Why This CEO Shuts Her Whole Company Down Twice a Year

Burnout rarely begins with a calendar problem. More often, it begins with a culture problem.

As CEO of Haven, a national daycare franchise, Britt Riley has built a company around a simple belief: you cannot care well for clients unless you first care well for your employees. That conviction did not appear overnight. It traces back to a college thesis about workplace culture which led to a post-grad job at Patagonia, where Riley learned first-hand how people-centric organizations positively impact the lives of employees — and the bottom line. 

At Haven, she implemented a summer and winter shutdown from day one, where the company pauses all operations for the week of July Fourth and the week before New Year’s Day. The impact is a workplace where retention runs high and employees report feeling genuinely rested. In this conversation with SHRM, Riley explains the thinking behind Haven's twice-yearly companywide shutdowns, why collective time off succeeds where individual PTO often falls short, and what leaders can do to make rest feel real for their teams.

SHRM: Walk us through the retention logic behind Haven's shutdowns, particularly the summer break. What signaled to you that this would strengthen loyalty in a way individual time off could not?

Riley: Before we planned a single element of the childcare model, the workspaces, or the fitness offerings, we knew exactly what our culture was going to look like — and the companywide shutdowns were part of that. As I got to know the cultures and experiences people came to us from, it reinforced what I already believed: giving people the ability to truly take care of their families and each other matters enormously. But, when you look at burnout and retention, and you think about whether people can actually turn off, there’s more to it. 

In 20 years of corporate work, I've noticed that when people go on vacation, they often don't fully switch off. They don't get the reset the time is supposed to give them. And I think a big part of what stands in the way is anticipation. People brace for a call, an issue, or that "other shoe might drop" feeling. Shutting down the company twice a year, once in the summer and once in the winter, means there’s nothing to brace for. That matters especially in childcare, where people in teaching and leadership roles are always aware that if they're not there, something could go wrong.

SHRM: Many organizations rely on generous PTO to combat burnout, yet 76% of employees still report experiencing it. How does collective time off address burnout in a way ad hoc requests can't?

Riley: You have to pair it with a couple of other things. We hire people who are amazing at what they do and take the work they've been entrusted with seriously. But you don't just hand someone an unlimited PTO program and call it done.

We do offer unlimited PTO. The thing that goes alongside it, and it may be even more important, is the culture that surrounds it. Nobody asks twice if your request time off. If your kid has a play, you have an appointment, or you need to take care of yourself, people work around what others have going on.

An unlimited PTO program on its own — without the scaffolding that helps people understand how to use it, feel they can use it, and feel supported in taking care of themselves and their families — is just saying it to say it. That's where benefit plus culture equals a great place.

Article: Burnout Isn’t Personal — It’s Cultural. Here’s How Leaders Can Intervene

SHRM: You've mentioned high retention because of not only organizational culture, but the full company shutdowns that allow employees to truly step away from work. What observations told you this approach was working?

Riley: One piece of feedback has stayed with me. On the Friday of summer shutdown, an employee texted me, "I've never felt more relaxed in my entire career." She's been working for around 20 years, and she finally didn't feel torn between out of office and actually being off. That's the whole point.

Beyond that, we look at our retention rates against the industry average. Just as importantly, we look at what employees tell us. We have consistent review cadences for new employees — at three months, six months, one year and then annually after that. 

We also build agility into our culture. We do this by consistently discussing employees' experiences of our benefits, our culture, and how they treat each other. When we hear that something is lacking or isn't effective, we shift it.

Toolkit: Improving Employee Retention and Reducing Turnover

SHRM: What would you say to established companies weighing a policy like this but worried about client fallout or operational disruption?

Riley: Every business is different, so start by looking at your natural cadence. Think about accountants working around tax season — they know there are quieter windows in the year.

Then think about client-facing roles. You might have people in critical sales positions where everyone knows you have to respond within 12 to 24 hours or risk losing a lead. Those employees go into the week with a plan they've built together as a team.

Here's where the CEO or founder can step up. I love getting into the rotation during those weeks. Knowing everyone else is fully off, I take the lead calls myself. Answering the phone and having an unexpected conversation with someone who wants to open a Haven club is a gift. It's a small ask for the person who created the whole thing, and in return you get an entire team that comes back a week later genuinely energized to keep going.

Policy: Unlimited Paid Leave

SHRM: What should leaders measure before, during, and after implementing a policy like this?

Riley: Look to peers who have already done it. ... There's no one-size-fits-all approach, so learning what worked and what didn't for others is valuable.

Ground your perspective in culture and in the people on your teams. Gather feedback continuously. And reinforce the time and what it means. I've heard this from many people inside and outside the company: you have to set clear expectations.

Plenty of employees are nervous to actually unplug. Sometimes that's because a previous employer would have fired them for stepping away from work on vacation, which is abhorrent, but people have lived it. One of the great gifts of authentically caring about your people is helping them see you're serious. It's like pulling back layers of an onion. They finally get to see themselves in a more relaxed state — maybe not the first time they get mandated time off, but eventually. Reinforce it and set a different kind of expectation than they may be used to.