Will "unlimited" holidays take-off?

He made the announcement last month that he has introduced the new “non-policy” (that is to say there will be no policy) on holidays for 170 staff in his family offices in the UK and US with immediate effect. Employees can take leave from their jobs when they like without seeking permission, as long as the timing of their break does not have a detrimental impact on the business. “It is left to the employee alone to decide if and when he or she feels like taking a few hours, a day, a week or a month off” he explained.

This “radical” approach has in fact already been, in part, rolled out by Netflix, who do not monitor the holidays that their employees take. Netflix have taken the view that they do not see the need to enforce a strict holiday policy and are happy to allow workers to work from home if they wish.

However, there is a catch. It is important to note that staff of Virgin Group will only take time off when they feel “100% comfortable that they and their team are up to date on every project.” This is where the concept of unlimited holidays starts to look less appealing. It is unlikely that there is ever a time when one can be “100% comfortable” that all their work is done. Work by its nature tends to be ongoing and there are rarely, if ever, moments when all projects are completed. It is a brave employee who books a 2 week holiday whilst other members of staff are doing long hours or weekend work. Frequent time off for holidays by an employee may also raise questions about the business need for their role if other members of staff are covering their workload.

Work/life balance is often in the headlines and recently we have seen employers in continental Europe trying to address this issue in more and more ‘radical’ ways. It was well documented in the British press that France has imposed a law making it illegal to answer the dreaded blackberry after 6:00pm. In fact, the Labour Agreement in question relates to only 250,000 members of the French workforce, all of whom work in the technology sector. The agreement is, broadly, to ensure that workers of a certain level (at management level and above) disconnect from work for a certain time in order to maintain a healthy work/life balance. However, there is no cut off point and there are no formal sanctions for the manager who picks up his blackberry at 6:01pm on a Friday evening.

The French are not alone in this idea though and the Germans have labour laws that are not dis-similar. Germany’s employment ministry has banned its managers from calling or emailing staff out of hours except in emergencies, under new guidelines intended to prevent employees from burning out. The new labour rules stipulate “in black and white” that no contact should be made (after hours) unless the task cannot be postponed until the next working day. Of course, what can and can’t wait until the next day is hugely subjective.

Whilst many have been quick to praise these schemes for the endeavour shown to avoid employee burnout and ultimately look after employee welfare, there have been an equal number of critics pointing out that these workplace initiatives are headline grabbers and publicity stunts at best. Holidays will ultimately be governed by the social norms that will develop within the organisation – it will quickly become apparent what is and isn’t deemed acceptable when it comes to taking time off, thereby eroding the flexibility of these schemes. It may be the case that the employees will in fact work longer if anything and that a traditional fixed holiday entitlement is preferable as one cannot then be criticised for taking their holiday allowance throughout the holiday year.

Only time will tell whether other employers adopt unlimited holidays and whether the concept will truly take off; but if you love your job, then isn’t everyday like a holiday?