Getting Vacation Approved from Your Job?

[jelloarms]

This might be in the wrong board but I didn't know where else to post this. Mods, feel free to move this if you feel it's inappropriately categorized.


I was wondering for those of you who work, how far in advance are you allowed to request vacation days at your job? I know policies like this vary from job to job.

I just got a new job and I was talking to my coworkers about vacation time and they said that you can only request it a month or so in advance. Now that doesn't seem right at all. Who seriously plans vacations only 1 month in advance? I can see if you are going to Vegas or something then it's easy because there is always availble lodging in Vegas but for Disney, it's best to plan that sort of thing AT LEAST 5 months in advance, 6 would be even better.

I would hate to book hotel, flights, and tickets only to find out that 1 month before I am set to go, my vacation time has been denied. Ugh!

Just wondering how getting vacation days works for you all!


EDIT:: Just had to say I am planning for March 2011 and want to start booking and what not in August-September

 

[Dee77]

First let me start off by saying congrats on your new job. As for your question, I would speak with a supervisor. Is it a full-time position? As a F/T employee do you have seniority over people there P/T or is it based on when everyone started working there. I would ask your supervisor if you put in for a vacation six months from now, will it be left "un-approved" until the month before and if that's the case, what would the supervisor recommend in your case when planning, booking and paying for major parts of your vacation are done months in advance.

For me, whenever I start a new job my biggest concerns always revolve around vacation time, approvals etc... Good luck!!!

 

[dolphindan1]

I have my Nov Vacation approved in Dec...I have been here 15 years and get 4 weeks a year...so its no real issue...

I would think that the earlier you put it in the better...at our job its 1st come first serve...senority means nothing...LOL

 

[clandrum]

Where I work the earlier you put in for vacation the better. As long as you have the time it is almost always approved. We have PT staff that fill in. I am lucky to have a wonderful job and have been here for a year and a half and have already taken 2 vactions and I am planning my third. I work in the mental health field so vacations are a must and are encouraged by our bosses.

 

[dzd]

We bid our leave at the END of every calendar year, By Seniority. I'm an air traffic controller so only one or two people can be gone per shift maximum(called vacation slots) and sometimes no slots are available on a shift at all. So If you want to plan a vacation in January, you had better have good seniority or hope it available cause your only getting a few months notice, but If your vacation plans are for later in the year you have a little more notice. i planned my wedding and Honeymoon a year in advance before bidding and just prayed, I literally Prayed, that I would get it off. It worked out, thank you Lord, but was touch and go for a while. So while I don't have too bad, although being last in seniority hurts, I feel the OP pain. Just try to put in early and hope....

 

[RabFlmom]

We bid our leave at the END of every calendar year, By Seniority. I'm an air traffic controller so only one or two people can be gone per shift maximum(called vacation slots) and sometimes no slots are available on a shift at all. So If you want to plan a vacation in January, you had better have good seniority or hope it available cause your only getting a few months notice, but If your vacation plans are for later in the year you have a little more notice. i planned my wedding and Honeymoon a year in advance before bidding and just prayed, I literally Prayed, that I would get it off. It worked out, thank you Lord, but was touch and go for a while. So while I don't have too bad, although being last in seniority hurts, I feel the OP pain. Just try to put in early and hope....

Seniority was what I was thinking too. If the OP's job really does let workers choose vacations at the last minute( month before) what is to stop someone who has worked longer than a year choosing the same week and getting it over you because they have seniority. I think I would be talking to personel and finding out how secure a vacation time I could get now.
Most jobs I have had since I quit teaching, we have had a deadline to choose our vacations. Usually it is by Feb. 1. They always list the black out times for vacations then too. People with more time on the job get first choice so newbies often have to rechoose their vacation time. Even though I was a dept. manager, I had to work with the people that were in my department to make sure we were covered. One part timer had worked for the corp for 20 years so her time off choice was given before mine. For 10 years, I knew I could never choose July because she went home to England every year .
Now I am a part timer and get a shorter paid vacation time and put in at least a couple weeks in advance. I still plan my vacation and get my tickets etc. earlier. If I get the vacation I get it if I don't so be it; but I will go any way without pay and just stay home after it. They know that so they work with me. Sometimes there is an advantage to getting older.

 

[indimom]

DH can request anytime beginning at the start of the new calendar year right up to the week he wants to take off. They really don't deny vacation time, they just shift people job to job as necessary. I'm self employed so I can take my time as I please BUT I usually try to build vaca around holidays since I don't get paid for my time off. In order to stay on good footing with the folks I work for and avoid inconveniencing them as much as possible, I normally try to give at least two months notice.
Since we are taking an extended trip this year (two weeks), we verbally confirmed our ability to take this much time off about nine months in advance.

