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14 HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | MARCH 20, 2023 Olsen Construction Services Vice President Nick Olsen poses outside a job site in Connecticut. His company offers flexible vacation time. PHOTO | CONTRIBUTED Work-Life Balance CT companies use unlimited time-off policies as recruitment tool By Skyler Frazer sfrazer@hartfordbusiness.com W ith companies competing for talent in a still-tight labor market, some are turning to more generous time-off policies that aim to attract employees seeking a greater work-life balance. In January, Microsoft announced it was going to start allowing employees to have unlimited paid time off (PTO). The Washington-based tech giant's "discretionary time-off" policy removes limits on the number of days employees can take off during the year. It's an industry perk more common in Silicon Valley among companies, including Netflix, Salesforce and Oracle, trying to lure top tech and engineering talent. Some Connecticut companies have also embraced the concept, or even been on the leading edge of offering it. ADNET Technologies, an IT, cybersecurity and cloud company based in Rocky Hill, has been offering employees "responsible time off" for upwards of seven years, and Berlin-based Olsen Construction Services gives employees flexible time-off opportunities. "If we're going to promote things such as work-life balance, we need to really meet this head-on with our policies," ADNET Technologies CEO Christopher Luise said. "It's not 'choose work or choose your personal life.' Let's help each other and find a balance." But not everyone views unlimited paid time off as a best practice. David Lewis, CEO of Norwalk human resources consulting firm OperationsInc, said companies that enact unlimited PTO policies often don't go far enough in requiring employees to actually stop working during their off days. A recent survey by fintech Sorbet found that the number of paid time-off days allocated to employees in 2022 increased 9% compared to 2019 (to 14.2 days), but that 55% of PTO went unused. "At the outset, it sounds like an awesome idea," Lewis said. "The problem is execution — on the one hand you get all this time off, and on the other hand over the last 10 years we've become lousier at actually taking time off. We stay connected, keep an eye on our email and are basically carrying a computer in our hands everyday in the form of our phones." Work-life balance Luise said his company's respon- sible time-off policy essentially lets employees take off as much time as they want as long as they maintain their expected workload and meet project deadlines. Olsen Construction Services Vice President Nick Olsen said his company does have a vacation policy in its employment manual, but it hasn't been enforced or tracked since 2019. "Basically what the agreement is, is this: make sure your project is covered, make sure you have support from the rest of your team, and make sure it does not affect the way we are working, or our relationship with the client," Olsen said. If those criteria are met, then vaca- tion time is approved. "When you come to work for us we understand that Olsen is part of your life, but it shouldn't be your whole life," he said. Olsen said a flexible paid time-off policy can be used as a hiring tool to recruit talent that might be looking for a company that offers more free time away from work. He said other construction firms are often "old school" in their thinking when it comes to supporting employees. "It's part of being competitive — how do you hire the best talent when you're a mid-size construction company? Fortunately, I think the construction business is somewhat archaic in the way they do offerings and they haven't really adapted, but we have," Olsen said. "I don't think there are too many other companies in our industry who offer that." ADNET requires employees to take at least 14 days of vacation annually. Luise said his company wants to ensure employees don't miss out on their "bucket list" of things they want to do outside of work. "I'm going to actively not just encourage a work-life balance, but I'm going to mandate it," Luise said, referring to conversations with employees. "I'll lock you out of the building if I have to — you're working too hard, I need you to be fresh." Olsen shared a similar sentiment. "We want you to be able to maxi-