Could Unlimited Annual Leave Be Part Of Your Flexible Working Policy?

Designed to encourage flexibility, unlimited paid holiday is an increasingly common perk in the US. Tech firms in particular have been using it to attract and retain employees for some time. At Linea we have seen a modest but steady growth in UK businesses following the trend.

The majority of businesses have been focusing on flexible working arrangements to try to find what works best for their workforce, new and existing, post pandemic. In this article we ask - Could unlimited annual leave be part of your flexible working policy? Here are the pros and cons…

The Benefits

• Uncapped annual leave enables teams to take the time out that they need, to relax and recharge. This is particularly useful for sectors with consistently longer hours or a more uneven, project focused workload
• Flexibility can lead to a more empowered workforce, who are happier and more productive when they are at work
• Increased flexibility helps with employee retention and is a way to attract top candidates.
• Reduced HR administration

The Pitfalls

• Unlimited holiday is constrained by business demand and therefore may not be fair to the workforce as a whole
• Just because it’s possible, doesn’t mean employees will utilise the unlimited holidays available to them. This would have a negative impact on wellbeing rather than promoting a healthy workplace
• Uncertainty about what is ‘reasonable’. The ambiguity created by the term ‘unlimited’ may cause problems within teams

With over half of all workers (65%) saying that they want their employee benefits to help improve their work-life balance, it’s well worth considering unlimited annual leave. But if you do, it’s important that you make a clear annual leave policy to tell employees what you expect from them. And if an unlimited holiday scheme isn’t for you? There are alternatives. A recent YouGov poll found only 29% of respondents said they had the flexibility to alter the start and finish times of their working day. To set your business apart, you could consider offering a flexible working day for your team instead.

Next time we look at flexible working arrangements and what can be included to meet business needs and form an attractive flexible working policy to both new candidates and to retain your top talent.

MD Comment

“Unlimited annual leave is another opportunity to attract and retain talent for your organisation. Its not for every organisation or sector. ?For many business leaders its one of the on trend benefits that is seen a big leap of faith. However, most of the business that have trialled unlimited annual leave have seen measurable benefits and few of the concerns of staff being permanently at the beach have materialised. Interestingly the business who have had success from unlimited annual leave tend to be office based (pre-covid) operations with inspirational leadership and firmly embedded cultural values”