Starting new job soon with 3 pre planned and paid for small trips what to do ?

[CruznLexi]

I recently lost my job and am in the process of getting a new job should start soon. I am waiting on drug screen and fingerprints to come back. I also happen to have 3 small vacations in the next 3 months. One is the Dream cruise which is 4 nights I will miss 3 days of work. Then in mid Dec I have the Travel agent conference for 4 nights so again another 3 days off. Then in late jan I have a 4 night stay at KV. My points expire and can not be banked so it is either go on the vacation or loose it . We have a small 100 point contract and this is nearly 1/2 the contract. When I booked these I never thought I would loose my job. I need a job but I do not like to loose money either.

 

[butiflfeet]

I had a similar situation when I started my current job. I had a week long trip planned for about 3 weeks after I started. When I received the job offer I discussed scheduling and vacation time with Human Resources and let them know about my trip. My employer was very understanding. I was able to take the time off, although it was unpaid because I did not have the time in yet to where I was given vacation or personal time.

If you let them know that you have these trips planned I'm sure they will be understanding.

 

[tjkraz]

Granted every company is different and supervisors / managers have different philosophies on these things. But I can tell you there are companies / managers who would be absolutely livid if their brand new hire came in and said "you don't mind if I take a few days off over the next 3 months, do you?"

Speaking as someone who has been in management positions and done a fair amount of hiring, it really should have come up during the interview (if it didn't.)

At this point I would say you have two choices:

1. Call the person you interviewed with and inform them of the trips immediately. "I forgot to mention it when we spoke previously but..."

2. The other option is to ride it out until you are hired and then essentially let the employer make the decision for you. The last thing you can do is go in on Day One and start insisting that you be allowed to take the trips. Most companies have probationary periods during which you can be let go for any reason. Most do not allow employees to take time off (even unpaid) immediately. You may have coworkers with conflicting days off which prevent them from even give you the time off.

Well, I guess there is a third option--cancel all of the trips.

Again to put on my manager hat...one pre-scheduled trip for a new hire is workable. Three trips is pushing it.

There are vast differences between different companies and industries. If this is a company where schedules are flexible and people are workers are permitted to come-and-go to a degree as long as the work gets done, it may go over easier. But if it's a company with more rigid scheduling, high expectations, or even seasonal peak times (Christmas), you really risk getting off on the wrong foot with management and coworkers.

Good luck.

 

[CruznLexi]

All trips are paid in full with airfare and will lose 44 points on the jan one. I could just take that one at a loss. But the Disney dream is less than one month a way and the travel agent siminar is mid dec. and the last one is in late Jan. I work in a nursing home. I did tell them up front and I think I can use holidays with the one in Dec. I did put the points for rent but at this late date what to do.

 

[TDC Nala]

All you can do is ask your supervisor (it is likely not a good idea to demand that you be able to take the trips). If the supervisor has a problem with it, you will need to do some cancellations.

Ask your supervisor if they can work with you so you can cancel the least expensive ones, if it comes to that. All of us have probably had to eat a trip or two at one time or another.

 

[HayGan]

Personally, I wouldn't push it and be asking for the time for all three off. I have family who work in the nursing home industry and senority and time off there is a big thing. You won't likely be making many people too happy by trying to take all that time off. Pick the one you most want to take and ask for that one. I would mention one of the other ones if you think you can but three is asking for a lot!

You said that you did tell them upfront. What did they say? Do you need to still attend the travel agent conference if you are working in a nursing home now?

Sorry that you are in this position. Yours is a very good example as to why more people should consider travel insurance.

 

[kamik86]

duplicate post

 

[kamik86]

I can't see many employers being ok with 3 trips... 1 yes but three all in the next 4 months? If I was the manager I would be wondering how often you would be in the office.

Also most places you wouldn't have time saved for those trips... I know when I started my last job we had something like 20 hours to start with and then got 2.5 ish more per week of PTO. If you took 3 days off after being there for 2 weeks you would be out of PTO. What if you happen to get sick sometime in the next few months?

Also as a nursing home employee... In my experience with family that have worked in nursing homes the new people get stuck working the holidays if your asking time off on top of it be expecting to work both Christmas and new years.

 

[CMOORE185]

My advice is to not take the job and go on the trips. Or call in sick a lot.

 

[ccgirl]

Granted every company is different and supervisors / managers have different philosophies on these things. But I can tell you there are companies / managers who would be absolutely livid if their brand new hire came in and said "you don't mind if I take a few days off over the next 3 months, do you?"

Speaking as someone who has been in management positions and done a fair amount of hiring, it really should have come up during the interview (if it didn't.)

At this point I would say you have two choices:

1. Call the person you interviewed with and inform them of the trips immediately. "I forgot to mention it when we spoke previously but..."

2. The other option is to ride it out until you are hired and then essentially let the employer make the decision for you. The last thing you can do is go in on Day One and start insisting that you be allowed to take the trips. Most companies have probationary periods during which you can be let go for any reason. Most do not allow employees to take time off (even unpaid) immediately. You may have coworkers with conflicting days off which prevent them from even give you the time off.

Well, I guess there is a third option--cancel all of the trips.

Again to put on my manager hat...one pre-scheduled trip for a new hire is workable. Three trips is pushing it.

There are vast differences between different companies and industries. If this is a company where schedules are flexible and people are workers are permitted to come-and-go to a degree as long as the work gets done, it may go over easier. But if it's a company with more rigid scheduling, high expectations, or even seasonal peak times (Christmas), you really risk getting off on the wrong foot with management and coworkers.

Good luck.

Good advice.

All trips are paid in full with airfare and will lose 44 points on the jan one. I could just take that one at a loss. But the Disney dream is less than one month a way and the travel agent siminar is mid dec. and the last one is in late Jan. I work in a nursing home. I did tell them up front and I think I can use holidays with the one in Dec. I did put the points for rent but at this late date what to do.

