Best Boss Ever? CEO Pays Employees $7,500 to Take Vacation

Brittany Jones-Cooper
·Reporter
image

The CEO of FullContact has started a paid paid vacation policy where employees received money to plan a trip. (Photo: Corbis)

We all know that paid vacation allows employees to take a trip while still earning their salary, but one CEO has taken things a step further — he’s actually paying his employees to take a trip!

Bart Lorang, cofounder and CEO of the tech company FullContact, gives his employees $7,500 to go on vacation. Mind you, this is in addition to the standard 15 days paid vacation and federal days off they already receive.

Lorang started the program in 2012, and nearly three years later, the company has reported that things are going incredibly well. 

Related: Chinese Billionaire Gives France Vacation to 6,400 Workers

“It’s not difficult to measure what happens when someone returns from a Paid Paid Vacation,” FullContact communications director Brad McCarty told The Washington Post. “You see, without fail, people shining brighter, working harder and more excited to get back into the swing of things.”

image

Employees at FullContact are required to unplug on vacation. (Photo: Corbis)

In order to get the money, employees have to follow three rules:

1. No checking work emails, texts, or calls.

2. No working, period.

3. You have to actually go on vacation or you don’t get the money

Related: Didn’t Take Your Vacation Days? Good Job, You Just Helped Waste $52.4 Billion

Sounds easy enough!

As we know, even when people have paid vacation, they don’t take advantage of the opportunity. In 2013, the U.S. workforce forfeited $52.4 billion in benefits as a result of 169 billion paid time off (PTO) days that went unused. The reason for this likely falls in one of two categories —people either feel guilty for leaving the office, or they don’t have the extra money needed to plan a proper vacation.

With Lorang’s plan, not only are employees able to fund their travel, but they also feel confident unplugging while on vacation — a fact that Lorang says as been good for business.

“If people know they will be disconnecting and going off the grid for an extended period of time, they might actually keep that in mind as they help build the company,” Lorang told Business Insider. "At the end of the day, the company will (and has) improved.”

WATCH: 5 Steps to the Perfect Puerto Rican Getaway


Let Yahoo Travel inspire you every day. Hang out with us on Facebook,Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest.  Watch Yahoo Travel’s original series “A Broad Abroad.”