How does your employer do vacation time?

[okeydokey]

Ours accrue as a few hours every pay period, so a person earns some vacation right from the start.

 

[StitchesGr8Fan]

My company give you 2 weeks your first year if you start the first business day in January. If you start in July you get 1 week. It starts fresh Jan of the next year even if you started December 31, so you would get the full 2 weeks. If you need more vacation than you have the first year, you can negotiate to take it unpaid during the hiring process. If you try to sneak it in after you are hired you will be fired.

The managers at your company need to grow a pair and tell this person no to vacation. It's not fair to all of you who got no vacation your first year. It's not like this is a family emergency since they are requesting in advance.

 

[sharbear]

My kids both are recently out of college and so vacation time is pretty new in my mind. They both started June 1 and received 5 days of paid vacation after 6 months so that December 1 they had 5 days so they could take off the week of Christmas to come home. My son's vacation then reset on January 1 and received 5 more days of vacation and an additional 10 at his first year anniversary. He was not paid overtime but could work comp time if he needed additional time off (He had a wedding to go to in his first 6 months and he was able to go as he worked comp time).

My D's is a little different. She got 5 days December 1 and then no additional days until June 1 when she got an additional 10. On January 1, 2014 she will receive 15 days but that is vacation and sick time. My S has vacation and sick time, his PTO is a little better than D's. D is also allowed to work comp time, they have summer hours where she can get off early on Friday afternoons.

Vacation time is tricky and it looks like this employee is taking advantage of the system IMO.

My H can get paid for overtime as long as his boss approves it. But he has no need for comp time as he can't even take the vacation he has. But if he did he would be able to use comp time. His choice.

 

[Disneychix]

I do the payroll but when I asked if her time off in October was to be paid, no one can decide. I decided to research some other companies to present information to the "powers that be".

If we pay this person for the October vacation, then that leaves them with no vacation time at all until December 2014. We do not do accrued vacation time....you get vacation time at one year anniversary. Sick leave does accrue (and they've used all their accrued sick leave already)

There is another week marked off the vacation book for spring break so either something needs to be unpaid or they need to deny the time off. They are just iffy about denying vacation time to someone.

If this person gets two weeks paid vacation in the first year without earning it there are going to be some very unhappy employees. It's a small office so people already know what's going.

Based on the above I would say this employee has not earned another paid week in October. This person aready used a paid week for spring break and all her sick days. My guess is you would pay her for a week off in October and when she finds out she gets nothing more in 2014 she's gone.

 

[chamonix]

I do the payroll but when I asked if her time off in October was to be paid, no one can decide. I decided to research some other companies to present information to the "powers that be".

If we pay this person for the October vacation, then that leaves them with no vacation time at all until December 2014. We do not do accrued vacation time....you get vacation time at one year anniversary. Sick leave does accrue (and they've used all their accrued sick leave already)

There is another week marked off the vacation book for spring break so either something needs to be unpaid or they need to deny the time off. They are just iffy about denying vacation time to someone.

If this person gets two weeks paid vacation in the first year without earning it there are going to be some very unhappy employees. It's a small office so people already know what's going.

Was she paid for the spring trip? I see no reason why she should be paid for the weeks off this year, unless it is clear she has "borrowed" them from next year (2014).

If the workplace can spare her, you could offer her two choices: take the 2013 weeks unpaid, or borrow them paid from next year. She should also sign something if she takes them borrowed/paid that clearly states they are actually next year's benefit. You don't want a misunderstanding or a he said-she said situation next year! A simple official letter from payroll that she signs to show she received it and that's put in her file will do.

Of course, the third option is that the powers that be decide she is a valuable employee that they want to keep, and they decide to give her this year's paid even though none of the rest of you got that when you started. It doesn't have to be fair (though if it was my business I would be hesitant to choose this option if it would cause too much workplace drama and discontent). The workplace isn't a democracy, lol. The boss/owner can do whatever s/he wants (but might be wise to take workplace morale into account).

 

[Mickeyluver37]

I do the payroll but when I asked if her time off in October was to be paid, no one can decide. I decided to research some other companies to present information to the "powers that be".

If we pay this person for the October vacation, then that leaves them with no vacation time at all until December 2014. We do not do accrued vacation time....you get vacation time at one year anniversary. Sick leave does accrue (and they've used all their accrued sick leave already)

There is another week marked off the vacation book for spring break so either something needs to be unpaid or they need to deny the time off. They are just iffy about denying vacation time to someone.

If this person gets two weeks paid vacation in the first year without earning it there are going to be some very unhappy employees. It's a small office so people already know what's going.

I have mixed feelings about this. She knew what the policy was- is there extenuating circumstances around needing to take a vacation in October? Some people just like to buck the system. If you pay this person for the vacation in October, I'm sure she won't go next year without a vacation, so this is going to be an ongoing issue.

On the other hand, after reading the entire thread, in combination with my work experiences, I don't think the vacation policy at your office is reasonable.