Bolding mine. If you did tell them up front, what was their reply? Whenever I have received a job offer and had discussed an upcoming pre-planned vacation, that was always in the offer letter.

 

[DizBub]

Have you considered offering to rent your booked vacations? These are desirable times and am sure resorts are already fully booked.

Personally, I would try to keep the cruise and attempt to rent your confirmed reservations. Your new employer should be able to work with one vacation.

Good luck!!

 

[bobbiwoz]

This happened to my DS who had been out of work for over a year! He got 2 job offers in June and we had 3 major vacations planned with the extended family. In his case, he went to them, told them what was involved, and THEY AGREED TO ALL OF THEM! He's working on next year's vacation time, he did go into work on the day we came home from our Dream Cruise in August, but they were willing to work with him.

I hope you're as lucky.

Bobbi

PS. Major vacations were for 4th of July, the Dream cruise in August and the week of Thanksgiving.

 

[twinklebug]

This happened to my DS who had been out of work for over a year! He got 2 job offers in June and we had 3 major vacations planned with the extended family. In his case, he went to them, told them what was involved, and THEY AGREED TO ALL OF THEM! He's working on next year's vacation time, he did go into work on the day we came home from our Dream Cruise in August, but they were willing to work with him.

I hope you're as lucky.

Bobbi

That's awesome!

Companies put a lot of time and money into finding just the right employee. When they've decided on the right one they'd be crazy to say no to a pre-planned trip or two so long as it had been discussed when the terms were negotiated.

CruznLexi, I wish you luck with working it out with your company. It sounds to me as though they may allow one or two. Can you give away one as a trip to a charity? Good deeds come back 2-fold

 

[bobbiwoz]

I recently lost my job and am in the process of getting a new job should start soon. I am waiting on drug screen and fingerprints to come back. I also happen to have 3 small vacations in the next 3 months. One is the Dream cruise which is 4 nights I will miss 3 days of work. Then in mid Dec I have the Travel agent conference for 4 nights so again another 3 days off. Then in late jan I have a 4 night stay at KV. My points expire and can not be banked so it is either go on the vacation or loose it . We have a small 100 point contract and this is nearly 1/2 the contract. When I booked these I never thought I would loose my job. I need a job but I do not like to loose money either.

I just want to offer support to you aside from what I said about DS. I hope it works out in a satisfactory way.

Bobbi

 

[twinklebug]

Just a quick thought CruznLexi: Most company have personal days/floating holidays/flex days, or whatever they choose to call them. See if you have these and how many you have as typically they must be used or lost before the end of the year in every place I've worked.

Also find out about your accrued vacation days. For working 1/4 of the year (sept-dec) you should be allocated 1/4 of your normal vacation time. Again, your company may not allow you to roll these over to the next year, so leverage that to get your trips in

Good luck!

 

[tjkraz]

Companies put a lot of time and money into finding just the right employee. When they've decided on the right one they'd be crazy to say no to a pre-planned trip or two...

Depends entirely upon specifics of the situation. If an employer has 50 applicants for 1 or 2 openings, chances are they can easily afford to move on to the next candidate rather than granting 3 separate vacations within 4 months of hire. I'm not trying to insult OP but looking at this from a managerial standpoint, an employee asking for so much time off shortly after being hired is definitely a warning sign.

And there are industries where accommodating such vacations are completely unworkable. If you're seeking a job in retail, try asking for time off in mid December. If you just hire into an accounting firm, try asking your new boss if it's OK to still take the cruise you have booked for the first week of April.

...so long as it had been discussed when the terms were negotiated.

That's the thing, though. The mere existence of the post suggests it wasn't discussed adequately from the start.

At this point, I think the only reasonable course of action is to let the employer make the call. ASK if the days off can be accommodated and be prepared to potentially have them all declined.

In hindsight, I would have recommended being completely up-front throughout the interview process. In every interview I've conducted, I always briefly walk through company policies on time off, probationary periods, how time accrues, etc. That would have been the perfect opportunity to bring up any pending obligations.

 

[mousefan1972]

I was offered a job on Halloween last year. I accepted, but told HR that I had 2 upcoming week long trips already booked/paid for: Christmas and April of the following year. They informed the hiring manager that it was a condition of hire that I have the time off. The Christmas trip was unpaid, but by the time the April trip came around I had accrued 40 hours of Paid Time Off so I did get paid for that week.

I think alot has to do with how in demand your job is. I am a physical therapist and was hired by a home health care agency desperate for an experienced, licensed PT (which I am both). So I felt like I had some leverage, if you will. I also mentioned the trips as soon as I had an offer from them. Good luck!

 

[DeeCee735]

First let me say how lucky those of you are who have lost their jobs, found new ones (best of luck to you) and can still vacation!!! That's a blessing.

Next, I agree with a PP that perhaps renting out one of your vacations/points or selling the cruise (don't know how or if transferring is possible) may be the best option? This way you won't lose money, or at least not all of it, and you will have a good clean slate with the new job.

Just a suggestion, good luck in your ventures.

 

[CruznLexi]

I fixed the problem I added one day to the Oct vacation and have ome night at Vero. For the Dec travel agent trip I added 2 nights and got rid of Jan and still kept 5 points for next year. I am hoping that I can start soon just waiting on back ground to come back. So it will work out as we don't go to Alaska until July.

 

[bobbiwoz]

I fixed the problem I added one day to the Oct vacation and have ome night at Vero. For the Dec travel agent trip I added 2 nights and got rid of Jan and still kept 5 points for next year. I am hoping that I can start soon just waiting on back ground to come back. So it will work out as we don't go to Alaska until July.

Great!