German Care Service Company Pilots Unlimited Vacation to Ease Employee Stress

FrohZeit, a care and support service based in Göttingen, is launching an innovative pilot project in 2026 that allows ten selected employees to take unlimited vacation, moving away from the traditional 26-day annual leave. This initiative, announced at the company's Christmas party, aims primarily to reduce stress and improve work-life balance, especially for single parents who previously had to accumulate overtime to manage school holidays.

Project leaders Laura Arnemann and Daniel Rupp highlighted their trust in employees and the necessity of adaptive work models amid increasing demands on workers. Employees participating in the pilot must notify management eight weeks in advance and arrange for their own shift coverage to ensure smooth operations.

Participants like Susanne Kerl have reported feeling a significant burden lifted with this new policy. However, fellow participant Bettina Ziegner cautioned that the success of unlimited vacation depends heavily on staff autonomy and might not be feasible in larger organizations.

Currently, FrohZeit serves 800 clients across nine locations with over 65 team members, providing more than 5,000 care hours each month. The pilot will last twelve months, after which results will determine if the unlimited vacation can be expanded company-wide.

While flexible work arrangements such as the four-day work week are gaining attention in Germany, they remain rare, with only 0.12% of job postings in 2024 offering them, suggesting a gap between workforce desires and employer offerings.