Ask HN:untracked vacation days - what does it mean?
I am considering a job offer that claims that my vacation days won't be tracked. While it sounds like I can take holidays for as long as I want, I know that can't be really true.
What does it mean?
I worked at a company with unlimited vacation days where management "trusted" you to make the right decision on how much rest you need. This is good in a culture that encourages rest. It's bad in a company that measures productivity by time spent at your desk.
Having untracked vacation days as a benefit, I definitely prefer a known hard limit, but that's my personal preference.
I would try to get in touch with a couple current employees and ask them roughly how much time they take off each year - there's really no other way to know.
It does work in the companies benefit, because people will tend to take less time, or shorter durations. If you are told you have 17 days, most people will try to take all 17. And possibly towards the end of the year when it tends to be busy.
What that means in practice will depend on the particular environment. It can mean that you have less stress over managing leave balances, it can mean that, because of workload, you can in practice neither take vacation nor be later compensated for not being able to take it.
Ask the prospective employer one question : "Do you know on average how many days were taken off by each team member during the past 2 years ?". That will give you an idea.