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I joined a company last year with this policy. I also inherited a few direct reports who had, as they were allowed, had taken days off here and there. Nothing excessive but more than the company average. The CEO of the company came to me to tell me to not approve the upcoming requests. The employees were junior and doing their jobs well (not super stars, but solid and good contributors). It was a bit disconcerting to me that he knew about the requests and was tracking them. If he didn't want people taking the days off, he shouldn't have instituted the policy...
Oh yeah, that would drive me crazy to think of CEO would track more junior people’s PTO.
One of the challenges with “unlimited” PTO is that it’s not truly unlimited — it’s undefined. There’s always a point where extended time away begins to impact performance or team expectations, and that line isn’t always clear.
That ambiguity is actually why some studies show employees with accrual policies often take the same — or even more — time off than those with unlimited PTO. When expectations aren’t defined, many employees self-limit to avoid being perceived as taking too much.
In my experience, even in unlimited PTO environments, the practical norm tends to land around 2–3 weeks per year. Some people take less, some take more, but that range is typically where employees feel comfortable without worrying about how it might be perceived.
It depends on each team’s workload where I work, but the rule of thumb across all of the teams is that beyond 4 weeks you may start getting some pushback from your managers depending on how well your specific team handles the workload they have. None of us on my team even surpasses 4 weeks though. If we do it’s usually more of a planned FMLA situation.
That is smart, I have 22 on my team and just a few are outliers.
I always make sure I use more than 3-4 weeks to ensure I’m fully utilizing it!
My last company was “unlimited” PTO. I took 3 or 4 weeks normally. We had new leadership come in, and 1-2 weeks was getting a lot of pushback, so that, amongst other reasons, made many of us jump ship. I can see that there is too much time, but unlimited time is just setting everyone up for failure.
1-2 weeks was too much? I am glad you got out of there.
I think its contingent on if you're a high performer or not. If you're under performing and keep taking time off loads of time it will count against you. I've taken 8ish weeks every year for the last 5 years and never been an issue. I always get my work done, build a plan and communicate so there's no concern when i'm gone.
If I started at a company that did that I would tell them that my intent was to take the same amount as the most senior employees at my current employer are entitled to under their policy. Surely an amount that is acceptable under a limited policy should also, if well managed, be acceptable under an unlimited policy.
I would take it gracefully at times of low demand. I would make sure to be available for a few critical meetings during those times if needed. And I would find out whether the policy was real or not.
Rising Star
I have unlimited, i take off about 3 to 4 weeks a year. It depends on performance though, if youre not performing snd taking too much time off, then it will definitely be challenging to get approval
I don't have unlimited, but my employer offers 3 weeks. I think 4 weeks would be ideal for me — enough time to cover the emergencies like car repairs and sick kids, plus still plan vacation time.
I take 4 weeks give or take, I don’t count up people’s time to hold it against them.
My employee who takes the most time is also a rock star who is extremely efficient and leaves excellent notes for when she’s out. She’s usually worked ahead so there’s little to cover in her absence. as long as the work is done, I don’t care how much they take.
Yeah, unfortunately, that’s not my experience. If it was, I would think differently.
I've honestly never had unlimited PTO and I am kind of glad. From what I have heard from everyone who has it, its kind of a scam. Everyone says when you have unlimited PTO, management makes it hard for you to actually take days off.
I agree it does depend on your manager. I’m always easy on it. I also love it when I have a manager who takes a lot. It makes it easier for me.
I shall take one week for it
Oh my gosh, that’s not enough. Is that typical in your country?