BOSS SAYS HE TRUSTS EMPLOYEES NOT TO TAKE ADVANTAGE
Staff at trains-to-telecoms group Virgin have been told they are allowed to take unlimited holidays from work, as long as they keep up to date with their projects and their absence doesn’t harm the business.
The company’s billionaire boss Sir Richard Branson announced on his blog that 170 Virgin Group employees in the UK and US could “take off whenever they want for as long as they want”. Adding that there was no need to ask for approval, nor say when they planned to return, he said:
“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.
“The assumption being that they are only going to do it when they feel 100% comfortable that they and their team are up to date on every project and that their absence will not in any way damage the business – or, for that matter, their careers!”
He added that he had introduced the policy in the UK and the US “where vacation policies can be particularly draconian”. If it goes well there, Branson said he would encourage Virgin’s subsidiaries to follow suit, believing:
“We should focus on what people get done, not on how many hours or days worked. Just as we don’t have a nine-to-five policy, we don’t need a vacation policy.”
The idea has been well-received, both by Virgin staff and the wider workforce (who no doubt hope the policy will be adopted by their own employer in future).
It certainly seems like an important gesture. Many of Graduate Fog’s readers say your relationship with your employer feels one-sided. You are expected to stay late when necessary (for no extra pay) but then treated like a child when requesting time off.
However, some critics have warned that Virgin’s workers should tread carefully, as there may be hidden dangers lurking in the small print. Guardian columnist Ann Perkins voiced concerns that under these circumstances, taking time off could be viewed an admission that an employee won’t be missed. In an era of job insecurity, is that really the message you want to send to your manager? It’s a fair point – and it remains to be seen how the policy works out in practice.
Mr Branson admitted the idea was not his own – but that he had been inspired by his daughter Holly, who read about a similar plan at the online TV firm Netflix.
Virgin Group employs more than 50,000 people around the world and operates in more than 50 countries. Since Branson started the company in 1970, it has gone from a mail order record company to having businesses in telecoms, travel and financial services.
*SHOULD ALL EMPLOYERS OFFER UNLIMITED HOLIDAY?
Do you think the policy will work in practice? What is your employer’s attitude to holiday and working hours? Do you agree that it’s time bosses relaxed their attitude towards strict hours? Will staff respond well to being treated like grown-ups, or could some be tempted to take advantage? Share your views below!
It’s a nice idea although the article doesn’t state whether the unlimited holiday is paid time or unpaid and this little detail will probably make the most difference to how much time off people will take!
If the work environment at Virgin is already fairly flexible and it sounds like it probably already is there, then staff should be able to feel as though they can do this. If the option is available to all staff then they will all be in the same situation. I think it may be tricky if they don’t have to tell anyone that they wont be in as personally, if I was going to have to cover for someone then I would rather know about it so I can manage my own workload! Presumably they will have good working relationships with their colleagues though and just be mindful of the fact that it is best to let their colleagues know when they wont be in to avoid any frustration from other people!
In many work places there would have to be a complete culture change to implement something like this but ultimately, it would be nice to see a bit more flexibility surrounding holiday in the UK workplace. I have worked at places that forbid you to take extra leave even unpaid or more than 2 weeks holiday in one go. Normally not a problem but if you ever want to have an extended break or go somewhere very long haul for 3 weeks or a month then it would be nice to be able to do that. In reality for most people having that amount of time away on holiday wouldn’t be affordable so it would not be a regular request.
I agree about the comment that says “You are expected to stay late when necessary (for no extra pay)” Every job I have had in an office has had this. It is almost a given and unheard of to leave on time as people think you are a clock watcher or not busy enough. It is a culture very ingrained into a lot of offices throughout the UK. Many extra hours worked for no extra pay. This is something that should be addressed first.
@CommonSense I’m pretty sure it’s paid holiday – but let me double check. I have a contact at Virgin so I’ll ask her to clarify.
I totally agree with you on how common it’s become to work extra hours for no extra pay. But I also think lots of employees work really inefficiently, so employers shouldn’t necessarily have to pay them more simply for being ‘present’ (in body at least!) for longer than their set hours.
