How much paid vacation do you get?

[cruiser21]

I get paid 28 days vacation and get paid for 20 sick days and I work for private college. I cannot carry over either to the following year. We use or loose.

Wow 20 sick days. They really want you to be sick. I'm guessing people use their sick days for vacation.

 

[cruiser21]

I just started a new job. I get 5 weeks.

 

[cruiser21]

I get PTO as opposed to strictly "paid vacation". We start with 160 hours of PTO and can roll up to 280 over from year to year meaning on the first of the year you can have 440 hours after just 3 years since you have to take a minimum of 40 hours per year.

This is how my jobs work. People love to brag about how much PTO they have saved. I don't get it. What are you saving it for? I'd rather take a vacation then brag about my PTO balance. I use my PTO and take about 5 weeks per year.

 

[BadgerGirl84]

None. But I work as a consultant and get paid by the hour. It’s standard in my industry and I don’t mind at all.

 

[Marchand63]

The other crazy thing in the US is that people don't take all their days! Something I read said that 52% of Americans don't take all their paid vacation.

Believe me this American takes every increment of her time.

 

[PaulaSB12]

22 days but if you used them for the three shifts before the 8 days off you could get 14 weeks off a year and still have 3 days over

 

[mousefanmichelle]

6 Weeks. I have been at my job for 18 years. They took a week away from us back in 2008 when the bottom dropped out. Never gave it back.

 

[nikkistevej]

I've been at my job 18 years, I get 4 weeks, 2 floating holidays, plus all the other "banking" holidays lol, also we can "buy" a week of vacation(which I do), and get 8 sick days. Next year- they are taking the "sick days" away, and adding 5 PTO days- so I guess technically I'll get 32 days- plus all the holidays. Wish I could buy 2 weeks hahaha

 

[Colleen27]

The other crazy thing in the US is that people don't take all their days! Something I read said that 52% of Americans don't take all their paid vacation.

Ah, but you have to remember that in some of those workplaces, vacation time is a on-paper benefit with no real value. My husband has worked in settings with so many restrictions on using paid leave that only a handful of the most senior employees had the opportunity to use what they were given, and he's worked in settings where taking vacation time was essentially identifying yourself as expendable or not "really committed" so no one serious about raises or advancement used theirs. Right now, he has no redundancy at all in his position so while his company generally tries to be good about work/life balance, the reality is that taking vacation time means working extra hours before and after to get the work done. And my company... well, I learned last week never to take my time in small increments, because after taking Mon to Wed off I was expected to produce just as much in the two days I did work as if I'd been there all week. From here on out, I take full weeks or nothing at all.

 

[RedAngie]

Ah, but you have to remember that in some of those workplaces, vacation time is a on-paper benefit with no real value. My husband has worked in settings with so many restrictions on using paid leave that only a handful of the most senior employees had the opportunity to use what they were given, and he's worked in settings where taking vacation time was essentially identifying yourself as expendable or not "really committed" so no one serious about raises or advancement used theirs. Right now, he has no redundancy at all in his position so while his company generally tries to be good about work/life balance, the reality is that taking vacation time means working extra hours before and after to get the work done. And my company... well, I learned last week never to take my time in small increments, because after taking Mon to Wed off I was expected to produce just as much in the two days I did work as if I'd been there all week. From here on out, I take full weeks or nothing at all.

I don't know why anyone would willingly work for such a company for more than a few years.

 

[Colleen27]

I don't know why anyone would willingly work for such a company for more than a few years.

Because a job is better than no job. And because in some industries it is just normal. Much of DH's work has been semi-seasonal (residential construction) and there is a strong assumption that vacation can be left for the slow winter months, much like how teachers are just expected to vacation in the summer. The better places pay out for unused vacation time, making it more like a pre-winter-layoff bonus than actual vacation time.

I like the company DH works for right now. They're better about work-life balance than anywhere he's worked in the 20 years we've been together, and they're generally pretty flexible. But they are in a pinch right now with no "plan B" if DH is out - he's the only one in his role across three facilities - so taking time is tough. They're actively looking for an assistant for him to ease the crunch, but everyone is hiring right now and their contract doesn't have much wiggle room to offer better wages, so they're struggling to find a good candidate. My job, on the other hand, I'm increasingly disillusioned with - between the difficulty of taking that time off and the low and never-increasing wages and notice this morning about how much my insurance is going up, well... I may start looking elsewhere even though I really like the work I'm doing.

 

[Adelle Dazeem]

I work for a large, private university and I get 4 weeks. You get 3 weeks your first year, 4 weeks through years 2-9 and then 5 weeks after that. We also receive 3 personal days and 3 floating holidays a year. The university is closed for winter break for two weeks and they throw in extra paid days and then people use their personal and floating holidays to fill in any gaps, if necessary. We also get 12 sick days a year.

DH gets 6 weeks of vacation a year after 20 years at his company.

 

[Skippy918]

The other crazy thing in the US is that people don't take all their days! Something I read said that 52% of Americans don't take all their paid vacation.

Yep, that’s true. It also depends on how your position is compensated. I know several people in sales/commission based pay and they don’t use their time off because it impacts their sales goals and thus their pay.

 

[PrincessDana]

I just started a new job a few weeks ago. I get 23 days PTO, 7 holidays, and 2 personal/floating holidays. I was thrilled. And since I'm now working from home, I don't anticipate using much PTO for anything other than vacation.

The job I left I got 10 days PTO (and at 5 years, you got 12.5, at 10 years you got 15), 7.5 holidays.