Your inclination is probably to keep your veteran employees close, but Corcoran Expositions takes the opposite approach. It sends them away. Any employee who reaches 10 years with the Chicago-based company gets three months off, paid, with no questions asked.

“There’s just all kinds of really good things that come from it,” owner Tom Corcoran said. “If you think about clients, a long-term client relationship starts with long-term employee relationships…. It makes for a better show.”

Corcoran, which has 35 employees, has offered the benefit for about 10 years now; so far, 12 employees have taken advantage of it. One of them took a motorcycle ride across the United States; another stayed home with a new baby “and thought it was the greatest thing,” Corcoran said. “Lots and lots of family time, which is really important.”

He added: “A little R&R never hurt anyone. And it helps everybody feel really good about Corcoran, and that’s important, especially for a small business.