'Unlimited' vacation! Microsoft's new leave policy is every employee's dream

For most it is only a fool’s hope, but for the US employees of Microsoft the story is a bit different – the tech giant is allowing its US employees unlimited time off, starting next week. The company made the announcement in an email to employees. 

Microsoft’s chief people officer, Kathleen Hogan, said in the mail that it will call it ‘Discretionary Time Off’. “How, when, and where we do our jobs has dramatically changed. And as we’ve transformed, modernizing our vacation policy to a more flexible model was a natural next step,” said Hogan, according to a report in The Verge.

New employees who have just joined will also not be required to wait to accrue the vacation time. So now, Microsoft is offering 10 corporate holidays, sick time off, mental health time off, leaves of absence, as well as the unlimited time off policy. They also offer time away for jury duty or bereavement. 

Employees will get a one-time payout in April for all the unused vacation leaves balance. 

This new policy is, however, available to only salaried employees. Hourly workers at Microsoft won’t be offered the policy. 

In 2020, Microsoft allowed more of its employees to work from home permanently. It also allowed employees to work from home freely for up to 50 per cent of their working week. Employees who opt for the remote work option had to give up their office space, but the touchdown space at Microsoft offices was still made available. 

Apart from the tech giant, Netflix, Oracle, Salesforce and Microsoft-owned LinkedIn all offer similar unlimited time off policies. 

Also read: Microsoft in talks to invest $10 billion in ChatGPT owner: Report