Yesterday morning I caught the tail end of a story on NPR about a small social media company in Seattle, Social Strata, that offers unlimited time off for their employees.  It began with one dedicated employee caring for her husband after an accident, and was ultimately extended to all ten employees in the company.

There are so many interesting business topics at play in this story.  The two I am going to explore are trust and judgment.  

In order for unlimited time off to be successful, employers must trust that employees are using the time off productively and appropriately. 

If you trust that those you've hired to help grow your business, then you should trust that your employees are using the unlimited vacation time to actually take a vacation because they want to travel somewhere new, to take a long weekend to visit family far away, or use extended time off to care for a spouse or sick child. 

You should also trust that they will return to work with renewed focus and gratitude for the opportunity to spend time away without consequences at work.

Next is judgment.  Do your employees have good judgment?  If they do, they are probably using their time away from the office because they would have a hard time focusing and being productive at work in the first place!

If employees use good judgment in work related tasks, their good judgment probably extends to other areas in their lives.  Making it easier for employees to practice good judgment makes for more satisfied employees.  For those who take pride in their individual and team success at work, this means employees will find a way to take their sick child to the doctor and also finish their deliverable, as promised, on time.

Social Strata and Netflix, two companies with unlimited time off, made sure to note that employees must finish projects and duties on time.  This is an expectation employees must manage responsibly.

NPR reports that companies with unlimited vacation time are more productive and more engaged with unlimited time off.  One piece I found to be interesting is that employees began taking actual sick days off instead of coming in to work to spread their germs to co-workers!  Imagine that!

For those of you with decision-making power, would you let your company go to an unlimited vacation policy? 

For those of you without decision-making power, how do the constraints of limited time off affect your use of vacation days?

Source: NPR.org, August 12, 2010