More Vacation: It's a good thing...

So, today, out of the blue (as far as anyone I know is concerned) the VP of Human Resources publishes this note to all staff:

Effective immediately, the Company will provide six (6) paid, flex days for non union staff located in Gulf Canada Square in Calgary. Employees in all other areas of the company are not eligible. The change also excludes non-union employees who work a scheduled 12-hour shift and who have a separate arrangement already in place that reflects their unique work schedule.
This location-specific policy is being implemented in response to the highly competitive labour market pressure for professional staff in downtown Calgary, primarily driven by aggressive growth in the petroleum industry. The competition for professional staff has had, and continues to have, a direct impact on our ability to attract and retain non-union employees in Calgary. This policy is aimed directly at addressing the already established practice of Calgary-based companies to grant flex/personal days to their employees in addition to their normal vacation schedule.
The flex days will be in addition to the individual Annual Vacation entitlement; however they cannot be carried forward into the next year, if unused, nor paid out upon termination of employment. Flex days may be used for any personal leave purpose.
The six annual flex days will not be pro-rated this year for regular full-time employees. (Part-time employees will be allotted days in accordance with their part-time schedule.) Specific provisions for new hires and other administrative matters regarding the policy and answers to the most common questions will be available on RailTown later today.

So at 7:00 this morning, I had 20 days vacation for the year; now I have 26. And next year, being my 19th year with CPR, I'll have 31. So that's starting to get pretty good. It's the single best step to improve "employee engagement" that the company has done is many a year. Of course, I don't know how the non-Calgary staff will take it, but who am I to argue...