RE: LeoThread 2026-01-14 19-48

Last year the accrued PTO policy was removed
It was labeled "unlimited"
The board liked it. HR liked it. Finance liked it most

Under the old rules employees accrued 18 days a year with carryover. When people left, the company owed cash for unused days—a liability: $4.7M across 2,300 employees
One policy change made that liability vanish
"Unlimited PTO"

Infinite time can't be accrued. Nothing to owe. The $4.7M disappeared
The CFO sent a bottle of wine to the person who changed it
Publicly it was framed as "trust and flexibility"
Privately it was about the balance sheet

"Balance sheet optimization" doesn't fit on a careers page. "Unlimited PTO" does
Job postings were updated. Applications rose 23%. People love unlimited—until they try to use it

Under the old policy employees took about 17 days a year. Under unlimited they take 11
That's by design
When PTO is a number, people take the number. It's theirs. Managers can't argue with a number

When PTO is "unlimited," people take very little
Unlimited creates questions: "Is this a good time?" "Who's covering?" "What will people think?"
Guilt enforces the policy. No explicit denials needed; the culture says no

Time-off requests are tracked in Workday. Everything is visible
A senior engineer requested two weeks in July; the manager approved but flagged an overlapping deliverable. The engineer took four days

Unlimited equals whatever anxiety allows. For most, that's less than before
Some people take no PTO. They're labeled "high performers," promoted, then manage others who approve little time off. The system self-replicates

A recruiter was told "Unlimited PTO" keeps the company competitive. Asked how much people actually take, the official answer was "not tracked"—despite a dashboard that isn't shared

An employee survey showed 84% "appreciated the flexibility" and 12% "wished they felt more comfortable taking time off." The 84% was published; the 12% was filed away

When someone asked to return to accrued PTO, the reply framed limits as inconsistent with a "culture of trust." Requests stopped

Trust became a word meaning employees are trusted to feel too guilty to use benefits, while savings accrue to the employer
The policy costs almost nothing because employees take little and call it a benefit

A promotion to VP of People is expected soon. Unlimited upside