How Ghost Avoids the Common Trappings of Unlimited PTO

Unlimited PTO is an amazing perk for employees, in theory. Who doesn’t want to be able to take as much time off as they like?

But in reality, it often turns out to be a nightmare.

Unlimited PTO provides employees with no clear expectations over how much time off they should be taking.

It’s generally understood that Unlimited PTO is not actually unlimited. There’s a point where someone may be taking too much, even if it’s not clearly spelled out.

The issue is that, without this clarity, many employees feel afraid to ask for time off, because they’re afraid of going over this invisible limit, and suffering the repercussions.

No one wants to be the person who takes the most time off on a team with unlimited PTO. This fear leads to an overcorrection, and many people take far too little time off.

On average, people on teams with unlimited PTO take 2-2.5 fewer days of PTO per year than those with traditional PTO policies (contrary to many business leaders’ fears that unlimited PTO will be a free-for-all, where everyone’s on holiday and nothing gets done).

It can be an extreme source of anxiety for employees. You want to take time off, but you don’t know whether asking for a vacation will make your manager and/or other team members feel that you’re not pulling your weight.

Yet flexible leave policies, like unlimited PTO, can have a fantastic impact on employees’ work-life balance and job satisfaction, and it can be a great tool to protect against burnout – if done correctly.

See how open-source publishing platform Ghost does it, with some small touches to ensure an employee-friendly approach to unlimited PTO.

How Ghost Does It

Along with offering unlimited paid vacation, Ghost closes down for two weeks each December, forcing their employees to take, at the very least, two weeks of time off per year.

In addition to this, they have a four day work week, giving team members essentially an extra day off each week.

Company-wide holidays, plus reduced working hours, are two highly effective ways to ensure a team gets a minimum level of rest, and having unlimited PTO on top of that allows employees the flexibility to live a full life outside of work.

Of course, none of this guarantees that employees will actually make use of their unlimited PTO. It could still end up as a hollow benefit, rarely used, and more for show than anything else.

It’s important to create a culture where use of PTO is encouraged, and employees don’t feel like they’re slacking off if they make use of their unlimited PTO perk.

From what we can gather, Ghost does put effort into creating this kind of employee-friendly culture.

They were ranked #4 in CNBC’s list of top 10 fully remote companies in 2022. And creating a healthy culture that prioritizes work-life balance appears to be a priority for them.

“We have only two goals at Ghost: To create a product we’re incredibly proud of, and a company that provides a great life to the team building it.”

https://careers.ghost.org/

It’s essential, if you’re going to run a team with unlimited PTO, that a conscious effort is made to create a culture where employees don’t feel guilty about taking their time off.

Mandatory shutdowns, minimum vacation policies and reduced working hours make sure that no employees take zero time off. But careful management and nurturing of your company culture ensures that your unlimited vacation policy delivers on its promise.

Do you work at Ghost, or have worked at Ghost in the past? We’d love to hear about how their leave policy works in practice. Contact us to share your thoughts.

Will Ghost’s Approach Work For All Companies?

Not all companies are exactly alike, and copying Ghost’s approach to PTO won’t be the best idea for every team.

For some, a company-wide shutdown is not realistic, as you may have customers to serve year-round.

Ghost is also a pretty unique business, structured as a non-profit, with no investors, no shareholders, and different goals than many other businesses.

Their approach works for them. For another company, that company’s unique circumstances may not allow them to run their team exactly the same way.

Unlimited PTO can work, as long as you create the right culture in your team, and put safeguards against team members neglecting their time off and working themselves into the ground. 

But in some cases, it might not be the best option. If the right culture isn’t already in place, a more traditional PTO policy may be best.

You can still make it employee-friendly, and give your team members a great deal of flexibility, without a fully unlimited leave policy.

How Flamingo Helps You Offer Better Employee Benefits, Without the Hassle

Whether you’re running a team with unlimited PTO, a flexible variation of unlimited PTO like Ghost’s, or any other type of leave policy, Flamingo helps you provide employees with better leave benefits with less work.

Flamingo streamlines leave requests and approvals, as well as tracking who’s on leave, and how much leave each person has taken.

This:

• Saves time for HR staff, team leaders, and regular employees;
• Gives a birds-eye view of staff coverage and other key data related to employee leave;
• Helps create a culture where use of PTO is encouraged.

If you’re doing unlimited PTO, a leave tracking solution like Flamingo is essential, to make sure you can easily track and follow up with employees who aren’t taking enough leave.

You can also track public holidays for multiple countries (perfect for remote teams), and add custom holidays (such as team-wide holidays, like in Ghost’s example).

Flamingo helps you offer better leave benefits, with less organizational complexity, and helps ensure your team members get the most out of your leave policy.

Try Flamingo free today to see what it can do for your team.