Virgin Group founder Richard Branson recently released his new book "The Virgin Way: Everything I Know About Leadership" where he states his employees, and all employees, should be able to have as much vacation time as they please, as long as it is taken at a time where their absence will not damage the workplace, according to an excerpt posted on his blog.
In the book, Branson says he took his non-policy idea from Netflix, which implements a "Freedom and Responsibility" policy.
The Netflix policy is a workplace mantra that basically states everyone is an adult, so let's all behave and treat each other like adults. The policy extends much further than its application to vacations, sick days and holidays.
Branson's "policy-that-isn't" permits all salaried staff to take off whenever they want, for as long as they want, with no permission necessary. Branson's employees don't even have to keep track of their days off.
The "non-policy" has been implemented at Virgin offices in the United States and the United Kingdom, and Branson plans to encourage all of the company's subsidiaries to stop counting vacation time.
According to Branson, employees are responsible for choosing a time when they feel 100 percent comfortable in leaving their responsibilities and "that they and their team are up to date on every project and that their absence will not in any way damage the business - or, for that matter, their careers!"
Google cofounder Larry Page also recently said in an interview that people shouldn't have to work so hard during.
"If you really think about the things you need to make yourself happy - housing, security, opportunity for your kids ... it's not that hard for us to provide those things," Page said in an interview moderated by fellow billionaire Vinod Khosla that was posted to YouTube.
"The idea that everyone needs to work frantically to meet peoples' needs is not true," Page said, adding that the world should be living in a "time of abundance" in which robots and machines could help meet everyone's basic needs much more easily.
Page said with a more productive society, people would be happy to "have more time with their family or to pursue their own interests."
