Take a holiday when you want - Branson

Sir Richard, 64, was inspired by a similar policy at Netflix, describing it as one of the 'smartest initiatives I have heard of in a long time'.

Sir Richard, 64, was inspired by a similar policy at Netflix, describing it as one of the 'smartest initiatives I have heard of in a long time'.

Published Sep 25, 2014

Share

London - Sir Richard Branson was recently voted the most admired business leader of all time by top bosses.

Now, he could find himself the most popular among workers as well after announcing his employees can take as much holiday leave as they want.

The Virgin boss said he hoped that by allowing staff to take time off when they liked, for as long as they liked, it would boost morale, creativity and productivity.

Sir Richard, 64, was inspired by a similar policy at Netflix, describing it as one of the “smartest initiatives I have heard of in a long time”.

He has already implemented the “non policy” for his 170 UK and US personal staff. If the move works, he said he would recommend the initiative be rolled out to all of Virgin’s subsidiaries, of which he is a stakeholder.

Sir Richard said this was especially important for his US staff, where “vacation policies can be particularly draconian”.

Many companies in the States only give their employees three weeks off a year, although they do receive another two weeks of public holidays.

In a blog featuring extracts from his latest book, Sir Richard – said to be worth £3-billion – wrote: “The policy-that-isn’t permits all salaried staff to take off whenever they want for as long as they want.

“There is no need to ask for prior approval and neither the employees nor their managers are asked or expected to keep track of their days away from the office.

“It is left to the employee alone to decide if and when he or she feels like taking a few hours, a day, a week or a month off.”

The “non policy” is not entirely without rules, however.

Sir Richard warned staff would be expected to ensure they only took holiday when “they feel 100 percent comfortable that they and their team are up to date on every project and that their absence will not in any way damage the business – or, for that matter, their careers!”.

Netflix, a streaming video and DVD-by-mail service based in California, pioneered the flexible approach several years ago.

“Well”, Sir Richard wrote, “this is surely one of the simplest and smartest initiatives I have heard of in a long time and I’m delighted to say that we have introduced this same (non) policy at our parent company in both the UK and the US.

“Assuming it goes as well as expected, we will encourage all our subsidiaries to follow suit, which will be incredibly exciting.”

A survey of FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 chairmen last week found Sir Richard is Britain’s most admired business leader. The runner up in the Sunday Times poll was vacuum cleaner designer Sir James Dyson. - Daily Mail

Related Topics: