PTO at Work

[SmokeTownHawk]

I work in healthcare so it's pretty shitty. 20 days PTO. Have to let them know like two months in advance. Have to use PTO for holidays, assuming you even get it off. Can't have more than one person per department off at a time. The day after that one person at a time memo went out three supervisors all sent out emails that they were going to be off the next week with the whole letting us know the Friday afternoon prior.

Same here. Very similar PTO package. I've always remarked on how many fiery hoops a rank and file employee has to go through in order to get a day off. In contrast it's amazing how supervisors on up seem to have Friday "meetings" and aren't in their office, or skip out of work entirely, especially in the non-snowy months.

 

[Fryowa]

I work in healthcare so it's pretty shitty. 20 days PTO. Have to let them know like two months in advance. Have to use PTO for holidays, assuming you even get it off. Can't have more than one person per department off at a time. The day after that one person at a time memo went out three supervisors all sent out emails that they were going to be off the next week with the whole letting us know the Friday afternoon prior.

Same here. Very similar PTO package. I've always remarked on how many fiery hoops a rank and file employee has to go through in order to get a day off. In contrast it's amazing how supervisors on up seem to have Friday "meetings" and aren't in their office, or skip out of work entirely, especially in the non-snowy months.

So basically you guys get 10-12 PTO days since you have to use them for holidays.

One thing I was wondering, do you have a schedule that gives you more days off during the week? A friend of mine is an RN at our local hospital, she works three 12's and has 4 days off with only every other weekend. I could get behind that except for football in the fall. I'd never work a job that required regular weekends.

I do have to work on weekends occasionally at my job, but it's flexible. Like if it's football season I can come in on Sunday

 

[Chickenlounge]

There are two reasons to do "unlimited." First is because people will take less, but it also takes some pressure off if you have a family member slowly dying of cancer or something. Second, and more importantly, it takes a liability accrual for PTO off your balance sheet. In some states, you have to pay out accrued PTO upon a separation of employment or consummation of an M&A transaction. The numbers can get huge, particularly if you allow rollover.

That's a great point. No PTO payout is a big benefit to companies.

 

[Chickenlounge]

We have to either use ours or lose it, and I'm the type of person who can't forfeit it. I feel like that's part of my compensation and I can't leave it on the table. If my employer says you get 28 days plus holidays, I'm taking 28 days plus holidays.

But I understand what you mean, I don't travel much and I have a really hard time using all of mine. I end up taking random days here and there to try and use it up. When I was umpiring I'd use PTO for that and take a bunch of day games, but I don't do that anymore.

My company used to let you buy out up to 2 weeks which was awesome for me because I still had about 3 weeks plus holidays, and I got an extra paycheck in there.

Yeah, I try to use it all, but it never seems to work out that way. And we're allowed to carry over 40 hours a year, so I always had that rollover too.

 

[Chickenlounge]

What do you do for hourly employees under the unlimited framework? Or is it only salaried workers who get that? I could see some problems with that method for non-exempt employees.

Ah, I should have clarified. Hourly employees don't get unlimited. They still accrue based on hours, but I think they sweetened it a bit of them so they can accrue more or something. I really should know this, since I have 6 hourly people that report to me along with my salaried folks.

 

[Fryowa]

Yeah, I try to use it all, but it never seems to work out that way.

If it came to that you could always just stay home and watch the Flintstones in your underwear, man. Don't give those bastards free work!!

 

[SmokeTownHawk]

So basically you guys get 10-12 PTO days since you have to use them for holidays.

One thing I was wondering, do you have a schedule that gives you more days off during the week? A friend of mine is an RN at our local hospital, she works three 12's and has 4 days off with only every other weekend. I could get behind that except for football in the fall. I'd never work a job that required regular weekends.

I do have to work on weekends occasionally at my job, but it's flexible. Like if it's football season I can come in on Sunday

Yes, in the past I have worked 3 12's and had 4 days off. When I was younger and hungry then I had the option of working a 2nd part time job elsewhere or pulling in some overtime. Now with the extreme corporatization of healthcare OT is a no no unless it's an emergency situation where there's basically no staffing. But even then I have seen corporate hospitals pay travelers salaries rather than putting another fte on the payroll.

But as I'm presently working my way to retirement in a few years I work 2 12's and try to enjoy life a bit more, even if it's just puttering around the house.

 

[haydensly]

I get 25 days of vacation in addition to these days off:

MLK Day
Good Friday
Day after Easter
Memorial Day
4th of July
Labor Day
Veterans Day
Election Day (every two years)
Thanksgiving
Black Friday
Week of Christmas
New Years Eve
New Years Day

It's a lot and it is one of the things that has kept me there for 29 years (The five weeks vacation you work your way up to). I work for the finance arm of one of the Big Three auto manufacturers. Our benefits match what the union negotiates.

I am lucky enough to work now in a position that I set my own schedule so I use all of my time. It is use it or lose it and I like to enjoy the time off.

 

[HawkeyeDug]

So basically you guys get 10-12 PTO days since you have to use them for holidays.

One thing I was wondering, do you have a schedule that gives you more days off during the week? A friend of mine is an RN at our local hospital, she works three 12's and has 4 days off with only every other weekend. I could get behind that except for football in the fall. I'd never work a job that required regular weekends.

I do have to work on weekends occasionally at my job, but it's flexible. Like if it's football season I can come in on Sunday

I work four ten hour days currently, but they are overnights 10P to 8A. That gives me 3 days weekends every week but it really doesn't work out that way. I cannot sleep during the day. If I get 6 hours of disjointed sleep I've done really well. I'm regularly going on 2 hours of really bad sleep, and all of the time I am not at work during the week I'm lying in bed just trying to get to sleep. We rarely do anything on the weekends because I'm dead tired and I'll nap on and off. I try to flip my schedule but I'll usually wake up around 2am and be awake for a few hours while the rest of the world is asleep then who knows when the hell I'll be awake or asleep. It about averages out to two hours sleeping then 4 hours awake. It sucks.

I've been doing it for three years and it has really taken its toll on me. I'm in the worst shape of my life. I've gained 70 pounds because I don't do anything and I eat like shit. My mental health is not good, and that isn't even considering that for the last year and a half this job that I previously loved is a nightmare many, many nights. I'm moving to five eight hour shifts from 3P to 11P M-F. Its a pretty shitty schedule but I think I'll be able to sleep, and get some exercise before and get back down to a healthy weight again before I get too old (I'm 39). I used to bike 150+ miles a week 5 years ago, and am excited to slowly get back there again after not riding for a few years now.

Hopefully a day shift will be on the horizon soon once I get to evening shift. I think I was at a place where it was too difficult to replace me because nobody wants the overnight shift and I am literally the only person in the department overnight. I finally told my manager to come in and meet with me before I left in the morning one day and said I simply could not do it anymore. Its taken awhile to get things moving but I finally got a date last week, we are severely understaffed and they still haven't hired anyone new, but they are moving people around to replace my empty shift.

 

[BILLYBOBSTEXAS]

I work four ten hour days currently, but they are overnights 10P to 8A. That gives me 3 days weekends every week but it really doesn't work out that way. I cannot sleep during the day. If I get 6 hours of disjointed sleep I've done really well. I'm regularly going on 2 hours of really bad sleep, and all of the time I am not at work during the week I'm lying in bed just trying to get to sleep. We rarely do anything on the weekends because I'm dead tired and I'll nap on and off. I try to flip my schedule but I'll usually wake up around 2am and be awake for a few hours while the rest of the world is asleep then who knows when the hell I'll be awake or asleep. It about averages out to two hours sleeping then 4 hours awake. It sucks.

I've been doing it for three years and it has really taken its toll on me. I'm in the worst shape of my life. I've gained 70 pounds because I don't do anything and I eat like shit. My mental health is not good, and that isn't even considering that for the last year and a half this job that I previously loved is a nightmare many, many nights. I'm moving to five eight hour shifts from 3P to 11P M-F. Its a pretty shitty schedule but I think I'll be able to sleep, and get some exercise before and get back down to a healthy weight again before I get too old (I'm 39). I used to bike 150+ miles a week 5 years ago, and am excited to slowly get back there again after not riding for a few years now.

Hopefully a day shift will be on the horizon soon once I get to evening shift. I think I was at a place where it was too difficult to replace me because nobody wants the overnight shift and I am literally the only person in the department overnight. I finally told my manager to come in and meet with me before I left in the morning one day and said I simply could not do it anymore. Its taken awhile to get things moving but I finally got a date last week, we are severely understaffed and they still haven't hired anyone new, but they are moving people around to replace my empty shift.

I worked and retired off graveyard shift. I spent 20 years on it with no chance for day shift. I feel your pain. Get your bedroom as dark as possible and keep a routine as much as you can.

 

[Fryowa]

I work four ten hour days currently, but they are overnights 10P to 8A. That gives me 3 days weekends every week but it really doesn't work out that way. I cannot sleep during the day. If I get 6 hours of disjointed sleep I've done really well. I'm regularly going on 2 hours of really bad sleep, and all of the time I am not at work during the week I'm lying in bed just trying to get to sleep. We rarely do anything on the weekends because I'm dead tired and I'll nap on and off. I try to flip my schedule but I'll usually wake up around 2am and be awake for a few hours while the rest of the world is asleep then who knows when the hell I'll be awake or asleep. It about averages out to two hours sleeping then 4 hours awake. It sucks.

I've been doing it for three years and it has really taken its toll on me. I'm in the worst shape of my life. I've gained 70 pounds because I don't do anything and I eat like shit. My mental health is not good, and that isn't even considering that for the last year and a half this job that I previously loved is a nightmare many, many nights. I'm moving to five eight hour shifts from 3P to 11P M-F. Its a pretty shitty schedule but I think I'll be able to sleep, and get some exercise before and get back down to a healthy weight again before I get too old (I'm 39). I used to bike 150+ miles a week 5 years ago, and am excited to slowly get back there again after not riding for a few years now.

Hopefully a day shift will be on the horizon soon once I get to evening shift. I think I was at a place where it was too difficult to replace me because nobody wants the overnight shift and I am literally the only person in the department overnight. I finally told my manager to come in and meet with me before I left in the morning one day and said I simply could not do it anymore. Its taken awhile to get things moving but I finally got a date last week, we are severely understaffed and they still haven't hired anyone new, but they are moving people around to replace my empty shift.

I've been in a situation I hated, and I can definitely tell you it's a lot better when you finally tell yourself to leave. My folks both died really young and life is too short for that bullshit. If you can't get on days within a few months you should probably start looking and make the jump. You never know, your "forever" job might be staring you in the face and it sounds like it can't get a lot worse.

In 2003 I left a job I absolutely loved because of the external factors. I lived in hotels 6 days a week and the last year was actually 7 days a week most of the time because we were working Saturdays and it didn't pay to come home. Had I been somewhere where I could do that job and be home every night I'd still be doing it. Felt like a beaten down man at the time because I was leaving a job I loved and a profession I had gotten a degree for. But...I said F it, can't live this way, and I now work at a place that I absolutely love. I actually like the people and management just as much as the job. Been here two months shy of 17 years now.

I saw you used the word, "we" when you mentioned not doing anything on the weekends. If you have a wife or kids or both, don't ruin that over being miserable at a job. Even if it pays less don't waste too much of your life being miserable and unhealthy.

 

[Scotttyd]

work at a hospital
start at 25 days of PDO - just maxed out at 40 (after 14 years)
you use them however and whenever works for you/schedulding -all in one bucket (vacation/sick/holiday - since we are open on holidays)

 

[QuadCityHawkeye]

I work in IT and we accrue PTO over time. Not sure how much total we get but we also get a lot of paid holidays.

This Wednesday I am starting a new position which is salary. Still in the IT field but will be considered a management position. I'll get 19 days on top of reg holidays after 30 days of employment.