Unlimited PTO: Examining the Benefits and Companies that Offer It

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Core Facts:

  • Employees can avail unlimited paid vacation days with their manager’s consent under the unlimited paid time off policy.
  • Around 7% of companies provide unlimited vacation days as a part of employee benefits.
  • The real value of unlimited vacation lies in the company culture that supports and encourages its employees to take time off.

Unlimited vacation days policy may sound too good to be true.

Imagine going skiing or taking a beach vacation anytime you want without worrying about your remaining vacation days. While this level of flexibility is appealing, it is still not very widespread. Interestingly, a study carried out (2024 Employee Benefits Survey) by the Society for Human Resource Management revealed that only 7% of employers offer unlimited paid leave.

Understanding the Unlimited Vacation Days Policy

Under the unlimited vacation days policy, you are free to take as much time off as you need, as long as your responsibilities are met. However, taking excessive time off may affect your performance and may lead to issues with your manager and team. You would typically want to stick to the norm, which is around three to five weeks.

Angela Tait, the chief talent strategist and founder of Tait Consulting LLC, says, “Most employees like the idea of having unlimited paid time off but do not utilize it as much as one would assume.” She likens unlimited paid time off to apartment amenities: they are attractive during the application process but often underused once you start working.

Tait advises to take consistent breaks throughout the year so that you don’t waste your unlimited benefits. She also emphasizes that as long as your work is covered when you are off, there is no reason for you to feel guilty or worry about abusing the policy.

Megan Burdett, a human resources professional at Paychex, agrees with Tait. She says, “Proactively taking time off is far better than waiting until one is burnt out and forced to take an unplanned break. Think of time off as part of your performance strategy, not a break from it.”

Looking for companies offering this perk? Here’s a list of 20 companies offering unlimited PTO. This list is not exhaustive, but it provides a good starting point.

Adobe

What Adobe does: Adobe is famed for its multimedia and creative software products like Photoshop, Creative Cloud, and Acrobat Reader.

Their unlimited vacation policy: Adobe offers numerous vacation days and encourages employees to utilize this benefit. The company’s website states that Adobe provides flexible paid time off to all exempt employees working at least 24 hours a week, without prescribing a specific number of vacation days. This flexibility allows employees to balance their work and personal life effectively, subject to their manager’s approval and business needs.

Asana

What Asana does: Asana provides collaborative project management software allowing teams to track projects, organize tasks, and streamline communication.

Their unlimited vacation policy: Asana offers unlimited paid time off, enabling employees to take as many days off as they require for any reason.

Bolt

What Bolt does: Bolt is an online payment and checkout platform for e-commerce retailers.

Their unlimited vacation policy: In addition to unlimited PTO and vacation days, Bolt offers employees flexible working hours, a generous number of paid holidays, five floating holidays, and an off on their birthdays.

Chegg

What Chegg does: Chegg is an online platform catering to students by providing digital and physical textbook rentals, homework help, online tutoring, and other services.

Their unlimited vacation policy: Chegg offers a flexible “as you need” time-off policy, without any restrictions on the number of vacation days per year.

Coinbase

What Coinbase does: Coinbase provides a secure online platform for buying, selling, transferring and storing cryptocurrency.

Their unlimited vacation policy: Along with unlimited PTO, Coinbase offers four “recharge” weeks, approximately once per quarter, during which the entire company closes down so employees can enjoy downtime without work piling up.

Evernote

What Evernote does: Evernote designs note-taking software which allows users to organize digital notes and sync them across devices.

Their unlimited vacation policy: Evernote provides a $1,000 annual vacation stipend to encourage employees to make use of its unlimited paid time off policy. The company also introduced “wellness weekends,” where the entire company has a three- or four-day weekend to rest and recharge.

Github

What Github does: GitHub is a developer platform that provides a space for developers to create, store, manage, and share their code.

Their unlimited vacation policy: GitHub’s flexible time off policy supports employees in maintaining a balance between their personal and professional lives, according to the company website.

Grubhub

Their unlimited vacation policy: Grubhub provides unlimited vacation time for exempt employees to promote “a good work-life balance,” according to the company.

Honeywell

What Honeywell does: Honeywell is a global conglomerate specializing in aerospace, building technologies, and industrial automation solutions.

Their unlimited vacation policy: Honeywell provides salaried employees with unlimited paid time off, allowing them to take as much time away from work as needed – provided they coordinate scheduling and coverage with their managers.

HubSpot

What HubSpot does: HubSpot is a customer relationship management software provider that helps companies to attract customers, convert leads, and close sales.

Their unlimited vacation policy: HubSpot’s unlimited vacation policy allows employees to take time off whenever they want and for as long as they want. The company also has a “vacation quota relief” program to help sales employees take time off without worrying about hitting their targets. Once employees have been with the company for five years, they get a four-week paid sabbatical.

Klaviyo

What Klaviyo does: Klaviyo is a marketing automation platform specializing in email and SMS marketing for e-commerce businesses.

Their unlimited vacation policy: Klaviyo offers unlimited vacation days and encourages employees to take a minimum of four weeks off each year.

Microsoft

What Microsoft does: Microsoft is a multinational technology company that creates software, electronics, and related services.

Their unlimited vacation policy: In 2023, Microsoft transitioned U.S. salaried employees to a new discretionary time off policy that provides them with unlimited vacation days.

Morning Brew

What Morning Brew does: Launched in 2015 as an email newsletter covering business news, Morning Brew is a digital media company owned by multinational media company Axel Springer SE.

Their unlimited vacation policy: Morning Brew offers unlimited paid time off to all of its employees. “And by unlimited, we mean completely unlimited,” according to the company.

Netflix

What Netflix does: Netflix is a subscription-based media streaming platform offering TV shows, documentaries, movies, and original content.

Their unlimited vacation policy: Salaried employees at Netflix can take as much time off as they want. The company’s “work-life philosophy” says it doesn’t set a holiday and vacation schedule, allowing employees to take breaks when they feel they need them.

Oracle

What Oracle does: Oracle is a computer technology company known for its cloud-, hardware-, and license-related services.

Their unlimited vacation policy: Oracle provides unlimited vacation time – or “flexible vacation” – to salaried employees. Eligible employees can take time off at any time as long as they receive preapproval from their manager.

Roku

What Roku does: Roku manufactures a range of popular hardware digital media players, including Roku TVs and Roku players.

Their unlimited vacation policy: Roku offers unlimited PTO to its salaried employees. The policy is such that employees can take as much time off as they think appropriate, as long as their work gets done and doesn’t affect the team’s work, according to the company.

Salesforce

What Salesforce does: Salesforce creates cloud-based customer relationship management tools and solutions for companies in various industries.

Their unlimited vacation policy: Salesforce offers a flexible paid time off policy with no fixed number of vacation days.

Skillshare

What Skillshare does: Skillshare is a community-based online learning platform that provides educational videos.

Their unlimited vacation policy: Skillshare’s unlimited vacation days policy requires every employee to take a minimum number of days off each year. The company also offers paid sabbaticals every three years for tenured employees.

SoFi

What SoFi does: SoFi is an online bank offering financial products such as student loan refinancing, mortgages, personal loans, and credit cards.

Their unlimited vacation policy: SoFi offers flexible vacation for exempt employees, along with “generous vacation and sick time for non-exempt employees,” according to the company.

Vimeo

What Vimeo does: Vimeo hosts, shares, and provides video services on which people can upload and share videos.

Their unlimited vacation policy: Vimeo offers unlimited paid time off to its salaried employees and also provides a week-long annual company break.

Effect

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