An employee holidays policy that allows you paid leave as many days as you want is like a dream come true. You may think every employee would consider themself fortunate to have such an opportunity. But surprisingly, that’s not the case at all.
“Unlimited paid annual leave” or “Unlimited paid time off (UPTO) ” is an employee holidays policy where employees are allowed to have unlimited days of paid leave. In this structure, the number of their annual paid leave is not predetermined. An employee is able to take time off when needed and still gets paid as long as he or she is fulfilling his or her duties. The company promises the employees unlimited days of paid leave in exchange for their hard work.
Companies like Netflix, Buffer, Kickstarter, Evernote, LinkedIn, CharlieHR are going along with Unlimited paid annual leave policy.
This seems like a positive strategy that makes the employees feel more empowered. It appears to provide a flexible working environment and helps them to de-stress.
Unlimited paid annual leave aka Unlimited paid time off seems like a positive, employee friendly, straightforward structure. But, in actual fact, it is not always a beneficial strategy for employees. These are some downside of UPTO that is making this policy not so attractive to everyone :
Guilt: You might think that the employees who are privileged with UPTO take an immense amount of time off from work, personalize their employee holidays with a holiday planner ( like LeaveWizard.com) and spend long weeks at the beach. In reality, employees of companies or firms with Unlimited paid annual leave take less time off from work than the companies without it. It’s believed that the reason behind this is, when you are on unlimited paid annual leave, you do not actually own any employee holidays. You are going to have to ask for permission to take time off from work. People with unlimited paid annual leave often feel guilty to take a leave, because you don’t practically own any.
No payment for unused days: Generally, the number of paid annual leave is predetermined. So when an employee retires or quits his or her job, the company is bound to pay him for unused days of paid annual leave or paid time off. But with unlimited paid time off, employees are not paid for their unused paid time off because practically they do not own any paid annual leave.
Permission from your superior : Though it is called “Unlimited paid annual leave”, it doesn’t mean you can have time off from work whenever you want to. An employee who is privileged with unlimited paid annual leave will have to ask for permission from his or her superior every time they need a leave. Despite the company policy, there is no guarantee that your superior will grant your leave.
At first glance, unlimited paid annual leave looks like a positive, easy and effective strategy to build an efficient work environment. It is beneficial for both companies and employees in some aspects. But this employee holidays policy can create a negative workplace environment that was uncalled for and the downsides of it are too consequential to neglect.
