????上周二，Netflix公司一項史無前例的舉動獲得無數贊譽：這家視頻網站宣布，在子女出生后一年內，員工可享有無限制的產假和陪產假。

????Netflix 公司確實值得表揚，這項家庭照顧假政策讓那可憐的政府法規相形見絀。在美國，只有12%的員工能夠享有帶薪家庭假。而聯合國的調查顯示，僅有三個國家不保障產假期間婦女的薪水，其中就包括美國。

????但近年來，隨著各公司紛紛推出誘人福利來爭奪頂尖人才，“無限制”這個詞開始越來越多地涌現，它們通常與休假等詞聯系起來，其效果卻好壞參半。

????Netflix 是公認的第一批推出無限制休假政策的大公司之一，百思買、Evernote和維珍集團隨后紛紛效仿。這種政策的理由是，只要員工能夠完成任務，他們想休假多少天都可以。

????唯一的問題在于，當員工擁有這種開放式選擇后，他們通常會感到疑惑。首先，人們很難判斷休息多久才合適。此外，還有人害怕因為休假而無法參加重要的會議和項目，而這會導致他們錯失晉升和提拔的機會。

????2004年起，Netflix 不再記錄員工的休假時間，開始“關注人們做了什么，而不是工作了多少小時多少天”。Netflix 發言人上周三接受《財富》采訪時表示，公司不計算休假天數。《華爾街日報》在2011年報道稱，Netflix 發言人估計公司員工每年會休假3至5周，比以前要多。發言人還補充道，員工不上班時也會通過電子郵件和電話保持聯系。他說：“大家時刻待命。”

????這聽起來不太像是休假。

????去年9月，維珍集團創始人理查德·布蘭森發布博文，宣布公司將實行無限制休假政策，他希望員工能盡量休假，不過根據他的推想，“員工只有在百分之百相信自己和團隊能跟上每個項目的進度，他們的缺席無論如何都不會影響公司——以及自身職業發展的情況下才會休假。”

????真是毫無壓力！祝你旅途愉快！

????Tribune Publishing的員工十分憤怒，因為公司在11月提供了無限制的帶薪休假，卻在實行僅僅8天后就取消了這項政策。首席執行官杰克·格里芬表示，因為它使得“公司內部產生了困惑和擔心”。

????休假旅游與產假和陪產假當然不一樣。員工在小孩出生以后，更愿意把休閑時光用來恢復身體、與孩子培養感情，而不是躺在海灘上或是在歐洲城市中暢游。不過無限制提供這種假期卻會給員工帶來許多不確定感。對員工來說，休假更像是接受某人的恩惠，而不是獲得有權享受的福利。

????全美婦女和家庭聯盟副主席薇琪·薩勃表示：“一段長度既定的假期，可以創造一種更加有形的期待和標準。無限制休假政策看起來有點亂。”

????在理想的情況下，新晉父母們可以自行決定要花多少時間投入到私人生活中，不過要是認為這樣的假期能夠安心度過，那可大錯特錯了。員工會擔心錯過太多會議，返回工作后要回復堆積如山的電子郵件，還怕和其他有孩子出生、但休假更少的員工進行對比。新父母們以前也許從沒有想過，但如今得精確計算出自己需要多少天來適應為人父母的新角色，并向老板證明自己的決定是合情合理的。

????因為這種寬松的政策，Netflix 應當受到表揚。新父母的確應該獲得比現在更多的帶薪休假時間。不過如果一家公司要推行這樣慷慨的政策，他們也應當向員工提供精確的指導。

????薩勃表示：“問題的關鍵是員工利用這些假期時是否感到自在，”需要有“一種公司文化來讓他們相信，這樣休假不會影響他們的職業發展。”

????Netflix 公司發言人表示，公布這一政策之前，公司已經與員工進行過溝通。她說，該公司向經理層提供了各種有助于他們與員工開展討論的工具，而公司領導也會在幫助經理和員工適應政策方面“扮演積極的角色”。

????薩勃表示，至少，Netflix 公司明確表達了“一種認可員工應同時享有私人生活和職業生活的文化理想。就他們愿意采取措施來緩和兩者之間的沖突這個意義而言，這項新政有望成為一項新標準。”（財富中文網）

????譯者：嚴匡正

????審校：任文科

????Netflix received grand praise on Tuesday for what appears to be an unprecedented move: the video streaming site announced that it will offer employees unlimited maternity and paternity leave in the year following the birth or adoption of a child.

