In 2020, a survey of British workers found that 79% experience work-related stress–up from 58% in 2018.

Stress is a part of life, but it makes sense that workers are feeling more burnt out than ever before. With no end in sight to the cost of living crisis and many people still feeling anxiety because of the Covid-19 pandemic, businesses need to do more to reduce stress in the workplace.

One way of doing this is to introduce an unlimited holiday policy. Policies like these allow workers to take as many holidays as they like, within reason. While taking holiday undoubtedly combats work stress, many companies have also found that the policy introduces new anxieties to the workplace. So, is it worth it, or not? 

The Benefits of Unlimited Holidays

Goldman Sachs has just become the latest business to introduce an unlimited holiday policy. Other major companies to have introduced the policy include LinkedIn, Bumble, and Netflix. But what are the advantages to companies? 

Firstly, it’s a way to encourage taking time away from work to unwind. 33% of workers agree that unlimited holidays alleviate stress and that more time off work is necessary to combat work stress. 

But unlimited holidays can also help businesses. The policy removes the need for workers to ‘horde’ days off for busy times like Christmas or summer, ensuring you have a productive workforce throughout the year. 

The Disadvantages of Unlimited Holidays

This month, Ollie Scott, entrepreneur and founder of recruitment company UNKNOWN, became the latest business owner to admit that their unlimited holidays policy had failed–and he’s not the only one. More and more managers are finding that unlimited holidays may not be practical. 

The most notable problem with unlimited holiday policies is that most workers don’t even reach the statutory minimum annual leave, which is 28 days in the UK. Instead, many workers take just 21 days off per year.

Why? Well, some managers, like Ollie Scott, have reported that workers feel anxious about how many days off is ‘allowed’. This confusion means that, overall, workers take less days off, contributing to employee stress and overwork. 

Additionally, unlimited holiday policies are often misleading–no company actually wants their employees to take two weeks off every month. In fact, there might be busier times of the year when employees shouldn’t be taking holiday, but workers felt that their request for days off couldn’t be denied within the ‘unlimited holiday’ policy. 

Our Advice

In general, unlimited holiday policies can actually cause more harm than good. Instead, you might consider upping the maximum days off allowed per year–for some companies, this means offering 32 paid holidays excluding Bank Holidays. 

However, if you are considering an unlimited holiday policy, it helps to be absolutely clear about what that means. For example, you could specify a minimum number of days off, or block out times of the year when employees need to be at work.