Vacations

[raeoflyte]

I was reading askamanager.org and she had a post that 2 week vacations are best for employees to really rest and recharge.

In 20+ years, I've taken one 2 week vacation. In my field taking 1 week that you aren't checking in is rare. 2 week vacations are almost unheard of at least on the sales/processing side.

I think my industry is an extreme, but what's normal in other fields?

[HoneyBBQ]

I often take 2 week vacations. Many of my colleagues take a month at a time to go back to their home country (typically China, India, etc) and visit family. It's too expensive and too far to travel for only a week.

I also like to go to far away and remote places (personally) and need 2 weeks to make it worth it. Luckily, it's not a problem with my job and really, it's expected.

[weltschmerz]

Oct 12, 2020 12:52:47 GMT -5 raeoflyte said:

I was reading askamanager.org and she had a post that 2 week vacations are best for employees to really rest and recharge.

In 20+ years, I've taken one 2 week vacation. In my field taking 1 week that you aren't checking in is rare. 2 week vacations are almost unheard of at least on the sales/processing side.

I think my industry is an extreme, but what's normal in other fields?

I was getting six weeks of vacation. Medical field.

[Tiny]

I think it depends on the type of work one does AND were on the corporate ladder one is - as to weather or not they choose to take 2 weeks off at a time. I know management takes their vacation in 2 week chunks - sometimes 3 weeks at a time. The worker bees - don't do that (even though many of them have the vacation time accrued.)

My employer encourages vacations. In my IT department it's not unheard of for someone to take a 2 week vacation - but it takes planning and buy in from other people to 'cover' for that person.

I have never taken a 2 week vacation from work. I don't really have a 'back up' person... so when I am out for a week the day to day stuff just piles up and any actual problems MIGHT get taken care or not.

I've found NOT being in the office (with no contact) for a week or more to be extremely stressful. Yeah, I might have a nice vacation - but when I get back to the office - there's all the work that didn't happen while I was gone AND the current load.

I have been "nickel and dime-ing" my vacation days for years. Sometimes I can sneak in working 4 day work weeks for two or three months at a time. I get to do things I want to do on my time off - and I rarely return to work stressed out (I've only got 1 day to catch up on).

[steph08]

Besides my maternity leaves with the kids, I have only taken one two-week vacation when my brother and I traveled Europe for 2.5 weeks back in 2012. 

I plan to take many similar vacations when my kids are older, but for now, I rarely take a full week at a time.

Well, last year and this year, I took/am taking the whole time between Christmas and New Years. That is almost 2 weeks. But I will probably check in just in case.

[giramomma]

We used to take 2.5 week vacations every 3-5 years.

We were supposed to go to FL this summer, but Covid.

With a teen, an almost teen, and a kiddo now doing martial arts three days a week...we just don't have the time anymore. Plus, other interests. Like, HS trips to Europe.

I love me my 2.5 week breaks. The last one we had Miss M wasn't even a thing, and the other kids were 11, 8, and 3.  It was amazing. The peanut STILL talks about

I wish we would have vacationed more this summer. But, braces. and Covid.

All work and no play blows.

[saveinla]

I usually take 2 weeks but this year, I took 4 weeks vacation (2 weeks in Jan and 2 weeks in Feb) - after almost 10 years. It was my niece's wedding and it was a special circumstance. 

ETA - We have 4 weeks of vacation and can accumulate only 30 days in total and are encouraged to take the days off.

We are also closed between Christmas and NY for a week to 10 days, so sometimes I combine that, as everyone is off at that time and it is very quiet.

[flamingo]

This thread is making me miss travel.

I get a decent amount of vacation time, but I rarely take more than 1 week off at a time. The last time I took off more than that was December 2015 when I took off 2.5 weeks. That was to go see my sister's college graduation (out of state), a couple days off at home, then my DH and I left for a week's vacation. When we came back, my office was closed for the holidays so while I was gone from the office for 2.5 weeks it was only something like 4 or 5 vacation days.

I don't think anyone would care necessarily if I took off 2 weeks at my current job, so long as I watched the calendar and wasn't missing anything big. Most staff where I work don't take that much time off all at once, but there's nothing preventing me work-wise from doing it (or my colleagues for that matter). Usually, however, after about 10 days, I'm ready to get back to my routine, which unfortunately right now includes work.

