Microsoft giving workers unlimited time off

Microsoft will let workers take as much time off as they want beginning next week. 

Under the company’s new “Discretionary Time off (DTO)” policy, U.S.-based salaried employees will not longer have a fixed number of vacation days per year. 

“Beginning January 16, 2023, Microsoft is modernizing our vacation policy to a more flexible model and transitioning to Discretionary Time Off (DTO),” a Microsoft spokesperson said in a statement to CBS MoneyWatch. “How, when, and where employees do their jobs has dramatically changed and DTO aligns with more flexible ways of working.”

Microsoft’s chief people officer Kathleen Hogan announced the policy change in an email to workers Wednesday, The Verge reported. The company has about 122,000 employees in the U.S., according to its corporate website.

In addition, Microsoft will offer workers 10 corporate holidays, leaves of absence, sick and mental heath time off, as well as time off for jury duty and bereavement, The Verge reported, citing Hogan’s memo. 

Employees with unused vacation balances will receive a one-time payout for accrued time off. 

The new DTO policy does not apply to hourly workers or workers outside the U.S., Microsoft said. 

Meanwhile, other large U.S. employers are giving workers fewer freedoms, demanding that they return to corporate offices at least four days a week after remote work became the norm during the pandemic.