited vacation time. How much would I use? Would I be a better employee with more time off?

Yahoo recently had an article by Dan Lyons a about the benefits and pitfalls of unlimited vacation time. In the article, Lyons writes that unlimited vacation time boosts moral and can save companies money. He cites his own boss, Dharmesh Shah, co-founder of Hubspot, who argues "that unlimited vacation policy actually *boosts* productivity, if only because employees aren't 'spending valuable time and energy micromanaging their vacation time to fit an archaic policy." I agree with Shah. I spend way to much time stressing about how to squeeze everything I want to do within my vacation time. It gives me anxiety. Also, I spend way way to much time day dreaming and planning my vacations at work especially those last few days before leaving.

For employers, Lyons argues that unlimited vacation policy can save companies money. "It turns out that when a company has a traditional vacation plan, accounting rule require the company to keep track of how many vacation days each employee has accrued, and to set aside a cash reserve to cover that liability. That cash reserve can add up to a substantial sum of money. But guess what? Switch to unlimited vacation, and voila! --that requirement goes away."

Saving money can be a powerful tool for business to make big changes. Another way unlimited vacation saves business money is when employees leave the company. Unlike what Lyons writes, I have worked for many companies that paid out vacation time when I left the company. With unlimited vacation time, the company doesn't have that expense when you leave.

While unlimited vacation time can have many benefits, it comes with some drawbacks. Lyons writes that a unlimited vacation time policy can cause moral problems between fellow employees:

          "Indeed, one complaint is that some people end up taking less vacation than they otherwise
           would. That's particularity true of boomer and older workers who are used to calculating
           days off based on days worked.
     
           Millennials, meanwhile, have no such inhibitions, so they zip off to Burning Man, take a few
           weeks to go backpacking in Thailand, and jet down to Cabo for a long weekend of
           partying with their college pals."

When thinking about unlimited vacations, my first thought was the generational divide. Older workers would take less time off while younger workers take more time. At some point, the older workers will start to resent the younger workers and their vacation habits. My generation has a strong belief in a life-work balance. We believe that our companies should not constrain us to normal working hours. If I work better in the afternoon, let me come in late and stay into the evening. Flexibility helps breed productivity which is good for the employee and employer. Ultimate vacations is apart of that flexibility.

I don't know if I would be a good fit for unlimited vacations. Guilt would cloud my mind. Am I taking to much time? Did I contribute enough last year to the company? Maybe I am to old-fashion for unlimited vacations . . .

What would you do with no restrictions on the amount of vacation days taken within the year?

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