Who Wouldn't Want Unlimited Vacation Time?

About 2% of U.S. companies have opted for flexible time off policies as opposed to the traditional policy of accruing vacation days for personal time off. With flexible time off there is no limit to how many days you decide to take off work. Project: WorldWide is an example of one company that has moved from PTO to FTO. “Everybody’s got a job to do, deadlines and targets are set, and you’re still expected to meet them,” says CEO Robert Vallee Jr. Similarly; college students have their fair share of work and play. On their own they must manage when they need to set time aside to complete homework assignments, and of course when they have time to socialize. Everything must still be completed and turned in by expected due dates. This policy makes employees focus on what needs to get done rather than on how many days they are working. Performance standards need to be clearly identified by employers when adopting such a policy. Interestingly enough, most FTO employees don’t take more or less time than they usually would under traditional policies. FTO might not fit every business. A lot of questions arise when considering implementing this new policy. If you were a team member, how would you feel seeing some people take off more time than you? Would you feel as though you’re working harder?

Argonaut is another company implementing the FTO policy. They feel as though you have to find the things that inspire you when working in a creative field such as marketing. Enjoying out of office time allows employees to pursue the things that enrich their creativity and thinking. “We trust you. We know you’re going to come in, get the work done and be responsible.” Giving employees this kind of freedom might even motivate them to do better with their work. So the question at hand is whether or not this policy is fully adaptable for our culture?

To learn more about companies implementing unlimited vacation time read the article on AdWeek.