SimpliSafe Home Security has joined the growing list of “top employers” by rolling out Unlimited Paid Time Off to all its employees. The announcement was accompanied by an image of a tropical beach and the empowering tagline, “Take All the Time You Need.”
Unlimited… Kinda Sorta
Early adopters jumped at the chance to finally check items off their bucket lists! Last Monday, however, dreams of Mai Tais came to a sobering halt when HR called a mandatory meeting to review the details of the policy. Employees learned that “unlimited” meant “within reason,” and “all the time you need” could not exceed three consecutive days or conflict with any scheduled meetings. Calendar blocks labeled “mandatory team-building session” and “urgent strategy brainstorm” spread faster than the plague, just as employees were finalizing their travel plans.
One cautionary tale circulated about a brave employee who took two weeks off to visit his family in France. Upon his return, his role was “reassigned for efficiency.”
Dream Big, But Not Too Big
If you’re hoping to use your (un)limited PTO for the vacation of your dreams, just remember: you can take all the time you need, as long as that dream fits into a three-day window and you’ve received prior written approval (at your manager’s discretion, of course).
