Although working in Google comes with some pretty cushy perks, the vacation policy is more or less standard among big technology companies.
From the first-year to the third-year employees get 15 days off, the fourth-year employee gets 20 days off, and employees who have worked for six years or more get 25 days as a vacation.
But, one of the lesser-heard side-note of this vacation policy is that: Google Employees can donate their vacation time.
This trend of donating vacation time started a few years ago when a Google employee’s parent had fallen sick. At that time, the employee took time off to return home and care for the ill relative. However, the relative’s health didn’t improve in the allotted vacation time. So, the employee either had to take unpaid leave or stop caring for the ill family member and return.
However, one of their teammates who knew about the situation put forward a proposition to let another employee have some of their vacation days. In this way, the tradition of Google’s vacation donation started.
Google’s head of HR Bock has said policy had been created where one employee can donate their vacation time and give it to another employee who is in need. He further added that many family members have said that it’s important so, we have built the system from which everyone should be benefitted.
Google aims to create an environment for smart, creative employees who are free to push company idea and show how those ideas can play out.