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

I've never taken two weeks in a row off.   With being the manager of the mouse colony it was a PITA to be gone that long.  Even a week sometimes I would spend the week I returned having to sort out everything people touched.

Same here.   As of right now I am the only one doing protein work so two weeks is off the table.   My boss does not mind and says it is my right to take a full week off at a time but both times now customer service has had a hissy fit because I don't have back up.   They would really prefer it if I did not go on vacation at all.   They phrase it as "till the demand is over" the thing is I will get 5-6 requests PER WEEK.  It never ends.

It's almost less stressful for me to never take any days off at all then deal with pissy petty people and the workload I am expected to complete once I get back.   I can imagine the outrage if customer service found out I was taking two weeks off.

[grumpyhermit]

I think I have only taken a two week vacation 2 or 3 times.

In the early years I only got two weeks, so I tended to be pretty careful about how I took them and would often just extend long weekends.

I will be taking two weeks at Christmas this year. I work in higher ed, and we are already closed from Christmas Eve through New Years, so it is really only costing me a few vacation days. Normally I just take the week off, but this year I really just want to not deal with work for two solid weeks.

Anything much over two weeks and I start dreaming about running away and never returning to work.

[wvugurl26]

I have to get my hours down to 240 at year end or lose them. I don't really have a backup. I did 7 days earlier this summer and catching up was hell. Normally we do a week or less at a time. We do shorter trips and one week long one usually.

My family and our friends are scattered so a lot of time off is in the form of a long weekend to visit someone.

One exception to catching up is year end. A lot of people will take off at the end of December. I usually have places to go throughout the year so that's not me. I'm not saving up all my leave to be off at year end in crappy weather with nowhere to go and nothing to do.

This year I'm taking off the week of Christmas. I have a few other days I need to get scattered on the calendar. The one person who might be a back up for the most urgent cases is having surgery 12/3 and taking off the rest of 2020.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

Oct 12, 2020 13:46:54 GMT -5 NomoreDramaQ1015 said:

I've never taken two weeks in a row off.   With being the manager of the mouse colony it was a PITA to be gone that long.  Even a week sometimes I would spend the week I returned having to sort out everything people touched.

Same here.   As of right now I am the only one doing protein work so two weeks is off the table.   My boss does not mind and says it is my right to take a full week off at a time but both times now customer service has had a hissy fit because I don't have back up.   They would really prefer it if I did not go on vacation at all.   They phrase it as "till the demand is over" the thing is I will get 5-6 requests PER WEEK.  It never ends.

It's almost less stressful for me to never take any days off at all then deal with pissy petty people and the workload I am expected to complete once I get back.   I can imagine the outrage if customer service found out I was taking two weeks off.

Normally, I never got any issues when I traveled.  When I DID have issues was when I took time off for surgery.  I had one student tell me that if I hadn't had surgery, her project would have been done by then!  I had to laugh at her because 2 of the reagents she needed (and it only had a single source) were on backorder for 6 weeks.  I was out for 6 weeks and they didn't arrive until the week AFTER I had gotten back.  It took another week for me to titrate to the proper concentration.  So she could get started 2 weeks after she returned, but there wasn't a damn thing I could do about that!  But man, I was pissed at her about her snarky comment - and I let her know.  

I was getting 5 weeks each year and the week between Christmas and New Year. Getting away for any length of time for vacation was pretty difficult unless we were between projects, and I could not leave during the summer as I always had students to teach. So most trips I had planned were usually over holidays where I tacked on vacation time, and it frequently was to visit either family or TD. If it was TD, I would more often than not haul with me piles of data that I needed to compile and do statistics on while he was working, so it wasn't all vacation.



If we planned a big trip, it was normally 2-3 weeks. 3 weeks was the max either of us could get off at one time. These days, our trips are usually 4 weeks (when we can go).  We have one trip planned next year that's going to be nearly 6 weeks.

[NastyWoman]

I always take at least 2.5 to 3 weeks of vacation at a stretch, though I will check my personal email in case of an emergency. Only one person at work has that address. Through the years I have occasionally worked a day here or there from distant places: a resort in the Philipines, a beach resort in Malaysia, Krakow Poland and so on.  

