An essay by John Melonakos
Vacation Policy: Be Reasonable
Our vacation policy is two words, “Be Reasonable.”
Many of the readers here will recognize this as a rip off of David Cumming’s post. It is. David verbalized the characteristics of and arguments for this policy really well in his post:
- We don’t track vacation days, sick days, or flex days
- Coordinate in advance for days off; put it on the company Google calendar
- People have never abused the policy and, if they did, we’d handle the unique circumstance as a 1-off situation
Prior to David’s post, we were living the “Be Reasonable” policy without articulating it so eloquently. We had always just gone with the flow. Most startups do the same.
The “Be Reasonable” policy enables employees to best navigate the important demands of their lives and enjoy reasonable time away and with family. Productivity stays high and company culture is enhanced. It’s awesome!
Do you use the “Be Reasonable” vacation policy in your startup?