Do you take all the annual vacation time you're entitled to?

[UFO]

I often have this discussion with co-workers/managers.  We have a use it or lose it policy, ZERO vacation is accrued.

Those who don't use all their vacation use the "What will the company do without me!?" type of stance.

Me?  Not using all my vacation is like handing a portion of my salary right back to the company.  Not gonna happen.

[Sport-Touring]

[cognosticator]

I only get two weeks, I can use that up in no time.  This August I finally go to 3 weeks    If I had 5 I would take them all

[Liftrat]

We have to use all but 80 hours by the end of the fiscal year. PLUS, we get another week off at 1/2 pay! Can't beat that, and yes, I make damn sure to use it all. I've earned it, and it's to the company's benefit, too; employees come back refreshed and eager to work again ;-). I think we Americans are far too attached to work; we should relax more.

[zer0netgain]

Not really a fair question.  I formally get 2 weeks, but I can take as much as I really want so long as I don't abuse it....typically take 3 weeks of days off through the year.

I'm surprised 1 month vacation isn't the norm in America.  You can't expect a person to work 51 out of 52 weeks and have high productivity and morale at work.  Being able to take a 3-4 day weekend here and there has amazing benefits to lifting a worker's spirits.

[K2D2]

I get 3 weeks vacation and about a week of "Floater Time"

I use every last minute of it.

I even dip into my sick days.  

Screw'em they are a billion dollar company, they can afford to not have me here a few days a year.

[Cvergi01]

100% commission baby  

Whenever I damn well please

[expatbrit]

I...err. Try really hard to use it all. Sometimes I even succeed.

[SuperHans]

It's part of your compensation so you would be a fool not to take advantage of it.

I have a hard time taking vacation since it seems nobody can properly cover my job when I'm gone. Not because I'm such an important guy, but because upper management chooses to hire the incompetent. That still doesn't stop me from taking two weeks straight in the summer. I figure that's their problem, let them figure out how to do without me.

[The Shepherd]

I always use up my 4 weeks of vacation. Even if the company was willing to pay me for my vacation if I worked it (basically 2.5X regular), I'd still take all 4 weeks. My time away from work is sacred to me.

[scottzilla]

I get 3 weeks and haven't used all 3 in a few years.  If I'm not at work I don't make money. I take my unused vacation time in cash at the end of each year. This year I plan on taking all 3 weeks.
I'm with Neal on this one. If they won't pay you for unused time take it.

[SuperSlider]

I'm self employed and people always seem to say "you can work your own hours and take off when you want", which couldn't be further from the truth.  Scheduling time off, for me is one of the hardest aspects of being self employed.  This past year I finally got tired of being a workaholic and have scheduled several "time offs" throughout this year. Crashing my bike a month ago and having to take some time off was a real eye opener on how much I needed it.  If I had a real job I most certainly would take every bit of time off I could and not feel the least bit guilty.

[stevent]

My vacation hours are based on hours worked, I usually wind up with 4 weeks vacation plus 40 hours sick time plus we have 6 floaters. Bear in mind that the plant runs 24/7 including holidays and weekends so the only way I get a holiday off is if it falls on my normal day off. I use my 6 floating days for our annual Lake Chelan vacation and I use other days off here and there to go camping or 3 day weekends. Our vacation doesn't roll over but we do get paid 8 for 8 on any unused hours, I usually try to keep 40~80 hours on the books in case I get injured, then just sell it back each year. I enjoy my job so it doesn't bother me to be here.


 

[Bender]

My job is like a vacation...I get paid to travel from race track to race track.

[Xanth]

We get two weeks per year. I use them. I like my job, but I enjoy my time away more.

[1moreroad]

Salaried staff have a use it or lose it policy with no accrual.  Hourly employees can cash out unused vacation.

There are a few apocryphal stories about the previous layoffs that have scared some people into not taking vacation at my plant.

One guy had a Disney vacation planned and paid for months earlier.  A week before the vacation, the manager told him that his project was behind schedule and he should cancel (at his expense).  He took the vacation and was laid off a few months later.

Another guy had worked offsite at a supplier for 3 or 4 weeks.  Offsite we work 12 - 14 hour days 7 days a week.  His wife and family wanted him to come home.  The plant manager called him up and said, don't leave you need to finish.  He went home for the weekend and flew back to the supplier on Monday.  The guy who stayed that weekend is still employed and the one who went home for the weekend was laid off.

One of my coworkers told me he had 13 days of unused vacation last year.  That doesn't count the holidays he worked.

Another hourly employee I spoke with told me he took 10 days off last year -- and he was including holidays and weekends.  He worked 355 days last year.

Me?  I take my vacation time.  In fact, I had to work on Good Friday this year (at a supplier), so I scored an extra vacation day.

EDITED: My boss, who has been very good, has only asked me to not take all of my vacation at once.  So I'm taking 2 - 5 days at a time.

[Motornoggin]

I take mine, or I lose it. I used to be able to earn extra time, but they now do a flat two weeks.

[fineout]

The only job I ever had where i got vacation was when i was interning at VW in germany. I got 10 days of paid vacation, and instead of getting paid overtime, I got those hours saved up that I could use to take more days off, I ended up using all of my days and about 5 or 6 flex days in the 6 months i worked there. I miss having vacation .

[Mr.Black]

... and then some.

I work 3, 12 hour days, Friday Saturday and Sunday, every weekend. I get paid for 40 hours as an incentive. I get a 15% shift differential.  I get 4 weeks vacation, 11 paid holidays, a day off for my birthday and one day off for a company outing. Oh yeah, every spring we have a banquet for all employees that have been with the company for 10 years or more, where we "work" until 10:00 get changed and go to a local facility that has open bar and h'orderves for 1.5 hours and then a major feed. Home by 3:00. In 2 more years I will have been there for 25 years. I will receive a 5th week vacation, a trip where ever I wish to go as a gift and an extra week in that year to take it.  

[Mydlyfkryzis]

We have a use it or lose it policy here too. My manager was promoted from within my department, understands, and makes sure we use it. After 24 years, though, I have 5 weeks plus 5 personal days. With all the pressure due to our low manpower at this point, it is difficult to take.

but so far, I have managed to use it all.

I have had to cancel weeks and move them around, but manage to use every day.

I have, at this time, 125 paid sick days too, but again, there is no cashing on on them. Use em, or not, no payout for unused sick time.

I could be sick for 6 months, and still get full, normal pay.  

[Motornoggin]

The DM also said that he will no longet approve more then one week of vacation between May 31 and Sept. 1.  I live in climate with literally eight months of winter and can't take most of my vaction during the four very short months of spring/summer/fall.