Personally, I’ve been freelance for the bulk of my career – and I have really noticed that I have what I see as a much healthier attitude towards work than most of my friends. When a freelancers says “I’m really busy” or “I have lots of work on” – it’s a GOOD thing! As it means you’re earning money!
I would say I’m lucky, but I don’t think that’s quite true either. There are downsides to freelance too, of course. But I set my own hours, and when I’m working, I’m really working. I enjoy my work and don’t dread Sunday night / Monday mornings.
That would be interesting to know Tanya if you have a contact there, as I think that really would be what would make the difference on how much leave people take. As it wasn’t reported then I had a feeling that it may be unpaid but will be interesting to see.
I agree with your comments about some employees in the workplace working extra hours but being inefficient. In my own experience and judging by what colleagues have said at different places, I think as they feel that it is “expected” that they will work and stay late as this is what their supervisors are expecting them to do everyday then it takes away the urgency to get things done before the end of the day.Its a bit of a double edge sword.
I think if Managers tried harder to really make staff feel comfortable to take their lunch breaks and to leave on time then people would be much more efficient and get things done by the end of the day. When the expectation is that you just have to always leave the office late or you look like your not working hard enough then people become less productive and demotivated during the day. Obviously when there is genuinely a deadline or something that can’t wait until the next day then working late will sometimes need to happen but this should not be an every day occurrence.
People are still afraid that in a redundancy situation that they will be the first to go if they don’t look busy all the time and its a shame. The other side to this is that people are genuinely really busy and cant get everything finished because the company they work for can’t afford to take on more staff to support them.
Better management and leading from the top down so staff can feel comfortable to talk about things and do things is what is needed.
Lots of Retweets – thanks everyone! (including @Monster_UK, @GuardianCareers and @RecruiterMag)
Some more comments on this story, via Twitter…
@GuardianCareers It’s an interesting one isn’t it! Have a feeling many staff will actually take less days off through some sort of guilt trip
@GiveAGradAGo We reckon it’ll work – apparently it usually reduces the amount of holiday taken!
A conversation with @RedlineGroupUK:
@RedlineGroupUK It’ll work for 90% of employees. The other 10% will give you one hell of a headache! my question would be: How do you manage abuse?
@GraduateFog: You mean taking too much time off? And will then say they can’t be sacked cos it’s allowed?
@RedlineGroupUK Indeed, I imagine the HR department at Virgin aren’t too pleased! I trully hope it works, maybe i’m a sceptic?
And a conversation with @MomentumCareers:
@MomentumCareers Everything I have heard from companies who have trialed similar policies have found it to be successful 🙂
@MomentumCareers Friend of mine did some research on a company who trialed it and people took on average less holiday.
@GraduateFog That’s great news! Fingers crossed it works for @Virgin too. But bad that people take less holiday on average?
Richard Branson seems to be a more efficient and effective business person than many within the UK. However, he has carefully managed his public image over the decades as progressive, which is probably true – to a certain extent.
As vacation policies are often draconian, so is the entire culture in many UK companies. A significant number of workers could work from home but their employers don’t trust them.
In some outsourcing companies, business is not impacted because, from my experience, only a handful of employees actually have the opportunity to take annual leave. Training and coaching lasts three months and a condition of employment is to have no time booked for this important period. At the end of three months, at one company I worked at, many employees did not have their contract renewed. Another percentage had their probationary period extended.
A replacement workforce was then employed on the same temporary basis. Holiday pay was given for the three months because it was cheaper than giving workers time off AND paying them.
We love this idea and think it is a great incentive. Maybe more of a PR stunt than for the good of his staff. Also think there will be a lot of hidden T&C’s with this rule.
Latest benefits news for Virgin. Interesting!
A year’s paid family leave will not work for most businesses, expert says – http://www.cipd.co.uk/pm/peoplemanagement/b/weblog/archive/2015/06/16/a-year-s-paid-family-leave-will-not-work-for-most-businesses-expert-says.aspx?utm_medium=email&utm_source=cipd&utm_campaign=pm_daily&utm_term=882199&utm_content=PM%20Daily%20-%20160615-2794-2559–20150616130157-HR-Inform