Dawn: I think a date should be in a real fancy restaurant, then champagne at a night club with a floor show, then ballroom dancing. Joyce: Unfortunately, we're not dating in a movie from the thirties.

'Get It Done'


Natter 75: More Than a Million Natters Served  

Off-topic discussion. Wanna talk about corsets, duct tape, butt kicking, or physics? This is the place. Detailed discussion of any current-season TV must be whitefonted.


Consuela - Mar 30, 2017 5:49:03 am PDT #9160 of 30002
We are Buffistas. This isn't our first apocalypse. -- Pix

So long as the Rs really do get blamed. But it would suck for everyone who relies on the smooth functioning of the bureaucracy to get by, and for federal employees who live paycheck to paycheck...

Me, I'll be fine. But not everyone will.


Dana - Mar 30, 2017 5:57:04 am PDT #9161 of 30002
I'm terrifically busy with my ennui.

But it would suck for everyone who relies on the smooth functioning of the bureaucracy to get by, and for federal employees who live paycheck to paycheck...

Yeah, that's what my angel says. And of course I'm not going to root for it.


brenda m - Mar 30, 2017 7:36:24 am PDT #9162 of 30002
If you're going through hell/keep on going/don't slow down/keep your fear from showing/you might be gone/'fore the devil even knows you're there

Unlimited time off has gotten to be a pretty common perk in techlandia - the upside is not having to do the obsessive how many hours do I have left thing, and the companies that do it right really are more humane than most. The downside is that some companies abuse it - either by dangling it as a perk when workload is too high to ever take it, or using the fact that there isn't a fixed amount in the compensation package to avoid paying out accrued time when people leave.

We have unlimited at the officer level, basically VPs and above, below that it accrues based on seniority (18/24/30 days depending on years of service). But it doesn't roll over at all. If you don't take it during the calendar year it's gone. So for people below officer level who leave mid-year, there can be some small level of accrual but not the large number of banked hours you see at other places.

I will say, the non-rollover really bothered me at first, and I was definitely one of those who tended to struggle to take time at all and had a large amount banked. But really, use-or-lose forced me to change my perspective and get more serious about carving out time away, even if it was mostly long weekends or half-days here and there instead of true vacations. And it really does make a difference in terms of life balance/mental health.

Now that I'm unlimited I still sort of mentally peg it to the number of days just to make sure I'm taking enough/not too much time.


-t - Mar 30, 2017 8:09:53 am PDT #9163 of 30002
I am a woman of various inclinations and only some of the time are they to burn everything down in frustration

I get 2 weeks/year vacation + 2 float days and can acquire additional float days in various incentive plans and lotteries. I'll get an additional week next year or the year after, and a 4th week after 10 years, and a 5th week after 15 years which is just unimaginable to me. We can rollover unlimited float days and vacation time up to two years worth (so if I accrue over 4 weeks vacation time without using it I stop accruing, is how I think that's supposed to work), and we can cash out vacation and/or float days back to the company once a year. I know people who do that regularly, but I use up my time just about as quickly as it becomes available to me, really.

I don't know how I'd handle unlimited time off. I'd have to have a lot of discussions with my supervisor, I guess.


zuisa - Mar 30, 2017 8:26:07 am PDT #9164 of 30002
call me jacki; zuisa is an internet nick from ancient times =)

I've never been in a job where I've had any time off (on cruise ships, you only get time off if the ship's doctor decides that you are too sick to work), and I will have a "normal" office job soon (hopefully), and I don't know how I'll use vacation time. I can't imagine ever not using all the the time available to me, but I can't say for sure.

One of my brothers works for Twitter, and they offer unlimited vacation, and he really loves it.


Sophia Brooks - Mar 30, 2017 8:37:29 am PDT #9165 of 30002
Cats to become a rabbit should gather immediately now here

I get 25 days per year. Next year I will go up to 27 days because I was hired here in 2000!!! Man I feel old.

I have no idea how I would use them if I didn't take time off for theatre every year. I am also still using up a 5 week glut from a bad boss in 2005! SO I take 3 - 4 weeks for theatre, a week in the summer, a week at Christmas, and other assorted days and I still have a huge balance.


Connie Neil - Mar 30, 2017 8:41:02 am PDT #9166 of 30002
brillig

I've got something like 30+ days a year by now (10 years+ here), but I can't use more than five days at a time. I think I could request more at once for a special occasion, but management is thrilled at the idea. Medical leave is separate. The last couple of years I've had unexpected medical things pop up that eat a week, but otherwise I take 3 week-long vacations a year and the occasional day for doctors and whatnot, like car repairs. Another reason to buy a new car.


lisah - Mar 30, 2017 8:52:41 am PDT #9167 of 30002
Punishingly Intricate

I've never not used all the paid time off available to me. Unlimited PTO seems to work pretty well at my company (or my part of it anyway). Higher ups generally model taking time off and encourage their staff to as well.


Dana - Mar 30, 2017 8:58:23 am PDT #9168 of 30002
I'm terrifically busy with my ennui.

Yeah, I very seldom had any significant PTO to rollover. I'm in favor of vacations.


Connie Neil - Mar 30, 2017 9:03:16 am PDT #9169 of 30002
brillig

Unfortunately, the prevailing culture in my area is "How will you know how important I am if I'm not visibly in the office working very visibly in front of important people? Time off is for losers who aren't visibly important! If I take time off, it's obvious someone else can do my job! If you truly cared about this company, you'd be here! You got married so you'd have someone to run the errands and schlep the kids around, if we hire women, we'll need to give them time off to deal with the kids (though I'm not allowed to say that anymore)."

I've had multiple managers who greeted my request for time off with a faint pout of disapproval and a slight tone of "Lazy slacker" in their voice. For a long time, the prevailing business philosophy was "the employee will try to get away with as little as possible, management must keep an eye on them to keep their noses to the grindstone."