Unlimited PTO Is on the Rise. Is This Perk as Good as It Seems?
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Tell Congress, stop the Durbin Marshall money grab for corporate megastores. Paid for by the Electronic Payments Coalition. Here's your Money Briefing for Monday, January 27th. I'm Arianna Espuru for The Wall Street Journal. As more companies remove the cap on PTO, employees struggle to balance the perk with the pressure to still be known as a hard worker.
It's largely because they don't want to look like they're slacking off. When they have a set bank, say three weeks or four weeks, they say, I'm entitled to this. So I don't feel any guilt about using that time. But when it's supposedly unlimited, it really just comes down to what you feel comfortable using.
We'll talk with Wall Street Journal on-the-clock columnist Callum Borschers about the limits of unlimited vacation time after the break.
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7% of U.S. employers offer unlimited paid time off, according to human resources trade group SHRM. But employees say it's tricky to actually use it. Wall Street Journal reporter Callum Borshers joins me. Callum, unlimited PTO, it sounds ideal.
What is the episode about and who are the hosts?
What's the problem with it?
Well, the problem is that there are always rules in life, whether they're written or unwritten. And so when they're not written, that means that there's sort of like this quiet code. How much can you really take without getting the stink eye from your colleagues or your boss that says, hey, you're taking too much? And so... I hear mixed reviews on this. Some workers really like the freedom, especially if they're at a company for a long time. There's a year when I just need more time off because maybe I'm caring for an elderly parent. But then in the next year, I can take less. And to not be beholden to a set limit is really great. But the downside of the unlimited, in air quotes, factor is that you sort of are just governed by your own conscience and other people's judgment.
Why are some of the workers you spoke to so afraid to actually use it?
it's largely because they don't want to look like they're slacking off. When they have a set bank, say three weeks or four weeks, they say, I'm entitled to this. So I don't feel any guilt about using that time. But when it's supposedly unlimited, it really just comes down to what you feel comfortable using. The other hangup that some workers have too, this is kind of forward looking, but if you leave a company, you probably aren't getting any PTO payout. And that's not necessarily the point of it. You're supposed to use it and take the vacation time. But some people, especially if they're really ambitious, hardworking people, they like being able to bank that time, especially if it rolls over from year to year.
So, you know, okay, if I leave this company, I've got five weeks saved up and they have to pay me for that used time. If there's no bank that you have to draw down, there's also no bank to cash out on your exit.
To your first point about why people are so afraid to use it, do people see it as a reflection of how dedicated they are, how hard of a worker they are if they use more PTO than they're seen as less than?
Yeah, that's a big part of it. And it also is sort of a calculation of like, how ambitious am I within my career or at least within this company? One person I spoke with who says, look, I take five or six weeks off every year.
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