All my vacations involve intercontinental travel, whether by my or my visitors hence the long vacations. We coyld carry over up to 7.5 weeks prior to this year and I had 5 weeks per year (plus holidays and sick). They changed that at the end of last year to take time off whenever with permission of your supervisor   but I told my boss that I had planned 11 weeks total this year 5 of which in the US. I would still have a few weeks left come 2021. So I promised to work part time at night during those weeks. All was agreed upon and fine until 3/13/20 and Covid. Now I don't think I will get 11 days in as I am not much of a take-a-day off kind of person.

Next year I'll make up for it though. For now my quite hefty 2020 travel budget remains untouched

[justme]

I've frequently taken two weeks in the summer. It's in a slowish time for my currently company so the only time any of my workload really falls on anyone is if those above me screw up and are slow to make decisions and other stuff. I have no qualms taking it. Even less now that they company forced us to take two two-week furloughs due to the pandemic - if they could handle it then they can handle it now. There's others in my company that do two weeks but again it's usually in the slow time. A lot take time off around Christmas that ends up being two weeks and I've seen others take longer times. It's not completely the norm, but our busy/slow times are consistent each year so it's easy enough to plan it during then. 


There's tons of studies that point towards vacations actually being a positive thing for the company. Yet American companies don't care and keep going how they go. 

[Lizard Queen]

In the 15 years I was at the old company, I took off a week or more at a time 3 times. I had 4 weeks of vacation + 2 weeks of personal/sick. I always took my time off piecemeal, or saved it for the 2 maternity leaves. Most others took off a week at a time, and I got grief from one co-worker for taking mine the way I did, but she was just a bitch all around.

[raeoflyte]

I get 5 weeks a year and can accrue up to 300 hours. I just checked and I have 292 hours of pto.

Ive taken 89.5 hours so far this year, but most of that was for jury duty time for the 3 week trial I ended up on.

We have limited vacation coverage, and especially now with everyone so busy, anything that's not on fire won't get worked on if you're out.

I'm so burnt out though and I think a 2 week break is the only way I could recouperate and find some semblance of a good attitude again. If I get through this month, and we get my replacement fairly well trained, I need to talk to boss about taking a couple weeks.

[Lizard Queen]

We were only allowed 2 weeks of carry over from year to year. They paid out unused sick/personal time at half, which a few people liked, but I wanted all my time in full, and I took it!

[tcu2003]

This summer is the first summer in a few years that I didn’t take a two week break. We did end up doing one week, and it was the week before Labor Day, so I still got a decent break, but yeah.

Unless I get promoted, I’ll have 7 weeks to use between now and 12/31/2021 - they pushed out our PTO carryover deadline a year due to Covid, so at least I didn’t have to get down to the carryover limit by the end of this year. Most employees can carry over 80 hours per year; anyone with 20 or more years or at the mid-level management position in at can carry over 120 hours. I think I can carry over 160 hours I am promoted to the next level.

I don’t know tons of people there (engineering firm) that take 2 week vacations, but it’s also not completely rare and unheard of. We work on two-week pay periods, and can flex our time in that pay period, so taking a day or two off means that I end up flexing the time off and not using PTO. I generally need to at least take a week off to make sure I use some PTO.

[tcu2003]

This summer is the first summer in a few years that I didn’t take a two week break. We did end up doing one week, and it was the week before Labor Day, so I still got a decent break, but yeah.

Unless I get promoted, I’ll have 7 weeks to use between now and 12/31/2021 - they pushed out our PTO carryover deadline a year due to Covid, so at least I didn’t have to get down to the carryover limit by the end of this year. Most employees can carry over 80 hours per year; anyone with 20 or more years or at the mid-level management position in at can carry over 120 hours. I think I can carry over 160 hours I am promoted to the next level.

I don’t know tons of people there (engineering firm) that take 2 week vacations, but it’s also not completely rare and unheard of. We work on two-week pay periods, and can flex our time in that pay period, so taking a day or two off means that I end up flexing the time off and not using PTO. I generally need to at least take a week off to make sure I use some PTO.

[NoNamePerson]

Oct 12, 2020 13:13:29 GMT -5 weltschmerz said:

Oct 12, 2020 12:52:47 GMT -5 raeoflyte said:

I was reading askamanager.org and she had a post that 2 week vacations are best for employees to really rest and recharge.

In 20+ years, I've taken one 2 week vacation. In my field taking 1 week that you aren't checking in is rare. 2 week vacations are almost unheard of at least on the sales/processing side.

I think my industry is an extreme, but what's normal in other fields?

I was getting six weeks of vacation. Medical field.

Did you take all six weeks at one time? Just curious.

