That One Sign of a Toxic Work Environment in Software Dev Interviews
Photo by Jakob Owens on Unsplash
You’re in the interview hot seat. Like all good candidates, you’re storming towards a job offer. You think they’re going to give you the package you want.
You’re excited about your new job. Then a red flag comes up which is one you should heed before accepting a job offer. It’s the offer of unlimited vacation.
Unlimited vacation as discussed in this study is a net positive or negative for an employee. Here we will weigh up the advantages and disadvantages of this perk and develop a set of action points for you.
The Two Sides Of Unlimited Time Off
This could go two ways. Either a company gives you the great benefit of unlimited time off and allows you to use it, giving you great work-life balance and employee satisfaction.
You might be at an organization where the policies and practices may lead to poor outcomes for the employee. That is they may not be allowed to make use of the unlimited time off, or there may even be socially constrained limits (“on holiday again, Ahmed”) that gradually become threats and even action against the employee.
The positive side of unlimited time off
You get to go on vacation whenever you like! As much as you like!
You simply get your team to agree to requests for time off, and you’re off. This has benefits for health, well-being, motivation, performance, and more.
The negative side of unlimited time off
Unlimited time off is very appealing in most circumstances, it is what people want.
However, it is not without downsides and even potential for abuse.
Peer pressure
In some company cultures, taking time off might be viewed negatively, leading to employees taking fewer vacations than they otherwise would with a set amount of days. This can lead to burnout and decreased productivity.
Exploitation by employees
Without clear guidelines, some employees might abuse the policy, leading to resentment among colleagues and additional strain on those who remain working, which can harm team dynamics and fairness.
Exploitation by employers
The lack of structured guidelines often leaves employees in the dark about how much time off is deemed acceptable, fostering an environment where taking less time becomes the unspoken norm.
In traditional PTO schemes, employees have a clear benchmark — a set number of days they can use for vacation, personal time, or illness. This clear-cut entitlement encourages employees to utilize their full allotment of time, providing a much-needed break from work, which is essential for maintaining long-term productivity and mental health.
However, with unlimited vacation, this benchmark vanishes. Employees, unsure of the unspoken rules, may default to taking less time off to avoid being viewed as not dedicated or abusing the system. The responsibility for knowing how much time to take off work is shifted entirely to the employee, which for some might lead to very little vacation and burnout or decreased job satisfaction.
Stress
The lack of clear boundaries can lead to stress and uncertainty for employees who might not know how much time off is acceptable, leading them to take less time off to avoid being perceived as not dedicated.
Finding out about unlimited time off
Working out the difference between a supportive environment and a toxic one is essential, but tricky if both offer unlimited vacation time.
The best time to find the difference is during the initial interview between the candidate and the employer because then you still have time to decide whether you would like to be an employee of the firm!
That said, work still needs to take place in the interview to find out what type of company you are dealing with. To do so let us get started.
Navigating the interview with unlimited time off
There are several things that you should do when interviewing for a position with unlimited time off.
Find out if people take vacations
During the interview, you’ll need to find out if people take vacations in practice.
A policy might well be great, but what use is a free lunch that nobody eats?
Ask:
What is the average length of vacation that colleagues take?
Don’t ask:
Where did you last go on vacation? I heard Siberia is nice.
Find the vacation limits
Unlimited vacation should be just that. As much as you want. However, there are often guardrails around how much you can in practice take.
The time to find those limits is at the interview!
Ask:
Does unlimited mean unlimited?
Don’t ask:
Is 365 days a year too much
Find out if it matters who you are
Many policies are in practice set from the top of the organization. So how much vacation is taken by the management?
Ask:
How much vacation does your CEO take?
Don’t ask:
Can we all go on a group vacation to McDonald's? I’ve got a voucher.
The Contrarian View
Unlimited vacation can of course work. It can give employees the freedom to take a vacation and see the world (as well as family and friends).
That means in an interview you should be looking for clusters of unhealthy practices. A company that combines unlimited vacation with sports team analogies, calling colleagues family, and unhealthy working hours?
Run
Conclusion
Unlimited vacations can be a sign of unhealthy practice. Keep your eyes and ears open in an interview and make sure that you ask further questions when you hear it mentioned.
If you get further confirmation of a bad working environment?
Terminate that interview, don’t waste your time!