This Company Will Allow You Unlimited Leaves

Virgin Group chief Richard Branson is allowing his 170-strong staff in the US and UK to take as many leaves as they want.

"Simply stated, the policy-that-isn't permits all salaried staff to take off whenever they want for as long as they want. 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," Mr Branson wrote on his website

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 that they and their team are up to date on every project and that their absence will not in any way damage the business, he said.

"Flexible working has revolutionised how, where and when we all do our jobs. So, if working nine to five no longer applies, then why should strict annual leave (vacation) policies?," Mr Branson wrote.

Started as a record company in 1970, Virgin's business has diversified into areas like travel, telecom, financial services, since then. Virgin Group has its presence in over 50 countries and employs more than 50,000 people.

The 'unlimited' leave policy is applicable for Virgin Group's parent company in the US and UK. If "it goes as well as expected", Mr Branson said he would encourage subsidiaries to follow suit.

Mr Branson got the idea of the unique leave policy after his daughter Holly Branson sent him an article about online firm Netflix following a similar policy.

The blog on Mr Branson's website is an excerpt from his forthcoming book.