Unlimited paid holiday

[Katie_W 10]

WANdisco - based in Sheffield, have announced their new policy of unlimited paid vacation! . The idea of clocking in and out seems like an old fashioned one and results are surely more important than the hours you put in?

Any thoughts?

Edited February 13, 2012 by Katie_W

[cgksheff 44]

Sounds like "unlimited broadband".

 

As soon as one starts taking a bit more leave than others, they will start to follow suit and it all breaks down.

 

Far better to have profit sharing.

 

 

.... I've just re-read the article and see that it says "... as much holiday as they need ..."

 

Not quite the same as "as much as they want". Is it?

Edited February 13, 2012 by cgksheff

[Nagel 10]

Reading between the lines of the article the unspoken part of the agenda will be pressure to put in as many hours as possible.

 

The employees of WANdisco will probably end up taking less time off than employees of other firms and not get any overtime for doing so.

[Badlittlepup 10]

Gimmick. In practice this will probably just work out as 4-5 weeks. The opposite could happen too and people could be so scared of taking too much leave they would end up just taking 2-3 weeks to make sure they didn't get in trouble.

[Cyclone 10]

I can't see how it can work in reality, but maybe it all hinges on the definition of 'need'.

[vwkittie 10]

I wouldn't trust it personally. I prefer to have MY holiday days, they are mine and mine to take when I want to (within reason). This scheme sounds like being pressured to work long hours then going cap in hand to ask if my need is great enough for a holiday. I may be totally wrong of course....

[rachgee 10]

Utter rubbish. Give it 12 mths and they'll be controls put back in place. Not because of staff abuse, it's more to do with staffing levels. If everyone decides they are going to have week off at the same time, the company will not function. Bit of a publicity stunt.

[Nagel 10]

I wouldn't trust it personally. I prefer to have MY holiday days, they are mine and mine to take when I want to (within reason). This scheme sounds like being pressured to work long hours then going cap in hand to ask if my need is great enough for a holiday. I may be totally wrong of course....

 

My thoughts exactly. I bet it's the sort of place where everyone is sared to be the first to leave at the end of the day and they all stay till past 7pm as to leave earlier would show a lack of commitment.

 

Or is that just me being cynical?

[Cyclone 10]

Utter rubbish. Give it 12 mths and they'll be controls put back in place. Not because of staff abuse, it's more to do with staffing levels. If everyone decides they are going to have week off at the same time, the company will not function. Bit of a publicity stunt.

 

Does it say that all holiday requests will always be approved? I assume they still maintain the right to approve or not approve any request, it just won't be on the basis of the number of days you've had off already.

[HotPhil 10]

I know a few folk that work there. They've mentioned this scheme, but I've not had the chance to ask them what they think about it.

It's not the kind of place where they all stay till 7 feeling scared though, I can tell you that.

[DerbyTup 10]

I'm afraid the report doesn't give enough details about the scheme and how it works for any of us to make an objective comment on it.

 

For example, one of you said it would be better to have profit-sharing, but how do you know that profit-sharing isn't one of the benefits that are offered? It doesn't say anything about that. I would have thought that there would have to be some kind of profit-sharing linked to this otherwise there would be more incentive to be on holiday than be at work!

 

Most leading companies have flexible working hours thesedays and many have flexible benefits as well. I think it is to be welcomed that one of our locally based firms has the foresight to offer some flexibility and I wouldn't automatically jump to conclusions that there is some sinnister reason behind this or that it's only being done for the employers benefit and not for the employees benefit.

 

A good employer recognises that flexible working arrangements are mutually beneficial.

[Ms Macbeth 73]

I think it sounds fantastic. It should work as long as they all consider each other and balance their time off against workload peaks and troughs.

 

I enjoy working with people who all pull together for the common good. I once worked in a small team where if we weren't busy we could finish early or come in late or even have some unofficial time off. We all appreciated and respected our manager, and were prepared to do what was necessary when we were busy.

 

I've also worked in teams where the balance of work has been skewed, because of laziness, inability to do the job, favouritism, poor management skills etc. Those teams become a breeding ground for resentment, and often have a quick turnover of the harder workers!