Unlimited time off from work may be a mixed blessing

Last week, Microsoft changed its company policy to give salaried employees unlimited – or “discretionary” paid time off, allowing them to create, in their words, a more flexible work environment, where employees are able to work when and where they choose…so long as they get the work done. 

This policy is an addition to “regular” time off for sick days, mental health days, jury duty, and so forth. 

Which sounds great. Truly. I was the sole earner for our family when my kids were younger and my ex-husband was living part-time in another state where he went to school – and to this day, I honestly cannot wrap my mind around how mothers with inflexible jobs do it. 

As an aside, I will double down forever on the very different expectations our society has when it comes to a mother’s responsibilities versus a father’s – so while this emphasis on flexibility obviously benefits everyone, I’m going to give the win to working moms. 

But, as always, it’s not that simple. No, we can’t have nice things. 

Because the announcement of the new policy came almost simultaneously with the company’s decision to lay off 10,000 workers, creating a situation where the remaining employees have an increased workload…and are also viscerally aware of their replaceability. 

So personally, even though I was the sole earner in our household for two years while my ex-husband went to school, I found it very, very hard to take any true time off. 

Because I technically *could* get everything done by working around the clock – whether I was working on actual work, or on the much less culturally-valuable work of keeping tiny humans alive – I felt intense pressure to do just that. Focus 100% of my attention on my family – forget about relaxation – when I’m on vacation? Are you kidding me? That’s not how you prove yourself.

The thing about this seemingly excellent policy is that employees are – understandably – skeptical about it. A number of studies have found that employees with an unlimited PTO policy actually took less time off, on average, than employees with a set amount of vacation days.

And the effectiveness of the policy still depends to a large extent on the specific corporate culture. 

Some managers will encourage employees to take advantage of DTO, while others will telegraph their displeasure in ways that range from uncomfortable (“Jeez, this is really a crunch time for us…”) to punitive – for example, giving preferred projects to an employee who’s able to be at the office more consistently. Which swings that sexual, gender and racial bias door wiiiiide open. 

When deployed correctly, discretionary time off can enhance productivity, employee retention, and trust between employees and managers. It’s a good thing, in theory. We just have to take care with its actual practice.