# "Take as much as you need"

## This week's cartoon

![Cartoon: a grinning manager hands a big gold UNLIMITED PTO card to an uneasy employee with glasses, who looks over his shoulder at a TOP PERFORMERS board where every smiling photo has a plaque reading 0 DAYS OFF. Manager says, "Take as much as you need."](../../img/cartoons/unlimited-pto.jpg)

> _Unlimited, as long as nobody used it._

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### Field note

Unlimited time off sounds like the most generous line in the handbook. In practice it removes the number that used to protect you. A fixed allowance told you what was normal and what the company owed you when you left. Without that number, the norm gets set by whoever takes the least, and the people held up as top performers are often the ones who never left their desks.

For the individual, the tell is what gets praised. Look at who was promoted last cycle and how many days they actually took. Ask your manager what a typical person on the team takes in a year, as a number of days. If nobody can answer, the policy is unlimited on paper and close to zero in practice. Check the leaving terms too, because a fixed allowance often pays out unused days and an unlimited one usually pays nothing.

> **The move is to set your own number, book it early, and treat it as part of the deal.**

Pick a figure that matches what the market gives in fixed leave. Put the first block on the calendar for next quarter and send your manager the dates in writing. Time off that never gets booked is a benefit the company gets to keep.