At my current office we get paid weekly and accrue vacation and personal time starting with the very first paycheck. I'm not sure why we split it out as there is really not a distinction and you can use your personal time for anything. In addition, after 30 days employment you get 2 floating holidays for the year, so that helps for people that start their job at the end of the year and still want to take time off around the holidays. This totals 18 days off a year until you reach your third year, then it is 23 per year after that. There is no additional time after you hit 3 years which is a big complaint of a lot of people with 5, 10, 20 years here.

I'm not sure what the official policy is on going in the hole, but it's definitely done. At the end of the year we can only roll over 8 days max. We have a fairly generous maternity and STD policy (paid by employer) that makes that fair for those who would need more time off in a given year.

 

[soccerdad72]

Ours varies here because we're a mix of union and non-union personnel as well as hourly and salaried.

My vacation time is granted at the beginning of the fiscal year and was prorated based on how far into the fiscal year we were in when I started a couple years ago. We can carryover up to a year of vacation at the end of each fiscal year. I had a trip planned when I was about to start at my job (I was a contractor for a few months prior to becoming full time), so I arranged with my boss to just start working full time after the trip, so I was just unpaid for that trip and didn't have to use vacation time.

Co-workers of mine are hourly / union -- they accumulate vacation time with each paycheck and cannot use any more than what they've earned. One of my co-workers has accumulated so much vacation time that every now and then he needs to take time off before he loses it. Another one, however, pretty much uses it up as soon as he earns it.

 

[hops&dreams]

We are having some issues with someone where I work and vacation time. It's a pretty relaxed office but we do have an admin manual. Our policy is salaried employees earn two weeks vacation after one year of employment.

We have a person hired in December who hasn't yet earned any vacation time. They informed the boss that they already had a spring break trip scheduled when they were hired and were granted permission to take the time off paid. Now there is another vacation scheduled in October. There is some debate going on as how to handle it.

My question is, where you work, are you allowed to take vacation time if you haven't yet earned the time? Would your vacation request be denied or would you be allowed to take that time off as unpaid?

IF that person's workload was able to be managed without a considerable amount of inconvenience to co-workers, then the time would be allowed, UNpaid.

Understandable about the Spring Break vaca that they were notified of at hiring, and it was very generous of employer to give them the time off PAID. I would have expected that time to be unpaid (as a job seeker), but our big boss is generous so he would have probably given it as paid time as well.

Now, tacking on another vacation when you have no vacation time - I would have probably gone and ASKED if I could take the time unpaid. I would also expect to stay late the week before and the week after to catch up on any work missed. People whose jobs are time-sensitive (payroll, etc) would be less likely to get approved, or would/should be super, extra nice to the people that would have to pick up their slack while they are gone.

My job is rather independent of others (individual project based) and I am able to re-arrange my schedule in prep for time off.

 

[Starbrite]

Co-workers of mine are hourly / union -- they accumulate vacation time with each paycheck and cannot use any more than what they've earned. One of my co-workers has accumulated so much vacation time that every now and then he needs to take time off before he loses it. Another one, however, pretty much uses it up as soon as he earns it.

This is how ours works. I accumulate 4 hours per week. I cannot use more than what is banked.

The problem is, we used to get the full amount of days granted to us on Jan 1st, and we were not allowed to carry anything over. Then last year, without notice, they changed to the accrual process. Well nobody had any time "banked" and anyone who had vacations planned in the beginning of the year had to cancel because they hadn't accrued the time yet.

I personally feel its a lousy method, just give the employees the full amount they've earned.

 

[Pakey]

The OP said this position is salaried. OP did not state whether this was an exempt or non exempt position. Here, salaried exempt employees are paid an annual salary and they get paid that salary regardless of the hours or days worked in that year. While vacation time is tracked, there is nothing in place to prevent salaried exempt employees from taking days off. We don't get paid extra for all of the Saturdays we work and we are not docked for any days we don't work. If there is an issue with work going undone due to absences, it's up to the executive manager (direct supervisor to exempt employee) to deal with through disciplinary measures.

Non exempt employees acrue vacation hours per pay period. Accruals start 6 months after employee is classified as a full time employee (we have a large seasonal work force) and the number of hours earned increases with years of service. Employees can never be compensated for more than they have accrued and the maximum accrual is 1.5 times the annual accrual rate for that individual. Employee must work more than 50% of the pay period in order to earn the accrual.

Employees who do not have accrued paid time off are often granted unpaid leave for various reasons. Each department manager has the authority to do this if they make the determination that the work load will not suffer as a result of the absence.

I am the individual who establishes policy and the accrual method is the easiest for tracking purposes and for payouts at time of a final check.

 

[DebbieB]

In my company, if an experienced person is hired, they often negotiate extra days off so that they don't lose vacation time they had at their prior job. They don't want to start off same as entry level.

Your management needs to decide how to handle this and it's really no one else's business.

 

[beancounter93]

In my company, if an experienced person is hired, they often negotiate extra days off so that they don't lose vacation time they had at their prior job. They don't want to start off same as entry level
.

Hourly employees have to work one full year before any paid vacation and they get 2 weeks at 1 year anniversary.

