British firm allows staff unlimited paid leave

A business consultancy firm is pioneering a new holiday entitlement scheme - by allowing staff to take as much paid leave as …

A business consultancy firm is pioneering a new holiday entitlement scheme - by allowing staff to take as much paid leave as they like.

Employees at human resources consultants Inbucon can take all the paid holiday they want, provided they meet their work commitments to their team members and customers.

The firm, which is based in Richmond, Surrey, introduced the scheme at the start of this year to "empower" its 40 workers and encourage trust and responsibility.

Previously, employees were restricted to the standard 25 days holiday a year, but under the new system they will be able to take several months paid leave if they have finished the project on which they are working.

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Company co-founder David Brooks says he decided to try the idea after consulting staff about how to improve working life.

"What we wanted to do was empower people by giving them a real sense of ownership of the organisation," he said.

"It requires individuals to consider the impact of the amount of holiday that they are taking on their customers and also on their team members.

"We are treating them as adults, we are trusting them, but as part of that trust they have to take the responsibility that goes with it. I am sure there will be one or two who will abuse the system, but we should be creating systems for the majority of people, not the minority.

"If someone wants to take three months off and they have worked incredibly hard, I can see no reason why they should not do that.

"But we will also be trying to ensure that people take enough holiday and do not just keep working."