 

[ancestry]

DH usually has to put in for his vacation nearly a year in advance. He can request last minute vacations but if any one else has requested those dates then he would be out of luck. To get things guaranteed he needs to ask WAY in advance.

 

[DaniB]

When I worked for Royal Bank, they were asking for our vacation time-slot confirmations almost a year in advance to my memory.

My husband can book his a year in advance to. And luckily his supervisor is very good about about short-notice for an occasional day off.

 

[n2mm]

Been at my job for 30 years and when I go on vacation I pretty much just put the dates on the office calendar to let them know I'll be gone those days. Seniority is great. I go to WDW 6 weeks a year! I retire the end of this year!

 

[reiella]

As others said, talk to your supervisor. 1 month in advance sounds alot more like personal time than vacation time. And while they may be all that you get, it's better to find out from the boss. And it's also worth noting that you prolly won't have vacation time initially.

 

[bouncycat]

I work at a bank, and ours has to be in before April 1st for the current year. If you want time before that, you got to let them know as soon as possible. We all work together so we don't try for the same week, cause it will go by seniority, and right now, even tho I've been there almost 3 years, I'm low man on the totem pole. They all know of my disney addiction, and even pick on me, so they help work around it. We still don't know if our vacations are approved this year or not, but hopefully we'll know soon!

DH on the other hand is military, has accrued an ungodly amount of time off, and is a Chief, so he can have almost whatever he wants!!! Must be nice, right??? HAHA

 

[tink713]

I can put in for my vacation about a year out and it's never a problem getting it approved.

 

[JessGWI]

I work for a very large insurance company. Ours is first come first serve, and is usually done quarterly, with the entire months of November and December being blocked out. We were going end of August, and that quarter's PTO did not open till June. I simply asked my supervisor what I should do. I expressed concerns about needing to book airfare, but not wanting to do so before I knew for sure I could have off on those days. She actually checked with her supervisor, who Manager approved it.

 

[bear_mom]

I'm a nurse and only one or two people from each shift can be scheduled to be off at a time, so the earlier the better. Vacation is granted based on first come first serve so I put in for my Dec. trip last month (I had looked at the schedule book and knew only one other person had asked for time off in Dec, different dates than me). It hasn't been approved yet, only becuase our manager has only done the schedule through Sept right now.

Emily

 

[Ress76]

My company is extremely flexible with time off, but I still ask my team to give me their dates as far out as possible, and they know to look at the team calendar before asking. However, when one has a wedding in Florida and another has a wedding in Denver the same weekend, we work through it. We're in Accounting, so Month End is pretty much our only blackout dates, and even then, I will try to work with everyone.

I echo the PP, ask your supervisor.

 

[shellybaxter]

I work at a college - I have asked almost a year in advance and not had a problem getting it approved. However, one of my jobs at the college is to direct the child care center. In child care adult to child ratios are require so "no one" can be gone without a replacement. I have tentatively approved vacations requested far in advance with the caveot that a substitute has to be available or I will have to deny the request closer to the vacation time. It stinks. I don't like doing it - but I have to make sure a substitute is available and they will not commit 8 months in advance.

OP - is your workplace staff dependent like this? Would it be difficult if you were gone without a replacement? That might be why they make you wait until closer to the vacation time

 

[Tri-Delta4Life]

Wow, all of this makes me really thankfull for my job! I'm an engineer at a large company. I've been working almost 2 years and I started out with 3 weeks paid vacation plus a 2 week winter paid shut down over Christmas and New Years. I don't have to "request" time off or get it "approved." I just have to write my vacation dates on my manager's white board prior to leaving and make sure I let me co-workers know I'll be gone! DH also works as an engineer for the same company, so our vacation plans are really flexible!

 

[MarilIncredible]

In my office, we fill out a "request" form, but I have never heard of anyone being denied vacation. I think the form is just a formality, necessary for bookkeeping. I usually fill one out about 1 month before a week or more of time off, but I once turned one in within a week of leaving [completely forgot to turn it in until just before I was scheduled to leave] and all was good.

 

[angierae]

I work for a law firm but I am not any one attorney's secretary - I'm a paralegal and I have my own projects and responsibilities. I am expected to know my deadlines, and to plan my vacation accordingly. A couple months ago I sent out an email saying "My last day will be 4/29 and I will return on 5/10, any questions or problems, please see me."

No one blinked, no one cared. I have deadlines, and I'm expected to make them. I'm also trusted that I know what I'm doing and can plan accordingly.