Richard Branson: private staff can take as much holiday as they like

10 years ago | Posted in: Business | 800 Views

Sir Richard Branson is to allow staff managing his personal fortune to take as much holiday as they like – no questions asked.

Branson, 64, who is worth $5bn (£3bn) according to Forbes magazine, said employers would benefit from increased productivity if they let staff set their own holidays.

He said he had introduced the new “non-policy” on holidays for 170 staff in his private offices in the UK and US with immediate effect. Employees can take leave from their jobs when they like without seeking permission, as long as the timing of their break will not have a detrimental impact on the business.

Branson, who started his first Virgin business when he dropped out of school at 16, said he would encourage all Virgin companies (in which he holds a stake) to “follow suit”.

“The policy-that-isn’t permits all salaried staff to take off whenever they want for as long as they want,” Branson said in a blog on Virgin’s website.

“There is no need to ask for prior approval and neither the employees themselves 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 assumption being that they are only going to do it when they feel 100% 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!”

Branson said he got the idea when his daughter Holly forwarded him an article about online streaming company Netflix, which has taken a similar approach.

He said Netflix’s success was partly down to its “downright courageous initiative” in throwing away the book “on something very near and dear to the hearts of most workers around the world: their annual vacation day entitlement”.

The blog is an extract from Branson’s new book, The Virgin Way.

Source: Guardian UK

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