Grant Thornton Bharat to give unlimited leaves, allow 'work from anywhere'

Grant Thornton Bharat said it believes that employees will plan their time off while taking into account their business goals and responsibilities.

Accounting firm Grant Thornton Bharat LLP has made a slew of changes in its employment policies. This includes unlimited leaves and the option to ‘work from anywhere’ forever.

As part of the unlimited leaves policy, there will be no cap on the number of leaves one can take in a year with the rationale that coach/coachee plan leaves well in advance.

The company said in a statement that they trust that employees will plan their time off while taking into account their business goals and responsibilities. It is the first accounting firm in India to offer unlimited leaves.

“For us, it is about driving the right behavioural change based on trust. A change of this magnitude will only materialise when the two parties, who are now empowered with decision-making, work closely. Our People and Culture team will keep a close watch to ensure the policy is effectively used,” the company told Moneycontrol.

Grant Thornton Bharat LLP CEO, Vishesh C. Chandiok said the earlier maximum is the new minimum (for leaves).

Work from anywhere

The firm has also announced its ‘Work from Anywhere’ policy, which gives individuals the flexibility to choose their location of work and visit offices only when necessary. The new model also gives employees the option to ‘Work from Home forever’.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has taught us that working from offices is not the most effective use of our infrastructure. We now offer alternative career paths to individuals who choose to ‘Work from Home’ permanently. This will allow people to work out of smaller towns and cities and stay close to their families,” said Chandiok.

Distributed work model

Grant Thornton Bharat is moving towards an open workspace model. Its National Office, in the New Delhi Aerocity, has a digitally enabled hot-desking system, shared tables even for partners and collaborative workspaces for use by all.

‘Hot desking’ is an HR trend globally, where workers do not have a permanent assigned seat in an office and take up whatever desk is available. This helps companies reduce office infrastructure and thereby reduce costs.

In India, companies like HDFC Life and Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas are experimenting with hot-desking for staff who are not required to be physically present in office on all days.

Chandiok said the company was in the process of optimising office space across the country. Instead of opting for a model where they have one big office per city, he added, the company is moving towards multiple offices to give easy access to our people.