Myntra announced unlimited wellness leave. So did Meesho. So did Gojek. Netflix brought its global unlimited leave policy to India. Makemytrip announced uncapped leaves. As did Inmobi.  A number of smaller startups like Nova Benefits, Pega Systems, Zuddl, have all announced unlimited leaves. Even The Ken has an unlimited leave policy.

And you would think that in the middle of the Great Resignation, startups that are giving unlimited leave would see the number of leaves taken go up. You would think that in an economy of people starved of rest, employees would take all the opportunities they’re given to take a break.

But that’s not what’s happening. Anecdotally and empirically, evidence is telling  us, again and again, that unlimited leaves are leading to fewer leaves taken.

Which brings us to the question, why? What’s broken? 

This week we’re going to talk about the Prisoner’s Dilemma of Unlimited Leaves.