Unlimited time off "benefit" is not a benefit. It's an accounting "innovation"
Places that have it aren't gonna let you take a year off or 4 days every week off or insert how you think when you hear the policy name.
What it really does is two things
1. Make the policy & ability to take PTO vague so it can be abused by mgmt and impossible for employees to sue about easily
2. Remove the accrued vacation payout liability off their book- THAT'S THE REAL $ REASON
@thomasapowell #2 on your list is absolutely the reason for doing it. I'd add a #3: I worked for a company that had "unlimited PTO." They told people though that you really couldn't take more than 3 weeks/year, which was what we had in the accrued system.
The practical effect was that almost no one actually took 3 weeks. It was win/win for the company... until someone sued them. They made the mistake of putting in writing that you really could only take 3 weeks.
ThomasAPowell
John Dwyer, PhD