Not too long ago, a number of companies made headlines with announcements that they would be offering employees unlimited time off. The decision drew gasps from many HR professionals who very quickly considered the logistics of such a feat and determined that quite frankly, it would never work. How would companies maintain minimal staffing during crunch periods? How would the entire summer season look when everyone is ready to pack a bag and hit the beach? Who would elect to show up if they didn’t really have to?
It turns out those HR professionals were right – it didn’t really work, but not for the reason you might expect. You see, when offered unlimited leave, folks still struggled to spend it, with one study finding that those given unlimited leave actually took less time off than their peers with a fixed amount of leave (13 days total, compared to 15 days total, for those keeping score). Now, to encourage folks to get out of office, some employers are experimenting with minimum time off (MTO) to ensure that employers take the time off that they need.
But why the big push? Well, that same study we referenced above, and multiple ones before that, suggest that not taking time away from the office can contribute to employee burnout. Furthermore, data shows that employees classified as top performers take more time off than their peers who are classified as lower performers, suggesting that taking a vacation can improve performance. Finally, in a tight job market, offering perks that encourage time off can set you apart from those using the traditional PTO formats and make you more likely to snag your dream candidate.
So how do you implement a minimum time off model? Essentially, it’s like any leave policy in that you draft a plan and publish it in your employee handbook. However, the heavy lifting comes when you go to implement the policy because it needs to be rolled out in a culture that makes employees feel comfortable taking that time off, and this starts by rewarding employees for the quality of the work that they do, not the number of hours they log at their desks. Now, this culture should start at the top, with you and upper management actually taking your MTO each year and encouraging those in your downline to do the same. Further, to encourage staff to take their earned leave, make sure that you have enough resources so that employees aren’t slammed before a trip or once they return. To address this, make sure that you have enough boots on the ground to cover absences and enough flexibility and cross-training among your team members such that someone can step in and handle workflow in another employee’s absence. Now, that isn’t to say that you need total duplication in jobs, rather you should have a system whereby at least one other person can address anyone emergent issue that may come down the pike without having to call in the vacationing employee (or perhaps worse, leave them a mess to clean up upon their return).
Other tips for getting your MTO policy off the ground include helping employees to best understand what is acceptable and what is excessive. Which employees say is the main deterrent from taking unlimited or minimum time off. The experts recommend that as you draft your policy, you set a cap on the number of consecutive days out of the office and be clear about which workers are eligible for this perk. In general, MTO won’t work for your hourly wage employees, but it could prove a significant perk for your salaried workers, although you’ll need to be sensitive about how you roll this initiative out so that those who don’t qualify will not feel slighted.
Finally, if you’ve always had a policy whereby employees earn incrementally more as a reward for their dedication to the company, you’ll want to be clear that this new policy doesn’t slight them because they aren’t losing a perk, rather you are making changes to help them make better use of their accrued time off.
Would you consider an unlimited or MTO policy for your company?
