Mar 26th, 2007
Vacation policy at Netflix: Take as much as you want
Netflix has an interesting vacation policy - there is no policy. As long as you’re getting your work done, they don’t care how much you’re in the office. This kind of self-directed work is rare. I’ve blogged poetic about how being forced to stay at the workplace when there is no work to be done is a punishment for doing your work. I never thought I’d see a workplace that understood this, but Netflix does.
American workers get a median of 10 vacation days after one year on the job and 15 days after five years of work, according to Hewitt. One in three Americans doesn’t use all their vacation, and barely one in 10 takes a break for two weeks straight, according to the non-profit research firm Families and Work Institute. But at Netflix, it’s estimated that most employees take off about 25 to 30 days per year, using the time to stay at home with the kids, travel to Cambodia, or visit relatives in India. It’s “estimated” because Netflix does not record vacation time, said McCord.
“I’ve never terminated a salaried employee for being tardy or being absent,” McCord said. “There have been issues when people didn’t come to work - but the issue is the work, it’s not the time off.”
Read: San Jose Mercury News - Vacation policy at Netflix: Take as much as you want