Richard Branson announced that Virgin and all of its affiliates are going to follow the policy of Netflix and allow employees unlimited vacation days with no need to ask for a day or week or month off in advance. If you had unlimited vacation days how many would you use? Do you use all of your vacation days?
Honey I use sick days as vacation days, just so I can carry some over for next year.
ReplyDeleteKnowing there are people who would take complete advantage and take as many days as reasonably possible, I would probably stick to no more then 20 days (3 weeks vacation and 5 sick days). However you cant avoid extreme emercengy situations which could require more.
ReplyDeleteA lot of companies in Silicon Valley offer this. Hell yeah I use all my vacation. People should. Studies show them to be much more productive.
ReplyDeleteI don't get it. Unlimited vacation days and you don't have to tell your boss in advance? Aren't those called sick days? And how can managers plan for staffing if there's no notice that Janet in payroll is going to Tahiti for a month?
ReplyDeleteIt's for salaried positions, not hourly positions, and the requirement is that their work is done on time.
ReplyDeleteI think something else to take into consideration due to technology where applicable most folks even when they are NOT supposed to be working are working on blackberries, skype, etc.
ReplyDeleteI hoard my days so that I can use a bunch at once a few times a year, but I definitely use my time. If I had a deal like Virgin's, I'd probably spread it outa bit more for a total of 6ish weeks out of the year.
ReplyDeleteI've never worked a job that has sick, personal or vacation days :/ But I do have a relatively flexible schedule, so there's that.
ReplyDeleteas long as you're work is done or you can do it on vacay.. working vacay ftw!!
ReplyDeleteWith policies like this there is no dead weight. You don't do your job, you are out. There are others lined up to take your position. And Montana is correct. You have a job like this, you are most likely checking emails and doing some work while out.
ReplyDeleteI usually don't use all of mine, but mine accrues and I can use it to count towards retirement. I have months saved up. That said, I pretty much take off when ever I want.
ReplyDeleteThey'd only see me when I came in to pick up my check.
ReplyDeleteI worked for a company that offered a set number of sick days, then switched to "unlimited"...of course, instead of the 6 sick days for the year, we would get written up after 2 in a year with no doctors note...Um, yeah.
ReplyDeleteThe problem with this is there is no way to say, "I'm on vacation," if something comes up and you can do it remotely. I prefer more delineated time off when I don't even look at my work e-mails.
ReplyDeleteMy life SUCKS! Been here for 12+ years - never taken a vacation. And when I call out sick, I get the side eye the next day like I am a slacker.
ReplyDeleteI use everything, over the maximum we're allowed to carry over to the new year. Sometimes I dip a little below or I'm "forced" to take the holidays off because 'Oops, do I have that many hours?' But mostly I hover around the max.
ReplyDeleteI'd plan a 2-3 week vacation to someplace exotic each year, plus the two weeks of vacation I already use for family things. I'd consider up to 6 weeks defensible, since that's the norm in continental Europe.
ReplyDeletei would probably take 2 months (60 days) off spread over a calendar year. no more that 2 weeks vay-cay at a time. if that answers the question. enty's thought process was kind labyrinth(y) to me.
ReplyDeleteI work 2 part time jobs now and ask for days off all the time, so I would probably take a lot of time off. When I was full time in corporate America, I had 33 vacation days and 5 sick days, and I sure as hell used all the vacation, but not the sick time if possible. Some people would hoard days so that they would be "forced" to take the last 2 weeks of the year off, thereby screwing others who wanted a day or two to spend with family. Hated that!
ReplyDeleteTake all of your vacation days, y'all! It's good for you! I actually just read this relevant article so I'll pass it along here. I think @ducky will enjoy it!
ReplyDelete#busyshamingstartsnow
This sounds fantastic!!
ReplyDeleteI'm self employed so there really are no vacation days
I just took 3 months off unplanned after breaking my wrist. Thank dog for Aflac! I go back tomorrow actually. ..
ReplyDelete"With policies like this there is no dead weight. You don't do your job, you are out. There are others lined up to take your position."
ReplyDelete@ All Lace no Leather: Exactly, and very well put.
I've never used all of my vacation so I've got quite a lot of it stored up. As for unlimited vacation, my brother owns a company w/three other partners and they have unlimited vacation AND sick. But as he put it when I asked him about the possibility of some people abusing the policy, "You better be fucking sick."
There's no BS there, unlike at my huge company where people abuse the system a lot and never get called out for it. Different strokes I guess.
After my pregnancy, I had to supplement my too-brief maternity leave with vacation time. So, yeah, I would definitely use it.
ReplyDeleteThen again, I did hella planning and pre-work ahead of my maternity leave so I wasn't just sticking my colleagues with random god-knows-what-the-hell-is-going-on stuff.
I think every 90 days u should get a week off. America has the least vacation weeks a year in the world. I believe in Europe they get 4 or 5. Sick days shouldn't be limited either. A lot of people can probably do their jobs at home, all u really need is a comp with e-mail, printer and scanner and possibly a fax.
ReplyDeleteI would only take them if they were paid. I don't think most companies could do this, or most Americans could take that much time off if they weren't getting paid for it. I almost never call in sick.
ReplyDeleteI work at a public university and I get 24 vacation and 12 sick days every year. I never manage to use it all, but I can carry up to 48 vacation days over from year to year and up to one year of sick leave too. Theoretically, it's possible for me to stop working 14 months before actually retiring (in the year 2035 or so). I love having a ton of days, but my workload requires me to be at my desk more often than not.
ReplyDeleteI'm self-employed. So I can take off whenever I want, but...no work, no pay. I try to take at least two weeks off every year (things slow down at Christmas, so that's easy and then I try to get away for a week during the summer or take all Fridays off in the summer, something like that). But I really have to plan and save for it, and then it takes me a month to get caught up when I'm back. It's ALMOST not worth it, but everybody needs to recharge their batteries so I make it happen.
ReplyDeleteI just started working for a Silicon Valley company with an open leave policy. One of my European team members left today for a 2.5 week vacation. People in Europe don't feel guilty for taking time off. That's an American thing. #sobusyhumblebrag
ReplyDeleteI get four weeks leave a year which accumulates and 10 sick days. We're expected to take them and I also get two weeks at Xmas.
ReplyDeleteso now we've gone from #noslutshaming
ReplyDeleteto #busyshaming?? okay.
i think having a flex-work program where if you need to stay home w/ sick kids or whatever, w/ skype and people being able to work completely mobile these days. i think letting people take off days as long as their work is in on time, might be better for people who can't afford daycare 5 days a week. also the so might not be able to watch the kids so if you have the job that lets for flexible in office days but you get the job done, does it matter if you did it at home while watching the kids or did it in an office??
Back in the day I would take 4 day weekends on a quarterly basis. That worked out really well spreading it out like that. It makes you a hell of a lot more productive and you're only missing 2 work days since the other two are your weekend days (mine were always Sunday/Monday. That way I got an occasional Friday/Saturday off.
ReplyDeleteI get 25 holidays a year plus a company day around Xmas. I"d probably work late a few days a week, get all my work done then take every Friday off in addition. I don't get what you all mean by 'sick days'. I virtually never call in sick, even when I am.
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