Listening

Warm Up

Helpful Words and Phrases

Listen and repeat.

  1. unlimited
    • ex. I always eat too much at that restaurant because they have unlimited bread.
  2. as long as
    • ex. I’ll go to the party as long as my friends go too.
  3. progressive
    • ex. My company is very progressive; all new parents are allowed to take one year of paid vacation.
  4. a firm
    • ex. I work for a manufacturing firm.
  5. guilty
    • ex. After I ate the last piece of cake, I felt a little guilty.

Article

Read the article below and answer your tutor's questions.

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Earlier this year, Goldman Sachs announced that it was giving unlimited paid vacation to its senior staff. Partners and managing directors will now be able to take paid time off whenever they need to. Junior staff were given two more days of vacation leave, and all staff must take at least 15 days of vacation every year.

With unlimited time off, employees may take a vacation day anytime as long as their boss approves it. This type of vacation policy is still rare, with only 4% of US companies such as LinkedIn and Netflix offering it. While the policy sounds progressive, recent surveys show that unlimited time off is actually not on most workers’ wish lists. Instead, many say that they want the ability to work from home.

UK recruiting firm Unknown actually stopped its unlimited paid time off policy after employees reported feeling guilty. The CEO explained that workers took less vacation overall, and no one took more than 21 days off. Unknown now offers 32 paid days off to every employee, plus national holidays and about 10 days of Christmas vacation.

Discussion

Choose a topic and discuss the questions with your tutor.

Unlimited Paid Time Off

  • With unlimited paid time off policies, some workers actually take LESS vacation overall. Are you surprised by this? Why or why not? Discuss.
  • With unlimited paid time off, employees may take a vacation day as long as their boss approves it. What are some reasons for bosses to say no (ex. it's a busy time, a project is behind schedule)? Why? Discuss.
  • According to recent surveys, many workers are more interested in working from home than in unlimited time off. Which are you more interested in? Why? Discuss.

Vacation

  • Unknown now offers 32 paid days off, plus national holidays and about 10 days of Christmas vacation. How do you feel about this (ex. it's great, it's too much)? Why? Discuss.
  • In your opinion, should all jobs (including part-time positions) have paid vacation? Why or why not? Discuss.
  • Should companies make workers use all of their vacation days every year? Why or why not? Discuss.