'That's a pretty big decision because it really affects something that’s highly coveted by the employee'
Many people know that one of the keys to being productive and healthy at work is ensuring that regular time off is taken for a clear break from work pressures.
But many employees consistently don’t use up all of their allotted vacation time, year after year, and this could lead to negative health outcomes for those workers who refuse to unplug from work.
As a result, some employers such as KMPG have implemented a company-wide vacation policy — whereby the entire organization closes its doors for an entire day or week.
Does it make sense?
But is that the right approach?
It depends, says an HR consultant, as it may turn off more employees than intended.
“When an organization decides that they’re going to control when employees take their vacation, that’s a pretty big decision for a lot of employers to move on because it really affects something that’s so highly coveted by the employee,” says Bruce Weippert, president and senior strategist at TAP Strategy & HR Consulting in Ottawa.
“When you set that in place, it does give everybody the opportunity just to disconnect and so that’s one of the pros,” he says, “but you have to balance that off with the flexibility that employees typically want.”
While that flexibility has to be respected by employers, lest they risk alienating workers, sending everybody home at once might help eliminate some common problems faced by many modern workers when they do take time away.
“When you get an opportunity to take time off, you realize that there’s often work waiting for you when you come back so what this does is it creates that period where you won’t really see much in terms of what you need to do when you get back from holidays,” says Arun Subramanian, vice-president of health safety and human resources at go2HR in Vancouver.
It sends a “powerful” message to workers, he says.
“The fact that the owner or the employer is willing to shut the place down to make sure that their staff gets the break that they need or the timeout that they need is, I think, the biggest benefit. Shutting down the restaurant is some level of signaling to your staff that you care about them, and you’re willing to take a hit to the business for their welfare.”
In light of major challenges with labour, some restaurants are taking a few days off, for instance, right after a holiday period, and shutting down for a few days, says Subramanian.
“There’s a recognition that at times staff are really stretched thin.”
However, many in the tourism industry cannot take time off during high seasons, such as summer, making scheduling a major headache for those wishing to implement such a scheme.
“I don’t see a hotel being able to do that. It’s probably easier in smaller restaurants, which are more dependent on a very local audience so it’s easier for them to implement,” he says.
Home life considerations
When it comes to that scheduling of time off, an employee’s family situation must also be considered, says Weippert.
“Not everybody in an employee’s family can take vacation at the same time or they might be in a situation where they have to take vacations during times when their children are off. Normally, a lot of employees take their vacation during school break in March or April, when everybody’s off for a week from school and parents like to take that with their kids.”
By forcing employees to take the same time off, “there’s also the psychological effect that has on employees when employees don’t feel like they have the opportunity to control this very important time, and some people take vacations for reasons other than just going to rest and relax, they might do it for volunteerism,” he says.
This might also work against the employer when it comes to potential recruits, warns Weippert.
“Are you missing out on part of the population as part of your recruitment efforts, or part of even retention, where employees say, ‘I can go and earn the same amount of money doing the same job, but don’t have that as a requirement to work there. I can free schedule, I can take my vacation when I want, when it suits me and my family.’”
Importance of flexibility
When employees also need time off to attend special occasions, it’s crucial to allow for some leeway, he says.
“[It’s about] making sure that you do have some level of flexibility built in because if somebody has to use all their vacation period during this two-week period of time, and they need additional vacation time for, let’s say, their daughter’s getting married overseas and the person wants to be at their child’s wedding, how do you build in that level of flexibility into your policies to still make that employee is able to take their time off?”
Talking to the workforce, is a key step for organizations looking to consider this, according to Weippert.
“Getting employees involved in that decision-making process and creating that policy can go a long way towards adoption because they had skin in the game during its creation.”
