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To not go off-topic on the other thread, I've opened a new one. The below series of posts made me curious. In 25 years of employment with varying jobs from retail and fast food all the way up to senior level project and people manager, I've never been asked to not take a vacation, nor been made to feel guilty about it. I've also worked for the smallest of companies (2 people) to one of the largest (over 125K people). Still, taking vacation time has never been an issue for me.
So, I'm curious. Do most people feel the same as me, or as the below poster?
Quote:
Originally Posted by mitsguy2001
As I have said before, unfortunately, in the corporate world, vacation time is almost impossible to actually take. Employers will regularly cancel your vacation at the last minute, make you feel guilty about actually using it, and pile so much work on you before or after your vacation that you have to work double before or after, or just be forced to cancel it. When the OP said "without penalty", I don't think the OP meant paid time off without using vacation time. I think the OP meant that you could actually take the time off without being punished for doing so.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mitsguy2001
business owners are cruel, heartless, completely out of touch with reality, and care only about money. They expect their employees to suffer while they live high on the hog.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mitsguy2001
Yes, I realize most of us get at least some vacation time, but what good is it if we are forced to work double time before and after in order to use our vacation time and still get our work done.
I am generally given flexibility with my vacation days with the caveat that I can't take time off if my coworker has time off because one of us has to be in the office. But that's easily solved by us communicating with each other about when we want time off. Or if there is a huge project coming up that requires both of us to be there, but we typically know about that months in advance. I guess I'm lucky?
Originally Posted by mitsguy2001
Yes, I realize most of us get at least some vacation time, but what good is it if we are forced to work double time before and after in order to use our vacation time and still get our work done.
I've never been asked to reschedule, nor have I had vacation denied. But I've never asked to take off during a known crunch time -- it wouldn't be fair to my coworkers who were left behind. None of them ever asked for time off during deadlines either.
The above quote is SO true though, wether you're taking off 2 days or 2 weeks, there's SO much to tie up before you go, and masses to take care of when you get back. But since my employers didn't allow days to be carried over, you can bet I took every single day! If you had a lot of days but no real vacation planned, many people would take off every Friday in the summer, or a lot of time in December.
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As a manager, I cannot go when my Director is away since I have to fill in, but other than that I can go whenever I want. Same with my staff, I only limit them to two gone at a time.
My experience is pretty much the same as those posted. I have worked for companies who had specific dates blacked out for vacation due to various reasons, and we did have some restrictions on what employees could be gone at the same time; but all of that was clearly stated up front and therefore pretty easily worked around in most cases, and if you couldn't work around it you were probably working for the wrong company.
I did have one instance where the date of a company seminar that a fellow manager was required to attend was changed to a week that I had scheduled for vacation which bumped my vacation, but that's the only time it's happened in 20+ years in the full-time workforce so it's hardly the norm.
At my last job, we had "blackout" dates that we couldn't take any vacation. Our choice? Take it during the summer months. I think it was because of the smaller Admissions offices at each campus, that we needed the steady support. At my current job, there are certain times I cannot take off due to registration periods, since I am the only person who handles many related activities. I had to come to work sick during the first week of the Spring semester!
Based on waht I read here, I think maybe my field is unique in that our clients can suddenly dump unrealistic deadlines on us, and there isn't any particular time of year that is busier than others. Probably the most extreme example was a project that originally had a Dec. 24 deadline was suddenly (in July) changed to an Aug. 31 deadline.
So far, I have never been forced to cancel a full vacation. I have been forced to cancel single days off. Also, I tend to be guilt-tripped after the fact about my vacations, telling me that it was during a "busy" time and that "Bill cheerfully cancelled his vacation without complaint or request for compensation, why didn't you do the same?" Even though at the time these vacations were approved, it could not have been possibly predicted that it was during a busy time.
In any case, none of the poll options really apply to me, so I haven't voted. Is there a way to update the poll to add more options, such as what I described?
I have been forced to cancel single days off. Also, I tend to be guilt-tripped after the fact about my vacations, telling me that it was during a "busy" time and that "Bill cheerfully cancelled his vacation without complaint or request for compensation, why didn't you do the same?"
Oh do I hate the Bill type employees who are excessively compliant and kiss employer's behinds.
I've never had to cancel a vacation or single days off or gotten any guilt for taking vacation. However, I do know some people who work for employers who hassle them over vacation time.
Oh do I hate the Bill type employees who are excessively compliant and kiss employer's behinds.
The irony about such employees is that they enable us to work less overtime (any work that Bill does, does not have to be done by another employee) but pressure us to work more overtime.
Based on waht I read here, I think maybe my field is unique in that our clients can suddenly dump unrealistic deadlines on us, and there isn't any particular time of year that is busier than others. Probably the most extreme example was a project that originally had a Dec. 24 deadline was suddenly (in July) changed to an Aug. 31 deadline.
So far, I have never been forced to cancel a full vacation. I have been forced to cancel single days off. Also, I tend to be guilt-tripped after the fact about my vacations, telling me that it was during a "busy" time and that "Bill cheerfully cancelled his vacation without complaint or request for compensation, why didn't you do the same?" Even though at the time these vacations were approved, it could not have been possibly predicted that it was during a busy time.
In any case, none of the poll options really apply to me, so I haven't voted. Is there a way to update the poll to add more options, such as what I described?
The poll can't be edited, but sounds like Options 2 and 4 specifically apply to you.
Option 2 - "I tend to be guilt-tripped after the fact about my vacations, telling me that it was during a "busy" time and that "Bill cheerfully cancelled his vacation without complaint or request for compensation, why didn't you do the same?"
Option 4 - "So far, I have never been forced to cancel a full vacation. I have been forced to cancel single days off."
Why do you think those don't apply?
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