Do you have to choose vacation days ahead of time?

[binny]

Dh has been very lucky in that regard, he doesnt have to have anyone fill in for him so he has just always given a couple of days notice and away we go.

His boss called this week and asked him to send in the rest of his vacation days for the remainder of the year. No big deal we always take off the same time at the Holidays so that, combined with weekends and company holidays, he has almost 2 weeks off with only using 4 or 5 days of vacation days.
Its the first time he has been asked to plan ahead though.

How does it work in your company?

 

[mrsdon]

Not only do I have to submit vacation ahead of time, if anyone is more senior to me, and wants the same time off, I might get denied

 

[AshleyW]

Dh has been very lucky in that regard, he doesnt have to have anyone fill in for him so he has just always given a couple of days notice and away we go.

His boss called this week and asked him to send in the rest of his vacation days for the remainder of the year. No big deal we always take off the same time at the Holidays so that, combined with weekends and company holidays, he has almost 2 weeks off with only using 4 or 5 days of vacation days.
Its the first time he has been asked to plan ahead though.

How does it work in your company?

I'm only required to give 2 weeks notice. If I'm going to be gone for awhile, like for a Disney trip, I usually let my supervisor know a couple months in advance.. I'm the only quality assurance person and I'm the trainer for new hires, so they have to schedule training classes around when I'll be gone. I'm going to Mississippi over Thanksgiving week and will probably turn in my time off sheets next week.

If I just need a day or two off, they're usually pretty good about just letting me work the weekend to make it up, so I don't worry about calling those days off too much in advance.

 

[Kitty 34]

If my DH takes a week off he has to put in for it by Jan 31. Otherwise he can take a day or two off with just 24 hrs notice.

 

[AKL_Megs]

I choose my vacation days in November of the year before, for the following year. It is REALLY inconvienient.

 

[tink_n_pooh]

I work for a very small company and we now require 30 days notice for time off (1-5 days) and 60 days notice for 5+ days off. The owner also wants to make a rule that at least half of your allotted vacation days must be used between May-October, this doesn't make sense to me since we are a small company and having more than once person out at a time is unrealistic and even having less than full staff more than a week a month is tough for us

 

[cat83]

I choose my vacation days in November of the year before, for the following year. It is REALLY inconvienient.

same with my DH

 

[momof1princess]

my DH will be receiving paperwork any day now to choose his vacation weeks for 2010. it's very inconvenient, but i'm grateful he still has a job.

 

[aprilgail2]

We pick vacation next month for NEXT YEAR! I have to have all 5 of my weeks picked then. It is also based on a seniority system- I am number one so I get whatever I want- I always take the same picks, a week in June, July, August, Thanksgiving week and Christmas week. My first 8 years or so I couldn't get anything other than Jan, Feb, March, April, Oct or the beginnning of Nov! Couldn't even hit a week in May for the longest time! Junior people never can get off the weeks the kids are off for breaks or the summer, the senior people take all those weeks.

 

[kim929]

We have to put in our vacation requests in Nov. for the next year. If I'm not sure what I'm doing i just put in some random weeks, then go in after the first of the year and cancel them all. When I figure out what i want off I have to submit a month in advance unless something comes up my manager can push it thru for me. The only exception is the day after thanksgiving, christmas etc. then you need to have those in on the first round in Nov. if alot of people are requesting it, then it goes by senority. luckily I'm in the top 10 so I'm good.

 

[NMAmy]

No, thank heavens, that would drive me insane. I recently put in for a week off in March because that's dd's college spring break. For the first time ever, I'm planning a WDW trip half a year in advance and I like to get approval before I start making reservations.

When I submitted the request, my boss was a little freaked out by it. She called me and asked, "Did you really mean to ask for time off in MARCH?? It's only October!"

 

[FireDancer]

Thank God no, I don't. My last job required we put in our vacation request in December for the following year. We had to take entire weeks at a time, had blacked out periods, could only have one person on vacation at a time, and it went by seniority.

Now I am one of 3 people in my department (I.T.) and all 3 of us have known each other for years, even before working together. We are good at just figuring out when we want to take days and letting our COO know. We are also on a PTO plan now so if I want to take my vacation one day at a time to make a bunch of long weekends they don't care.

I much prefer the new way

 

[Minnie_me]

What are vacation days? LOL! (I'm a teacher -- my "vacation days" are definitely pre-planned!)

 

[Missy1961]

No, we don't have to choose ahead. In fact, when I put in for days that I know I need, I have to prod my boss to approve them; he's worried that I might change my mind. (we use an electronic time card system, once a day off is approved, it can be a pain to un-approve it.) Since we can all do each other's job, it's not a big deal for one of us to be out. I'm also blessed with great co-workers--they don't mind picking up the slack when you're out. Best group of people I've ever worked with.

 

[georgina]

No, DH does not have to plan very far ahead at all. He works in research, so other people do not depend on him most of the time. He has 5 weeks of vacation and can take a day with no advance notice, or a week off with only a few week's notice.

 

[MiniGirl]

My dh bids for his vacation 12 -18 months in advance, and it all goes by seniority.

 

[PammyK]

We do an initial "bid" in December or January which is based on seniority. After that bid, we just work on a first to request it basis. We are expected to check the vacation calendar first though to make sure that there aren't already more than two people off on our requested days. It usually works very well.

 

[dizluvah]

My DH usually can take a day off with just a few days notice - however, if he plans on taking the whole week off for an actual trip - we always give lots of notice, several months. Neither of us is comfortable purchasing any airline tickets or non refundable trip activities unless/until his company has approved his time off request.

Like OP, DH does not have anyone available to "cover" for him while he is away. He is the IT Manager but it is a one man show - no "staff" per se. Prior to the recent economic downturn - company would hire third party "tech support" contractor if something came up while DH was away.

We have no plans for "vacation" anytime soon - so it hasn't been an issue for us.

 

[disneychrista]

My boss doesn't want me to put in time more than 2 weeks in advance. I HATE IT!! I gave him days for the rest of the year the first week of October and he refused to sign off on any days expect Octobers. So now I have to him every 2 - 3 weeks with my requests.

 

[dislal]

We are picking DH vacation for next year right now. I hate it, it is too soon. He can change them sometimes if no one else in his dept. is wanting the same week off closer to the time or he can trade with another guy.