[irishpad]

On paper I'm allowed 4 weeks & 3 weekends off each year.   In reality, I've only had one year in 30 years that I was able to use it all.   Like many of you, there is no one else that would cover to do my weekday work so it just piles up when I'm on vacation.   For the weekends, it is just so hard to get coverage for Masses, so that makes it very difficult to get away.   

[Apple]

I get a chance of 16 days off in a row, in exchange for only 16 hours of vacation (or sick) time, every 10 weeks.  Sometimes I mark myself gone for the entire 16 days, just to have that time to myself.  Other times I'll leave myself available for a call-in (overtime), or work my two eight hour days in those two weeks.  It is the biggest draw to my schedule (long 12 hour days/nights and a rotating shift).

I also have a week off built into my schedule (requires 8 hours vacation time for the full week) that happens every 10 weeks.  Other breaks are usually 3 or 4 days off in a row.  It is amazing and I never want to give it up (unless I could just always work 12 days in a row for 16 off, I'd do that in a heartbeat).  

[stillmovingforward]

I've taken a few 2 week vacations. East Africa, mid-east and Alaska. I had one of those jobs where they would need me but had to step up and make an immediate decision so, just cleaning up messes when I got back. Thankfully, everyone did thier best so it was more reassuring people that their decision was ok no matter the outcome.
My new job......unlimited vacation! You just have to make sure your work is done, covered by someone else, or do just enough on vacation to keep it rolling along. LOVE IT!

[HoneyBBQ]

This thread makes me sad. In Europe, Australia, etc. (many other countries) it's encouraged to take 6-8 weeks at a time to see the world. Makes ya think...

[tractor]

Our CEO strongly encourages we take at least one two week break each year. While that is not possible for many, I have 7.5 weeks every year of PTO. We can carry over 400 hours, so I have plenty in the bank. However, I’ve never taken a straight 2 weeks, I think the longest I took was 10-days and that seemed like a really long time (8 work days, one weekend).

I also never take a real break, checking and responding to e-mail often. It’s just what I do.

[wvugurl26]

I would guess a lot of the US workforce does not get 6-8 weeks total leave in a year. If you get close to that, you are likely in a higher level position that makes it hard to take leave.

I only get 4 weeks of vacation right now. My sick leave is separate and is an unlimited accrual but we have no disability policies available to us.

My leave also must be earned in each pay period. I have slowly built up a buffer because life happens. My DH has way less leave because he will not work my flex schedule. It gets me an extra 26 days off per year.

The max I will earn in this position is 5 weeks a year. We do intend to take 3 weeks when we make it to Australia. We are trying to take this pandemic time and build up my DH's leave to a better spot.

[ners]

I only take a couple of days at a time. No one completes my work so if I take more than 3 days off I come back to a mess. I did take a week off when I had surgery. Made sure to schedule surgery at a down time. Took me over 3.5 hours to get thru my emails.

[weltschmerz]

Oct 13, 2020 7:21:04 GMT -5 NoNamePerson said:

Oct 12, 2020 13:13:29 GMT -5 weltschmerz said:

I was getting six weeks of vacation. Medical field.

Did you take all six weeks at one time? Just curious.

No, I'd take 3 weeks in the summer, and 3 in the winter. Then they'd tell me I still have 2 weeks of vacation due me, but unpaid.  Sometimes I took it. sometimes I didn't.

[saveinla]

I always think - what will happen if I get hit by a car or bus tomorrow - life will go on. I am not indispensable, so I take my vacation days and enjoy them. They know to call me if something is completely broken, but between everyone in the team, they should be able to figure things out. 

If they can't then we have a bigger issue. 

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

Oct 13, 2020 11:10:35 GMT -5 HoneyBBQ said:

This thread makes me sad. In Europe, Australia, etc. (many other countries) it's encouraged to take 6-8 weeks at a time to see the world. Makes ya think...

We're 'Merica though.   There is always a reason why it would be inconceivable to even consider operating like other Western countries in the world.

I have two weeks period.  Will get 3 after 5 years.

DH has already been at his company almost a year and doesn't even have a week yet.  He can only take it as it accrues and it will be December before he has anything he can take. It's like a half hour per pay period or something like that.   That's for EVERTYHING including sick time. 

I would have thought with COVID they would rethink this because these types of PTO policies encourage dragging yourself in unless you are dying.   Nope.