September 17, 2024

Microsoft is giving all its workers unlimited holiday

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Microsoft has announced that certain US workers will be entitled to unlimited holiday.

Starting January 2023, the new initiative, which the company is reportedly calling ‘Discretionary Time Off’, will only apply to salaried workers in the US.

“How, when, and where we do our jobs has dramatically changed,” Microsoft chief people officer, Kathleen Hogan explained in an internal memo. “And as we’ve transformed, modernizing our vacation policy to a more flexible model was a natural next step.”

Microsoft unlimited holiday

On top of the unlimited leave, workers will also benefit from 10 corporate holidays, leaves of absence, sick and mental health time off, and time away for jury duty or bereavement.

Because the change is coming into play so quickly, workers with any unbooked time off are said to be getting a one-time payout based on the number of days they have remaining, expected to arrive in April 2023. 

While this sounds to be promising news, there are still many workers who will not benefit from the company’s decision to offer unlimited holiday. Those include hourly paid-workers and any workers outside of the US, which Microsoft says is thanks to the varying federal, state, and international employment laws.

TechRadar Pro has reached out to Microsoft for an indication of the percentage of its workers that will be entitled to ‘Discretionary Time Off’, and whether the company is actively exploring options to bring its offering to more workers.

An unlimited holiday policy can unlock a happier working environment, which Microsoft hopes to harness following a decision that allows many of its staff to work remotely (or form a hybrid routine).

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Via The Verge