Set Vs. Unlimited Vacation Days – A New Trend on the Rise

It has come time to talk about one of our favourite topics – vacation days! As you know, rest is something we consider integral to our wellbeing and vacation days allow you to take a step back and enjoy some restorative time away from work. Today we’re entering the narrative and discussing the ever-increasing trend of companies offering unlimited vacation days… yes, we said it. Unlimited vacation days.

Set Vacation Days

Let’s start by refreshing ourselves on a set vacation day structure. With this structure, companies and/or governments dictate how many days paid vacation an employee is entitled to. This can range globally anywhere from 0-30 days paid leave. Typically, an employee has to get their vacation dates pre-approved by management ahead of time to plan prior to going on their rest-filled time away. As we’ve mentioned, set vacation days can range anywhere from 0-30 days globally, so we’ve taken a quick snapshot of what this looks like in different countries!

Unlimited Vacation Days

Now that we’ve covered off the norm for most – let’s jump right into the new concept on the scene – unlimited vacation days! This new policy allows employees to take however many vacation days they please, under their discretion of course. Major companies like GitHub, LinkedIn, Netflix, Kickstarter and Mineral (previously MammothHR) have even adopted this too-good-to-be-true policy. Now, there’s not necessarily a catch when it comes to this emerging policy, but it can enter the grey area from time-to-time. 

On one hand, taking too many vacation days has the potential to damage your workplace reputation – are you there to be hands on when it’s most needed? Are you taking more vacation days than the rest of your colleagues and abusing the policy?

On the other hand, you could be taking too little vacation days due to the little regulation surrounding them. This could lead to the dreaded burnout & overwhelm, rendering you less productive and increasing stress levels. According to a study done by a human resources service provider used by INSIDER in 2017 found that people with unlimited PTO take an average of 13 days off per year… that’s 2 days less than the average for people with traditional policies. INSIDER also found during a poll that 29% of those with unlimited PTO were still working on vacation and 42% were “always” logging in on time off.

All-in-all, we’re fans of both structures because they both have pros and cons depending on the type of work you do or organization you work for. Taking your vacation days as time off to rest is important either way – when you get back from your time away, you’re relaxed and refocused, ready to take on whatever work comes your way.

How do you feel about unlimited vacation days?