Salaried individuals get 2 weeks up front, unless they are able to negotiate more into compensation package. I negotiated 3 to start. This is pretty standard in my area for both hourly and salaried.

 

[wvjules]

I love being on an accrual system. I earn 6.17 hours time off per bi-weekly pay period. We can take it off as we earn it and it also carries over.

In the case of the OP, the employee would need to take the October vacation as unpaid.

 

[PaulaSB12]

We are having some issues with someone where I work and vacation time. It's a pretty relaxed office but we do have an admin manual. Our policy is salaried employees earn two weeks vacation after one year of employment.

We have a person hired in December who hasn't yet earned any vacation time. They informed the boss that they already had a spring break trip scheduled when they were hired and were granted permission to take the time off paid. Now there is another vacation scheduled in October. There is some debate going on as how to handle it.

My question is, where you work, are you allowed to take vacation time if you haven't yet earned the time? Would your vacation request be denied or would you be allowed to take that time off as unpaid?

When you start the holiday year where I work starts in April. Then you get 22 days (doesnt sound much but if you used them on Wednesday and Thursday night shift you could have a week a month for 11 months. After 5 years you get an extra day, 10 its 2, and 15 its an extra 3 days BUT the extra days come in on th e April after your aniversary, so if you started may get the extra day next year (I started in march so got mine the same year)

 

[njmom47]

New hires at my place of employment are handled differently than when I was hired. They do accrue pto after 6 months. If they need time off and they are not entitled to it, they can take it unpaid.
I was hired with 2 weeks to start (they were desperate for someone to fill the vacancy, and I really had the experience they needed) although most people in between me and the newest hires started with 1 week after their 1 yr anniversary. Our year is divided in two so you may have to wait till June for your next week if your anniv is in the 2nd half of the year. Vacation is by weeks (at 8 yrs=3 wks, 14 yrs=4 wks) but you can use them by day; 3 PHs; and 56 sick hours which you can use by 2 hr increments, and get paid at the end of the year for what you don't use.
I think the 2nd vaca for OP's question should not get paid for Oct vacation unless it is borrowed from 2014. I agree w/signing paperwork as another poster stated; I also think that person won't want to wait till Dec 2014 to take another vacation, especially since there is 2 vacations in 2013.

 

[Hrhpd]

We are having some issues with someone where I work and vacation time. It's a pretty relaxed office but we do have an admin manual. Our policy is salaried employees earn two weeks vacation after one year of employment.

We have a person hired in December who hasn't yet earned any vacation time. They informed the boss that they already had a spring break trip scheduled when they were hired and were granted permission to take the time off paid. Now there is another vacation scheduled in October. There is some debate going on as how to handle it.

My question is, where you work, are you allowed to take vacation time if you haven't yet earned the time? Would your vacation request be denied or would you be allowed to take that time off as unpaid?

Yes. We are given a set amount of PTO at the beginning of the year. We can use it as we see fit, even before it is earned.

If you quit within the year, any not earned will be deducted from your final paycheck.

If you go over your allotted PTO (even unpaid), you get written up and is terms for dismissal, not including any medical or grief time off. The PTO is quite generous and the company also closes for a week at Thanksgiving and Easter, 3 weeks at Christmas and 3 weeks over the 4th, so there really is no reason to go over your PTO.

 

[manning]

We didn't get vacation the first year. After that you got vacation on seniority basis (most senior got first pick on down to lest senior. You could not carry over to next year or borrow. Has something to do with federal tax law.

 

[aprilgail2]

Yes. We are given a set amount of PTO at the beginning of the year. We can use it as we see fit, even before it is earned.

If you quit within the year, any not earned will be deducted from your final paycheck.

If you go over your allotted PTO (even unpaid), you get written up and is terms for dismissal, not including any medical or grief time off. The PTO is quite generous and the company also closes for a week at Thanksgiving and Easter, 3 weeks at Christmas and 3 weeks over the 4th, so there really is no reason to go over your PTO.

so you get 7 weeks paid time off when the company closes and also PTO??

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

Where I used to work, you got 1 week of vacation time for every 6 months you worked.

Because they negotiated having time off when they were hired before the 6 months were earned, they would not have been able to get any more vacation time until they earned it - which would mean after the first 6 months were done.

There would also have been alot of resentment from the other employees in the department that this person got to take a paid vacation so soon after being hired. There was too much work for too few people and it was all deadline oriented and stressful.

This was just over 8 years ago and I haven't worked for anyone else since so I don't know what their policies are now.
Knowing that company, it's probably pretty much the same. They weren't big on change.

 

[nene0182]

Where I work you get all your days in January yet you accrue them during the year, if you leave and have used all the days up you owe the money for the days off.

This is how my job is as well. In your first 5 years you are given 18 FTO days in January and 6 extended sick days. It goes up after 5 years but I'm not sure what to as I have a long way to go before that happens for me. Your first year is prorated so for example I started mid November so I didn't get any time off until Jan 1st while my coworker started the end of January and got most of the the 18 days. We are allowed to carry over 6 (5 for FTO and 1 to bank for extended sick time)