IANAL, but while I think it's nice that they give these sorts of freedom, this sort of "no rules!" attitude can become a liability as a company grows.
When Jane gets told, "sorry you can't take 10 weeks of vacation this year", even though Tom got 10 weeks of vacation, you leave yourself open to all kinds of legal trouble. What looks like bureaucracy and bloat in bigger companies are most likely regulations put in place to protect both employee and employer rights.
I think the key to any HR policy, even an overt lack of HR policy, is to make sure its applied consistently.
When Jane gets told, "sorry you can't take 10 weeks of vacation this year", even though Tom got 10 weeks of vacation, you leave yourself open to all kinds of legal trouble. What looks like bureaucracy and bloat in bigger companies are most likely regulations put in place to protect both employee and employer rights.
I think the key to any HR policy, even an overt lack of HR policy, is to make sure its applied consistently.