Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) offers its employees several eye-catching perks, but the vacation policy of the firm is very much the same as among the big tech names. Google employees in the first, second and third year of their employment get 15 days off, those in the fourth year get 20 days off and those who are in the sixth year or higher get 25 days off. This is all standard with other firms, but one side-note in Google’s leave policy makes it a bit unique.
What started this Google system?
Google’s policy comes with a side note allowing employees to donate their vacation time to the other employees by mutual consent, and this is something never heard before in the tech arena, says a report from the Times of India.
One of Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) employee’s parent fell sick, so he took some days off to take care of his parent and went back home. The employee had applied for a paid vacation leave, which ran out, but the family members condition did not improve much by then. The employee had to make a choice between taking unpaid leaves or to return back to work leaving the member unattended, says the report.
Considering the sensitivity of the issue one of his teammates, who was aware of all this, made a proposition of letting that employee avail few of his vacation leaves. This started the vacation donation system at Google, Laszlo Bock, Google’s head of HR said at Google’s third ‘Take Your Parents to Work’ Day.
An initiative from employee
At its Mountain View campus, Google recently hosted its third ‘Take Your Parents to Work Day,’ which is a celebration attended by employees parents. They fly in from all over the country and from different parts of the world to attend the speeches made by executives, attend the employee-led classes and demos, and explore the Googleplex.
Addressing thousands of parents in the amphitheatre, Bock said “So, after that, we created a policy where, if there’s another Googler in need, you can actually take your vacation and give it to them.” The executive said the coolest thing about this system is that it has not come from the operations department, but from the family of one of the Googlers. Therefore, the company went ahead with the proposition, so that all the Googlers could benefit from this noble idea.
Creating an environment where smart and creative employees are set free and encouraged to push company-wide changes is one of the mantras at Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL).
 offers its employees several eye-catching perks, but the vacation policy of the firm is very much the same as among the big tech names.){kind=link}