Unlimited vacation allows employees to take time off whenever is necessary. During a calendar year, employees take a minimum of 25 working days off.
A culture that rewards overworked employees not only manifests in long workweeks and the inability to disconnect; it also expresses in the absence of appropriate time dedicated to vacations. In the digital rights industry, it is not uncommon to see people who hardly take any vacation. Motivations are many and they exist in a relation of permanent feedback. We have found in our research that several people in the digital rights industry feel that they should not take vacations because of the urgent nature of the job they perform. Others have accepted that their social life is very centered in their professional circuits, so events such as conferences or forums are considered as vacations to them. There is also the case of freelancers who do not contemplate vacation days in their plannings, leading to situations of years and years with no vacations.
Plan one month in advance
While workers are allowed to take unlimited vacations, this must be done with the previous knowledge of their manager. To facilitate this, employees should alert managers at least one month in advance so they can plan coverage accordingly, minimising impact on the continuation of the work.
At least 25 days per year
It must be mandatory for employees to take at least 25 working days of vacation per year, not including sick days, national holidays or days off offered by the organisation. 25 days off is the national standard in many countries such as Finland, Denmark, Austria, India, Norway and others.
Clear work plans
To mitigate abuses, managers should implement timelines and work plans with clear objectives for each worker to ensure tasks and objectives are being achieved.
Shared calendars
A transparent and culturally appropriate calendar should be made available to staff listing holidays, and when teammates will be out of the office.
Policies regarding travel
Managers should consider offering a set amount of time off following situations where employees are required to work outside of their standard schedule. For example, travel to conferences or retreats.
Freelancers
Freelancers should budget vacation time. A solution is to offer proposals based on objectives versus hours, applying days off in proportion to our suggestions. Employers should include them in their calendar of days off and integrate them into the unlimited vacation policy.
A project by Team Community based at Article19
