Half Dome to give staff unlimited leave on 12-month trial – ‘no catch’ says agency
Melbourne-based independent media agency, Half Dome is giving its staff “unlimited paid annual leave”, as part of an experiment over the next 12 months.
The agency, which it said orients itself around flexible working practices, is extending its annual leave to all staff top-down, “further reinforcing its trust-based approach”.
When asked, a Half Dome spokesperson said there is “no catch”, and after the 12-month period, it will be reviewed – and if successful, implemented permanently.
The experiment is aimed at giving the agency’s staff “however much paid leave they need to maintain a balance between work and life throughout the year”, with the staff contributing to the initiative’s rollout.
Lisa Lie, head of people and culture at Half Dome said: “Flexibility practices are a key differentiator of workplace cultures and reflect the level of trust a business has in its people. Understanding that autonomy and choice are major intrinsic motivators for people. We want to reward our people for their efforts with benefits they genuinely value. Our industry sometimes asks a lot of people, and we want to ensure we can offset peak periods with the right amount of time to recharge and reset.
“We know when people have greater autonomy over how they work, they’re happier. This means they’re more engaged in their work, more committed and more effective. Half Dome truly embraces a trusting and flexible working environment, and our trial of Unlimited Leave is an evolution of this,” Lie continued. “Just as we don’t have a 9-5 office policy, we’re experimenting with not having a capped leave policy. Our people will be able to choose the amount of leave they take and when they need it. This initiative demonstrates our team’s commitment to trust-based working and wellbeing.”
Managing director of Half Dome, Tom Frazer added: “Our clients continually praise our team’s attitude, approach, and commitment to their work. They say it’s what sets us apart. We believe how our culture has been built has contributed to this outcome. The Unlimited Leave initiative is designed to support further the team’s engagement and effectiveness when they’re at work.”
Last week, Half Dome promoted co-founder Frazer into the MD role, as well as promoting Catherine Smith to general manager. Earlier this year, the agency also won the full media account for Ego Pharmaceuticals.
Got a tip?
Calum Jaspan was news editor at Mumbrella, based in Melbourne. He was also the producer and host of the Mumbrellacast. He left Mumbrella in May 2023.
Linkedin
These initiatives are completely unworkable and nothing but a PR exercise that ultimately loses the trust of staff when there absolutely are catches and many strings attached.
User ID not verified.
I hope this is a sincere policy and not a way to try and withhold accrued leave from departing employees’ final pay like what happens when other companies offer unlimited PTO
User ID not verified.
Thank you Friendly competitor and all others in this comments section.
All valid questions, so we have Half Dome coming on the Mumbrellacast today to answer them, so look out for that tomorrow!
Cheers,
Calum – Mumbrella
Btw – commendable policy guys. If you’ve cracked this, I think it’s a game changer in agencies.
Agree with the commenters above:
– I tend to recall studies show that even less leave tends to be taken, at least in tech cos where this is most prevalent as a policy.
– And, if AU accounting standards follow US in the relevant areas, then the biggest beneficiary is the company, as they now instantly no longer have to carry accrued leave on their books
User ID not verified.
Sign me up.. I’ll be putting in for 2 6-month long holidays
User ID not verified.
This is a commendable initiative but my understanding is that unlimited leave tends to result in people taking less holiday. Would be great to see the results of this experiment once the 12 months has elapsed?
User ID not verified.
With unlimited time off, what happens to already accrued leave? Do employees accrue leave moving forward? If one person gets 9 weeks and another only 2, is there any facility to level the field?
Asking this with curiosity.
User ID not verified.
I’m genuinely curious – how does this work with head hours billing? Wouldn’t this be at odds with unlimited leave?
Did you consult with any clients on this initiative?
Media agencies are so lean on the ground that they literally fall apart when one person goes on leave for a week.
How is this going to be regulated to ensure clients, or colleagues for that matter, aren’t the victim in this?
User ID not verified.
I applaud you on the initiative and will follow closely.
Lots of what ifs and hypotheticals thrown forward from the usual Mumbrella crowd, but I guess you’re always going to get that when you do a strong PR push for a policy that, by your own admission, is still very much a ‘test and learn’.
Maybe do your test and learns internally and refine before announcing next time?
The cynic in me would suggest this is nothing more than an effort to chase some cheap likes in the industry press ahead of awards season.
User ID not verified.
Sounds great for the colleagues who have to cover your workload for extended periods of time.
User ID not verified.
Yes! This! That way the lessons still get fed back into the industry, and you can still use it as a recruiting tool during the 12 month test, but it’s less sizzle and more streak
“Maybe do your test and learns internally and refine before announcing next time?”
User ID not verified.
Have your say