San Francisco, Jan 12 (IANS): Microsoft will give its staff in the US "unlimited time off", no longer requiring them to formally record vacation.

According to The Verge, the new 'Discretionary Time Off' policy will apply to all employees on the pay role.

"How, when, and where we do our jobs has dramatically changed. And as we've transformed, modernizing our vacation policy to a more flexible model was a natural next step," according to an internal email to employees.

However, hourly workers at the tech giant will not get unlimited time off, nor will employees outside the US.

The changes in vacation policy will begin on January 16,

Even new Microsoft employees don't need to wait to accrue vacation time anymore, according to the report.

"Microsoft will offer 10 corporate holidays, leaves of absence, sick and mental health time off, and time away for jury duty or bereavement alongside this new unlimited time off policy," it added.

Those with unused vacation balance will get a one-time payout in April.

The workers outside the US will keep their current vacation benefits because of different laws and regulations in their countries.

Some other companies like Salesforce, Oracle and Netflix also offer same unlimited time off policies for employees.