How To Deal With A High-performing Employee Who Wants To Take A Long Vacation?

How does one, and should one, accommodate a high-performing employee with a strong work ethic who asks to take a "trip of a lifetime"--a long vacation lasting ~3-4 weeks? Is it something to seriously consider granting if the employee has accrued the time? What issues are involved? Thanks. Mike

Mike Does this amount of leave fall within the contractual entitlement, if yes, and if he hasn;t used any of his entitlement so far it's perfectly legitimate to request such a vacation. Please note that HR should ensure that if such a leave is granted for one employee then everyone who has accrued such leave and has requested it should be granted as well. Otherwise you may face discrimination charges. I did not understand what did you mean by high-performing employee, irrespective of their performance all employees are entitled to their contractual leave entitlements. If you have concerns with their performance you need to mange it under the company's performance procedure. Hope this helps.

Taz.India I understand your intention that we should invest in high performing employees but I disagree with you as to why the company should issue leave above and beyond hisher contractual annual leave entitlement? The annual leave entitlement should be uniform throughout the company to all employees irrespective of their performance and yte company may wish to add incentives to staff for their performance say if they achieve their targets they will be entitled to extra days holidays or bonus etc etc but if such incentives are not in the company's benefits structure he/she will be entitled to their contractual entitlement and nothing more than that. They can of course request for unpaid leave which is at the discretion of the management (again this should be covered by the policy) Giving extra days off because they are high performing is purely discriminatory against other employees. But I totally agree with you that employees should be granted their time off from time to time. Welcome your comments.