Cardiff-based production firm EatSleep Media has introduced unlimited annual leave for its 13 members of staff.
Included in the policy is a minimum number holiday days, with no set maximum. The business will not require staff to submit formal leave requests in order to take holiday, and senior leadership will check in with staff to make sure they are using the initiative.
The firm will be monitoring annual leave and how the policy is working over the next 12 months, making necessary adjustments as and when needed.
According to EatSleep Media, it introduced the policy so employees do not have to worry about how many annual leave days they have left, or whether they need to keep a few spare in case of emergencies.
As the team does not have set hours, often working evenings, weekends and sometimes abroad, it is hoped that the policy will help to avoid any issues with keeping track of who worked when and what is owed to them in terms of time off in lieu.
Alex Feeney, co-founder and director of operations at EatSleep Media, said: “The danger is not that people will take too much holiday, it’s that they may not take enough, and that really is a problem at EatSleep Media. No one should worry about taking time for a doctor or dentist appointment. Our staff take the time they need when they need it. They’re really talented, they’re really engaged with what we do and we like to think they enjoy working here. So we trust them to make the right decisions.
“In the main though, this is about following our principles. We want to empower our team to take control of their time with us, to manage their holidays in the context of the business’ workflow. There may be times after completion of a project that they just need to take a day or two to decompress, they may also need to take a day mid-project just to breathe.”