getting off of work 4 disney

[PaDisney02]

My boss is being very unfair! I work for a family member. I teach at her childcare center. Every year we get a 1 week vacation. I want to go to disney next summer. I like to book my trips early and then i have all year to pay it off. So, i was talking to her today and I told her i wanted to go to disney next summer and wanted to know when would be a good time May, June or July. She told me that we really cant start talking about vacations yet its too early that I have to wait until next summer, then we can all decide together when every1 is taking vacations. She told me i really cant book any big trips in a advance because she doesnt know what is gonna happen between now and then as far as other employees quiting, some1 being able to work for me, meetings, state inspection date etc. That doesnt work for me cuz i want to book it now so i have a lot of time to pay it off. This whole thing is getting me kinda mad, y cant i decide when i want to take my vacation? I understand it is about a year away but going to disney is a big deal. Does this sound right? How far in advance can all of u schedule your vacations? Every where else i worked we would just submit a vacation request and it would get approved if no one else took those dates already. We do close between christmas and new years but alot of people I have been talking to r talking me out of going then cuz of the huge crowds. Sometimes i think its harder to work for ur family then it is to work for a stranger!

 

[minkydog]

Well, I know it feels unfair but the one who pays the bills gets to make the rules. If you want to know for sure that you have the time off I guess you'll have to go during the 2wk vacation at Christmas

Or find a new employer who will let you take your vacation next summer

 

[HeShootsHeScores]

OK - you want to book now so you have lots of time to pay it off. Why don't you figure out, roughly, how much it'll cost and start socking that cash away? Put the money you'd be paying off for the Disney trip into the bank for the time being. Then, it can collect interest while you await the go-ahead from your boss.

Sure, it sucks not having the exact dates nailed down and you might be dealing w/different rates, but at least you'll be saving the money! Or, put down the dates you want b/c you have, what, 45 days before your trip to cancel w/o penalty? Then you could rebook from there.

While it may be harder to work for family than a stranger ... what would you do if your boss wasn't a family member and said the same thing to you? Nothing different, I suppose.

 

[sk!mom]

In all of DH's jobs, he could turn in a request whenever he wanted. It has always been approved and we're set. My DS cannot turn in vacation requests earlier than 3 months before the dates requested.

Maybe start saving instead of prepaying.

 

[Tink-aholic]

I have it worse. DH has to "bid" for his vacations the first week of January with the rest of the guys in the union. We have a trip in February -- all paid off, including plane tickets. We won't know until two weeks before our trip if DH will even be able to go.

 

[Aliceacc]

I say book the trip now. If it turns out that you can't get the dates you want, won't Disney allow you to transfer the deposit to the new dates??


At least you'll have a shot at getting the resort you want at the price you want. Obviously you'll want to hold off on the airfare until your dates are set.

 

[tlbwriter]

That doesnt work for me cuz i want to book it now so i have a lot of time to pay it off.

Why can't you just put the money into savings? Then, when you're able to schedule your vacation, you'll already have the money.

 

[crisi]

This is common in a lot of jobs. You can try and find another job with more flexibile vacations - or you can find a way to make this one work.

 

[Mickeypooh99]

This does sound unfair. Although you can put the money into a savings account for the trip.

We have the opposite problem. My DH has to schedule all his vacation time for the entire year each year by the beginning of February. This really becomes a problem when we don't know that far in advance when some things will be like our cub scout camp this summer. I guessed wrong, and DH had the week before camp off. I had to go with the boys instead of DH. Also we didn't have the calendar yet for this school year back in January so DH can't plan to have his time off when the boys have days off or field trips. I don't mind going to their field trips, but they want their Dad to go sometimes.

 

[dis75ney]

In all technicality...we are allowed to request time off up to two months in advance. Reason being, we have no idea what will happen to staffing so far in advance (we're constantly bringing in new people or letting others go) and the department staffing needs have to be met before vacation will be allowed.

That said, for our upcoming trip in October, I requested the time off in the beginning of July. A massive staffing change was upcoming and I wanted to make sure that my time off was in place before the new management/supervisory team took over. Thankfully, my time off was approved in July, and my new supervisor is awesome about time off requests, anyway...so I really worried for nothing.

 

[MO Nurse]

I am a nurse and we request off 2 months in advance because our schedules are made for 4 weeks at a time. Of course I work in Long Term Care and all the nurses are great about covering for others when they take vacation. We are going again in March because my vacation days take affect the end of February and the weather couldn't have been more perfect this past March when we were there.

I would consider doing what others have suggested and just save the money each month. I know it's nerve racking wanting to book and not being able to...I've been there done that too.

 

[disneyJMD]

I hope you are able to get the dates you want, as I can understand how much planning is involved in the trip! I am a big time planner too.
I have been very lucky in the fact that I work for my parents, so most people just assume that I have already asked my parents in advance, and they approve my time off. As for the planning under short time frame, that might not be so bad. A lot of times WDW releases good deals for a month or two out, and you may be able to grab one of those deals? I know they will let you transfer your deposit money to another reservation, as I just got a better rate on a reservation I had previously booked, and they transferred the credit right over to another reservation I was booking. It was very easy to do.

 

[jtopp]

Book the trip. Giving your employer over one years notice is plenty of time for them to schedule someone to cover your position for that time. Most companies require up to 3 months notice for vacation, and you are well over that. If they say you are not able to because of the inability to cover your shift, then demand more money. If the business cannot function without you there, you deserve a raise.
P.S. It IS harder to work for family. After hours they still need to conduct business with you, even at inappropriate family functions.

