Actionstep's Vice President of engineering Stevie Mayhew describes offering all employees unlimited annual leave as a 'high–trust model'. Video / NZ Herald
A New Zealand-founded software company is offering its employees unlimited annual leave.
In what could be a New Zealand first, Actionstep has removed the cap on days off allowing their staff to go on holiday for as long as they like - no questions asked.
Actionstep's vice president of engineering Stevie Mayhew described it as a "high–trust model".
"It allows people to take the leave they need and then come in and do their best work for us," he said.
"There was a little bit of scepticism at the start and a few questions asked like 'can I just take three months off and go' but we've been able to work through all the questions with our staff and get them excited for the opportunity it provides.
Stevie Mayhew, Actionstep vice president of engineering. Photo / Jed Bradley
"We trust our staff and hope that they trust us as well."
Although a new concept on our shores, it's not the first time a company has trialled unlimited leave.
Overseas, the likes of Netflix, LinkedIn and Visualsoft all trialled similar policies in the past but found most people ended up taking less leave than when allocated a certain number of days.
Actionstep, however, still requires its staff to take at least four weeks off a year.
"We've instilled a minimum requirement to all our offices around the world so that we can track to these targets and make sure people are taking at least that much leave," Mayhew said.
"We'd like people to take more though because it has better outcomes for everybody if they do."
The four-day working week was introduced here in 2018 by Andrew Barnes, who moved his financial services firm Perpetual Guardian to a 32-hour week.
He believed cutting back hours could improve both productivity and mental health, and a number of other companies have since followed suit.
But Covid has played a key role in businesses rethinking work-life balance for their employees over the past two years.
Unlimited sick leave was another initiative some companies introduced because of the pandemic.
Mayhew said they looked at those options but found unlimited leave across the board was the best way to ensure everyone could take the time they needed, when they needed it most, and encouraged other companies to do the same.
"This way, it covers everything like sick leave, bereavement and maternity," he said.
"This was the best option for us and our staff and think it's worth investigating across the board for everybody.
