Leave it out, Richard

An initiative that allows workers to take holidays whenever they like is not as generous as it seems

British tycoon Richard Branson. Abdelhek Senna / AFP

National Editorial

Sir Richard Branson seems determined to portray himself as the world’s best boss. The man behind the Virgin brand, which adorns everything from mobile phones to spaceships, has declared that he’s tearing up the time book at his US and UK headquarters and allowing “all salaried staff to take off whenever they want for as long as they want”.

The idea, borrowed from the video-streaming giant Netflix, recognises that in an age of constant connectivity, hot-desking and working from home, the old model of tracking when someone was “at work” or on holiday no longer applies. And, on the surface it makes good sense.

The move is in line with initiatives by the likes of Google, which offers its employees massages, a bowling alley, “nap pods” and free food – all of them actually designed to make people happy to work beyond their regular hours rather than to allow them to slack off. Virgin staff will still be required to meet productivity targets, which means any extra holidays will probably come at a price of longer and harder work days.

In any case, the system is simply not practical at many workplaces where deadlines must be met – including a lot of Sir Richard’s own businesses. Imagine if the crew of a Virgin Atlantic service decided that, instead of flying to New York, they were all going to take a spontaneous “duvet day”.