wooden signboard on tropical beach

It’s no longer cool to say that we are working 24/7, no time for family, books or entertainment. Many companies are recognizing the value of time off. To be productive and creative, absolute shut-off from work is warranted. While many companies are joining the bandwagon, some companies are already doing it.

 

Evernote a company based out of Redwood City, California gives $1000 as spending money to its employees for taking a week-long vacation. Evernote believes that employees need to refresh their mind to realise their full potential. They also have a policy of unlimited vacation days as long as the work doesn’t suffer. A company whose motto is “Meet Evernote, your second brain,” helps in decluttering and getting life organized. True to it’s motto, the company’s vacation policy is a start and a game changer, in a world where we have to put compulsory cues to STOP the work at some point.

Daimler Benz, the carmaker has a “Mail on Holiday” program that auto deletes all the email a person receives when on a vacation. The employees come back to an inbox exactly where they left before going on a vacation. It is a common practice to look at official emails when on vacation. It is the worst thing to do on a vacation. The world will not stop, the company will not cease to exist if they don’t receive your response. Thumbs up to Benz for their “Mail on Holiday,” program.

 

 

Fullcontact, a contact management platform for professionals and enterprises is based out of Denver, Colorado believes in taking time off and actually doing something about it.

Fullcontact offers it’s employees a PAID PAID vacation. Annually the employees get $7500 to go on a paid vacation. The catch- in our eyes is none. In their words, the employees should fully disconnect while on holiday. No official calls, no emails not even a slight trace of the office while on a holiday. It believes creativity and productivity requires everyone to fully disconnect from office for sometime.

Amgen, a biotechnology firm based out of Thousand Oaks, California is one of the best places to work for. The employees start with a paid 5-week paid vacation and a shut down during 4th of July and Christmas. Reiterating the fact, creativity and productivity requires periodically shut-off. Amgen has it’s policy in place.

Capital One, financial services company based out of McLean, Virginia has a robust vacation perk in place. Employees earn a 4-week worth of vacation for every 90 days of work.

 

If you are one of the lucky few whose company offers a great holiday perk, we hope you are using it. But if you aren’t, then make your own compulsory shut off days. We only live once, and the life that we remember in the last days on Earth is the time spent on relationships and not behind a desk.