Vacation Time

[laurence]

So right now I get three weeks floating PTO, and 6 days off at Christmas (company closes down) for ~4 weeks total. Soon I'll hit 5 years and I'll go to 5 weeks. The minus is there is no sick time, it's all one lump, but since I've been pretty healthy, this has really been great for sanity. I'll be taking a week off in front of the Christmas break, what a nice way to end the year!

I hear employees are doing more and more to compensate people with time, not just with money, and I thought I'd poll the young dreamers/wannabe's to form our own unscientific study. In addition my new department has gone to a choice of 9/80 or 4/10. Long days can get old, but the regular weekdays off just sound magical to me.

 

[justin]

Laurence,

I'm essentially an entry level engineer at a consulting firm. Same basic setup as you. 15 days PTO (which includes sick leave), 7 Holidays that we can take whenever (the company recommends days, but you have your choice). After 5 years, we get an extra 2 days of PTO each year, and that amount increases with added longevity.

 

[HFWR]

225.6 hours of "timebank" + the usual holidays

 

[Nords]

15 days PTO (which includes sick leave)

OK, as a military acronym geek I have to ask-- what the heck does PTO stand for?

 

[REWahoo]

Paid Time Off...

Were you expecting "Psychotic Training Officer"?

 

[Nords]

Paid Time Off...

Ah, thank you. That makes a lot more sense than Personal Time Out, unless of course you have young kids...

 

[Brat]

Warning from an old shrew... use or risk loss. Policies change, companies are sold or fail. Consider it a loan with no collateral.

 

[GTM]

Kinda hard to answer when counting sick days and holidays. Many firms have an unlimited sick day policy and most people do not abuse it. Most of us get the same paid holidays.

Assuming 6 sick days a year are used plus holidays and paid vacation it easily exceeds the 6 week max choice.

 

[laurence]

Hmm, o.k., I figured I wouldn't capture the terrian exactly with my poll. I get seven holidays (4th of July, two days for thanksgiving, memorial, labor, christmas day, new year's day) plus the days in between those last two (depending on how the calendar falls, that can mean up to 8 days off at the end of the year, or as little as six). So I guess right now I get 5 weeks off, and will go to six in 2.5 years. It seems like a lot, but it sounds like it's the norm. They work the engineers so much at my work, that many people don't get to use it. One time a project finally wound down, and a lady I knew took 2 months off and still had 100 hours on the books when she got back!

My first "real" job was one week vacation and three sick days. I got out quick.

 

[Brat]

Laurence, mine was a warning to not extend your PTO out too far. You will work long and hard when on duty, plan to take time for yourself and your family.

 

[laurence]

Definitely, I don't want to be that lady! One guy is just nuts, he gets forced to take days off periodically because he hits the max accrual. He then vpn's in from home.

 

[TargaDave]

Answered 3 weeks but with a small startup it works much differently. Much less structured hours and more a matter of just setting your own hours to get work done. Always extra comp time for people who have to travel a lot. Other perk examples: I have one guy from Warsaw who gets a mostly free trip home every time he makes a sales call to Dresden. We do have our crunch times though.

 

[lets-retire]

I've been at my agency for almost 3 years. I receive 2 wks vacation, 12 days sick, and 11 holidays.

 

[snowbird]

5 weeks paid vacation, 11 paid holidays, 5 sick days but usually take 7-10 and a coupla AWP's. Been with the company 33 years. Total = ~46 days a year.

Still not enough.      Almost time to call it quits.

 

[brewer12345]

I am in a funny situation. There is no set policy. If you need/want time off, you take it. Personally, I 'd be a lot happier with a set policy, but I guess it is like it or lump it. I've been here 6 mnths so far and I have taken 1 week off and a separate day off. Gotta up that time off quotient. I'll take some time around the holidays and for a winter escape to visit the sun.

 

[maddythebeagle]

6+ weeks would be my vote.

 

[Martha]

Our staff starts with 15 days of PTO and goes up to a max of 26. We have a number of staff with 26 days of PTO a year and frankly it is hard to manage coverage when they have so much time off. Once when work was especially busy and some senior staff were risking loss of PTO if they didn't use it, we "bought" PTO days from them.

No paid vacation or sick days for me. No work. No revenue.

 

[Dawg52]

4 weeks vacation, 18 days of paid sick leave. I rarely ever take a sick day.

 

[SteveR]

10 days PTO.
8 Holidays.
5 days sick.
2 floating holidays.
PTO is earned a few hours each month and has a limit each year....take it or stop earning it. Sucks at the first of the year because there are no holidays from New Years until Memorial day. So if you want off you have to wait until you earn enough hours or hold over some hours from the previous year.

My previous company had 2 weeks vacation 10 holiday and unlimited sick of exempts (0-5 years)

The current company even made me take PTO for my move here to work.
No that is cheap!

When I left my previous company, I had 24 years which gave me 4 weeks of vaction plus two floating holidays. DW had 34 years with the company and 7 weeks of vacation.

 

[bamboogrrrl]

I've worked as a university administrator for almost 13 years.  The pay stinks but the bennies are not bad.  I get 21 days of personal leave, 21 days of sick leave, and 11 holidays (of which I have to work about half and the days become "floating holidays").  Even so, it never seems like enough time to hike and write...sigh.  So I would be "6 weeks +" on this poll.

DH is self-employed, so he's got zippo for days off.  But sometimes his "boss" lets him out... 

 

[Texas Proud]

I agree with others here.. the question is the 'wrong' question....

It is not have much time they give you with sick etc... but how much time you TAKE OFF...

I have only taken two sick days in the last 14 years... but I get 10 a year and we do have short term disability if you need more..

What I take off is the 4 weeks vacation and the holidays.

 

[wildcat]

52 weeks would be ideal

 

[SteveR]

It is not have much time they give you with sick etc... but how much time you TAKE OFF...

There were several years where I only took off 1 or 2 days of vacation in a year. That was a nasty time in my job with 14 hour days 6 days a week and almost no time off. It sure shaped my dream for ER and I have been working on it (did it from that job) ever since.

Sick days are another matter. With age and mileage hitting the old body, things have needed repair so I have had my share of surgery and sick time to recover to last for a long while.

 

[MJ]

I didn't vote since it sounded like you wanted currently working people,
but when I was working,
I were entitled to unlimited (before disability kicked in) sick days which I took when I was really sick, and after 10 years, we got 3 weeks vacation.
When my salary got cut by 30% in 2003, my mental immune system was greatly weakened and I seemed to get mentally sick more often, so I would take an additional 5 to 10 sick days annually.

 

[retire@40]

I didn't vote either since I am not a wage slave, I'm semi-retired, and I currently take way over 6 weeks time off. But throughout my self employment years, I could have checked any one of your choices.