????Netflix certainly deserves credit for introducing a family leave policy that eclipses the nation’s rather pathetic norms. Just 12% of all workers receive paid family leave nationally, and the United States is one of hree nations surveyed by the United Nations that doesn’t guarantee women pay during their maternity leave.

????But in recent years, as companies compete for top talent by dangling plush benefits packages, the word “unlimited” has cropped up more and more, most often in relation to vacation days and with decidedly mixed results.

????Netflix has been recognized as one of the first major companies to implement unlimited vacation days; other companies like Best Buy, Evernote, and Virgin Group have followed suit, reasoning that so long as employees get their work done, the number of days they take off doesn’t matter.

????The only problem is that when workers are presented such an open-ended option, they are often left confused. For starters, it’s hard to determine how much time off is appropriate to take. Then of course there’s the fear that taking time off will mean missing out on important meetings and projects—absences that could scuttle opportunities for advancement or promotions.

????Netflix stopped keeping track of employees’ vacations in 2004 to “focus on what people get done, not on how many hours or days” they work. A Netflix spokesperson told Fortune on Wednesday that the company doesn’t count vacation days. In 2011, a Netflix spokesperson estimated that Netflix employees were taking three to five weeks off annually—more than they had in the past, according to The Wall Street Journal. He also said that workers keep in touch via email or phone when they’re out. “People are on all the time,” he said.

????That doesn’t sound like much of a vacation.

????In announcing Virgin Group’s unlimited vacation policy in September, founder Richard Branson said in a blog post that he wants his employees to take as much time off as necessary, but he said he assumes “they are only going to do it when they feel a hundred percent comfortable that they and their team are up to date on every project and that their absence will not in any way damage the business—or, for that matter, their careers!”

????No pressure! Bon Voyage!

????Employees at Tribune Publishing were so outraged by the company’s decision in November to offer unlimited PTO that it rescinded the new policy just eight days after introducing it. It had caused “confusion and concern within the company,” CEO Jack Griffin said.

????Taking time off for vacation and going on a maternity or paternity leave are no doubt different; workers are more likely to set aside quality time to recover from childbirth or bond with a new child than they are to lay on a beach or tour a European city. But an unlimited offering puts a great deal of uncertainty on employees. For workers, taking time off becomes more like taking someone up on a favor rather than accepting a benefit you are entitled to.

????“Having a set amount of time crates a more tangible expectation or norm. Unlimited policies can seem amorphous,” says Vicki Shabo, vice president at the National Partnership for Women & Families.

????In an ideal world, new parents would decide how many days to take off in the vacuum of their own personal lives, but it’s silly to assume that such a safe space exists; it’s tainted by concerns about missing too many meetings, returning to too many unanswered emails, and it prompts comparisons to other new parents who missed fewer days following their child’s birth. As if new moms and dads didn’t have on their minds, they’re now under pressure to calculate the exact number of days they’ll need to adapt to parenthood and then justify that decision to their employer.

????Netflix should be commended for its ample policy. New parents should receive more paid time off than they’re currently getting. But if a company is going to be so generous, it should offer precise guidance to employees.

????“Where the rubber meets the road is whether people feel comfortable using the time they’re given,” Shabo says. There needs to be “a cultural expectation that they can use the time without their career track being penalized.”

????A Netflix spokesperson said the company communicated the new policy with employees before it posted it publicly. The company is providing managers with tools to help discuss the policy with employees, and its leaders will “take an active role” to help managers and employees adapt, she said.

????At the very least, Netflix has articulated “a cultural aspiration that acknowledges that people have personal lives and professional lives,” Shabo says. “To the extent that they can ameliorate the clash between the two, then the new the policy purports to stand out as a new standard.”