[Mr. Jeeves]

[blueunicorn6]

And a kangaroo in every pot.

[marktwain]

It is mis-represented.

It is not 12 weeks of paid leave.

It is 12 weeks of not working and not getting paid.

[Mr. Blond]

It takes a week to get anywhere.

[PeterPrinciple]

I believe govt workers get lots of mandated leave. Private companies have to compete against that.

[Hieronymus]

If marginal tax rate is. bad, this is an awesome deal.

[mass55th]

I worked for NY State, and had the opportunity to swap shifts and days off, as long as it was with individuals in the same uniform position, ie., officer/officer...Sergeant/Sergeant, etc. It would mean working double shifts, and working on some of my days off, to cover the people I swapped with, while they had the day off, in order to get the dates I needed to hook up. A lot of the guys I worked with were hunters, and wanted to hook time up during hunting season. One year I was able to hook up 30 continuous days off. The secret was trying to work all the swaps for your co-workers, before taking your own time off. That way you wouldn't owe anyone when you got back. If you planned it right, it could be done. And if anyone failed to cover your job when they were supposed to, they could lose their swapping privileges. But instances like that were very rare. If someone got sick, and couldn't work for you, they would set up a three-way swap, and get someone to cover your job for them, and then they'd pay that person back at a future date. It was a sweet arrangement, and one of the best benefits of the job.

When I made Sergeant, I worked mostly 3-11 p.m. by choice, and had weekends, and holidays off. I regularly swapped with another Sergeant who worked 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., and also had weekends and holidays off. I'd worked double shifts on Monday and Tuesday, giving him Saturday through Tuesday off, and he'd work doubles to cover me on Thursday and Friday, giving me Thursday through Sunday off each week. The one day we didn't swap...Wednesday, we simply worked our regular single shift. It was a great set-up, but then they eliminated his bid job title, and we couldn't do those swaps anymore. I retired in 2003, and when I look back on all those double shifts I worked, I wonder now how I managed it.

[zeestephen]

12 weeks?

Just enough time to install and debug the new accounting software that will replace 80% of your former employees.

[moovova]

From where I’m from...that’s called a part-time job.

[jz638]

I think more companies or job categories will try this concept out. Accounting makes a lot of sense because there is a busy season and then there are down times in between. HR is a rush for two months of the year and a drag for ten. Teachers had been doing the work nine months thing since time immemorial. Lots of blue collar jobs had furloughs in their slow periods, but that was totally a matter of the company deciding when to give their staffs their unpaid “vacations” (which isn’t really a vacation if you need that paycheck) .

If it makes sense, companies will do it and people will fill the jobs. If it doesn’t, it won’t last. I for one had times where I could stand to sacrifice some salary for more unpaid days off, but part time work didn’t usually come with benefits, so I didn’t do it.

[a fool in paradise]

There’s a company somewhere that only has employees come to work one day a year and no doubt they still bitch about that day.

[Long Jon No Silver]

The 12 weeks, rather than being a ‘do nothing’ period, would probably be a period when Ernst & Young employees actually do some work. The other 40 weeks they spend sharpening pencils, looking up dating sites, eating cheese and sipping chardonnay and going to the races

[Vaduz]

A nice way of telling you take 12 weeks off we need it now go.

[sphinx]

U.S. schools have always done this. They just call it “summer vacation.”

[9YearLurker]

Then there are the tech companies that claim they offer unlimited time off—except everyone knows their extended absence would either cause such problems or not cause such problems that their continued employment would be endangered either way.

[mewzilla]

IIRC, E&Y is private, so I doubt any data on how many employees accept this lovely offer will be forthcoming any time soon.

[Wuli]

I guess the employees of that company must have a ton of work-related frustrations they need to get out of their system, and so much that it warrants the massive relief valve of twelve weeks paid time off. /sarc

Or the company execs are just idiots.

[Buckeye McFrog]

80% of Millenials think the government should force companies here to do the same.