 

[holly7347]

That is a tough one. Here we can only request vacation for the current year. So in January we can schedule vacation as far as through that December but that is it we can't put through any requests for the next year. I only work part-time and when I was pregnant with my first DD I was only going to receive 2 weeks paid due to my part-time status. Since I still had vacation in the current year and DD wasn't going to be born until the next March I asked about carrying over some of my vacation to use for my leave. At first I was told no but when I pushed it was finally allowed.

I know you mentioned that you like to book early to have a year to pay it off. But even if you can't book right now you can still save the money. Open a savings account to be used for vacation only and put how ever much you would need in there each week or month until you have enough to pay for the vacation.

 

[pinktink83]

A lot of companies are run that way unfortunately, and although it kinda stinks since its family, I dont think your boss is being too unreasonable. Did you ask how soon you could schedule it? One month out? Three months out? Obviously things like plan tickets and reservations need to be made in advance. There must be some kind of compromise.

My husband can't turn in vacation days until the month before. But usually there isnt a problem with getting it approved, so we go ahead and make reservations, etc anyway. I'm sure once the time comes, and you already have your stuff bought and paid for, your boss will be accomidating enough to work around it for you. He jsut doesnt want to make any guarantees right now.

I say go ahead and plan, purchase, etc. And the rest will take care of itself.

 

[ajk912]

Book the trip. Giving your employer over one years notice is plenty of time for them to schedule someone to cover your position for that time. Most companies require up to 3 months notice for vacation, and you are well over that. If they say you are not able to because of the inability to cover your shift, then demand more money. If the business cannot function without you there, you deserve a raise.
P.S. It IS harder to work for family. After hours they still need to conduct business with you, even at inappropriate family functions.

I agree. If by chance there is a huge turnover or something horrible happens to the business, I imagine you would have an inkling of that 45 days out so you can reschedule without penalty.

 

[aubriee]

I work for a hospital and our requests for time off must be turned in by the second week of the prior month. The other nurse managers will then return the request saying whether it was approved or denied. However, my nurse manager never returns the requests. We don't know if our time has been approved until the new shedule comes out (usually about a week before the 1st). My trip for Sept 6th-14th I didn't know was approved until the last week of August. I have a cruise booked for January, turned in a request for the time off last February, but won't know it's approved until the last week of December. My supervisor says he must wait until he can see what staffing looks like. I've gone through this for years and just go ahead and book and pay for everything and so far he's always let me off. The only time he's ever given me any trouble about it was this past May, when another nurse asked for the same week off. He wasn't happy, but we both got it.

 

[bzzymom]

I recommend that you calculate how much the trip would cost, and start setting aside money on a regular basis so that you have it available to you in the spring when you can find out what you can have.

 

[TinaLala]

My first question to you is What is your company's vacation policy? There must be something in writing that states how far in advance you can book vacations. Hold her to it. I never understand when bosses say they don't want to know about vacations in advance - I've worked in HR/payroll for years and it's always beneficial to know so you can plan for it.

I would estimate as other posters have said, but I would submit a 1 week vacation request in writting without the dates entered so that she's 'been notified' and there aren't issues later on, like 'I didn't know you wanted to take a vacation'. HELLO! If you weren't a family member would you get the vacation reqeust with no problem?

My DH is a mailman and we have to know his vacation schedule for the following year by October of the current year. Yup I have to plan out my vacation for 2009 by October 2008. So I put in 3 weeks vacation requests by Halloween and if they have a problem with it I tell them too bad, they can't say they didn't know about it.

 

[parkers*momma]

I'm probably the minority but....

I would go ahead and schedule the vacation, start paying for it, and putting together the agenda. You have given a notice of when you would like your vacation so they will know when it is and when it coming up. NOt only does it give you plenty of time to plan but it will give your employer plenty of time to make sure all their ducks are in a row so they aren't short handed.

I completely understand where your employer/family stands, they have a business to run BUT it sounds as tho they have a high turn over rate. That being said, you would think they would value your dedication and want to work with you on a happy medium.

I manage a business and many times we become short handed but I ALWAYS make sure that one of my girls gets their vacation time off...no matter what! They deserve it for the effort they put into the business. So if I am short handed, I personally work overtime/double shifts/give up my day off just so they can have their well deserved vacation. In return, when its time for the next person to have time off, I expect everyone to help pick up the slack and they do it without complaints.

Our days off/vacation calender goes up Jan.1st of each year and the only rule I have is two ppl can't be off at the same time. Situations have come up where it has happened (illness, personal reasons, etc.) but with it being up, it gives everyone a heads up so no two ppl happens to make arrangements on a certain day.

Also, being a family member does make it a lil harder BUT it goes both ways. He/she should want to help you out as much as you don't want to leave him/her short handed.

I would simply tell them this is when it is (next year-giving them plenty of notice) remind them frequently(every other month until the time draws closer) and let it at that. Honestly, in my old age I tend to get cocky, but I personal give my all at my job, never ask for my boss to put any time in the company(working hours-he does the books at home. Other than that, I do all aspects of running the business), and deal with everything day to day. If he told me no to a vacation, he would get my notice and I would look elsewhere...but I know that would never happen...lol