Some leaders have turned to Summer Fridays to give employees a chance to have more time off, but one CEO is taking this concept even further.
Workers at social enterprise 64 Million Artists will receive the entire month of August off, on top of their 25 days of annual PTO, with full pay.ย
โAfter the pandemic, everyoneโs been struggling on and, although theyโve had little bits of leave, people havenโt had a chance to properly reset,โ said Jo Hunter, CEO of 64 Million Artists. โWe needed a month to do it.โย ย ย ย
Taking inspiration from social psychologist and author Brenรฉ Brown, whose organization receives four weeks of paid vacation in addition to their normal vacation time, Hunter decided that her company could use the same break.ย ย ย
August is a slow period for the company as it typically works with universities that are still on summer break during this time.ย ย
โMy instinct is that we wouldnโt have won any new business in August and I donโt expect it to have a major impact on our income,โ said Hunter. โThe only cost is the ยฃ35,000 of salaries that weโre spending that month, without any return in terms of work.โย ย ย ย
In addition to this month-long break, the firm recently transitioned to a four-day work week, leading its productivity to improve and returns to grow by ยฃ200,000.ย
โItโs an investment in our people,โ said Hunter. โI think theyโll be more productive and focused when they come back. Itโs also helped us concentrate on the work we need to complete before the end of July. The time off means weโre just more targeted about what weโre doing.โ
