Too Good To Be True? This UK CEO Gives All Her Employees An Entire Paid Month Off Every August

Imagine getting not one day or one week, but an entire month off from your job, and that too a paid one, without asking for it. Seems like a dream right? Well, that is exactly what a CEO did for her company's employees.

UK-based CEO Gives All Employees Paid Time Off For The Entire Month Of August

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UK-based Jo Hunter, the CEO and co-founder of 64 Million Artists lets all her employees take leave for the entire month of August, every year. And that too, paid leaves. All employees get fully paid despite not working for the entire month of August every year.

"When you treat people well and allow them to follow what's important to them, they'll do good work. From the beginning, I wanted to embed those values in my own company," the CEO said, as per Business Insider.

Reason Behind Giving An Entire Month Off To All Employees

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Jo Hunter's company was following a four-day workweek and remote working during the pandemic but the CEO said she noticed her colleagues were burnt out as the world recovered from it and demand for our creativity workshops increased.

"I'd read Brene Brown's essay about her company giving everyone four weeks off in August and decided to follow suit," CEO Hunter said, referring to American professor, author, and podcast host Casandra Bren¨¦ Brown who is known for her work on leadership. "No emails on phones or computers. Staff would still get paid, but would not work for a whole month."

Speaking about the public reaction to her announcement, CEO Jo Hunter reportedly said that "people were shocked". "We announced our August 2022 closure on Twitter and people were shocked. I was surprised by the public's reaction. Having worked in creative spaces throughout my career, I'm used to thinking outside the box and taking risks. So, to me, this was a normal response to the pandemic," she said, as per the report.

A month off (August) with full pay is now a permanent feature of the company's employee contracts. The only change they have made is to reduce annual holiday allocation from 25 to 20 days a year ¨C not including August. So every year August remains as an entire paid leave month for all employees.

Also Read: US Startup Makes 20 Leaves Per Year Mandatory For Employees

Did The Company Suffer During The Month-Long Holiday?

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"There weren't any significant financial downsides because we work with schools, universities, and community services that slow down in the summer," CEO Hunter said. "There is never much public-facing work for us in August ¨C so not working felt pretty easy. There's no way we could do this during January for example, that is our busiest season."

When asked if the decision to take annual month-long breaks has made the company popular among job seekers, she added, "It's definitely a pull for employees. We tend to get between 150 and 300 applications when we post a new opening."

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