Comparing Vacation Time to Other Companies

Hi-- We have a new executive who is making some changes to our company policies, or at least wants us to take a fresh look at some of them. He specifically wants me to take a look at our current vacation policy (this precedes me, and was in place long before I got here). It seems he thinks we are being too generous with our policy, or at the very least, wants me to justify our current policy by showing him evidence that it's the norm for a company in our industry (retail). 

 I want to find something that not only considers our industry, but takes into account length of service, etc.  I know that there are no fast and easy guidelines for determining what's appropriate, but does anyone have any suggestions for where to begin researching this? Or any resource I can useto benchmark what we're currently doing against the vacation policies of other companies?

Comments

  • 3 Comments sorted by Votes Date Added
  • I would handle it like a wage survey.  Call up the HR people at similar companies as yours and ask them if they will share their vacation policy with you.  Most HR people are willing to share - if you are.  This would give you an idea of what is being offered and if you are competitive or leading the pack.
  • Thank you! I will try that.

    It also appears that another discussion on vacation time was created not too long after I asked my question (on "Number of Vacation Days v. Seniority) on a similar subject.

    I appreciate your help

  • I agree  that you should try contacting other HR professionals in the the same sector as you.  If that doesn't work another thing you can try to do is ask people you know who may work or have worked for other similar companies to see what they say.  In the past, I've even had people bring in their former employer's benefit booklet, which was very informative. 

     Good luck!

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