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”.
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.
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
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
Sign me up.. I’ll be putting in for 2 6-month long holidays
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?
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.
I’m genuinely curious – how does this work with head hours billing? Wouldn’t this be at odds with unlimited leave?
Btw – commendable policy guys. If you’ve cracked this, I think it’s a game changer in agencies.
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?
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.
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
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?”
Sounds great for the colleagues who have to cover your workload for extended periods of time.