The employee benefit commonly known as vacation / sick time has evolved over the years. It has been done so many ways it can make a new employer dizzy. Now we seem to be embarking on a mass shift in ideology to a simpler more productive model. More companies are doing away with limits on paid time off alltogether.
The task of managing time off benefits can be a dreaded one for employers. You have to consider annual lump sum grants vs accruing time off through the year, increases in the maximum time allotted based on tenure, and tracking your outstanding financial liability for employees unused time. Employees on the other hand are always concerned about their balance and "managing" (practicing the fake cough for that needed Monday or Friday off) the use of sick time when vacation time runs out.
Here is an alternative, let people take as much time as they want. This concept isn't perfect either but the good may out weigh the bad. Let's take a look as some pros and cons.
When surveying employers research shows employees are more productive in light of their new sense of freedom. Knowing paid time off is there for you any time you need it causes you to now worry about using it. When good employers offer good people work they actually enjoy and find challenging so who needs a day off.
Unlimited time off is an administrative breeze. You don't have to reset employee balances each year. There is no anxiety for staff over the "use it or loose it" policy. The payroll person (one of your many hats) doesn't have to track what has been used, accrued, and nor the remaining balance.
While all that sounds good you will have to be mindful of one potential pitfall, burnout! You know why retailers freely hand out rebates on the purchase of new products? Because they know very few people will actually redeem them. You don't want to be that type of employer.
See to it that people get out of the office and recharge. An employee would be grateful to know they are being kickout of the office with pay.
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