Vacation Days Without Hassle: Why You May Want to Change Jobs

My husband works at a hospital and has to plan his vacation days a year in advance. These are planned separately from weekend days (he has to do two of these per month), so its not unusual for an employee to request a week's vacation, only to find that his weekend work date cuts his time away short. The weeks during which we figure out which dates to request may be among the most stressful of the year.

But there are companies that have gotten rid of vacation days entirely. No, they don't chain their workers into their cubicles. Instead, they tell them that if they get their work done, they can take as many vacation days as they wish and (with their manager's consent) when they wish. According to officials of these companies interviewed in a recent Fortune profile, employees don't take advantage of this level of freedom and all parties are pleased with the arrangement.

Among the companies with this liberal policy are:

• Netflix
• Best Buy
• IBM
• Morningstar
• Motley Fool
• BlueWolf
• HubStop

The company quotes a professor of psychology as endorsing the policy noting "it can afford employees a level of control over their own work styles and work pacing."

Hey, this may be something you bring up with your boss before the weekend...