I got an e-mail this morning from the HR department that read as follows:
Welby, King God Emporer of Information Systems and Tremendously Sexy Guy:*
Per the report from HR dated 11/9, you have 16 hours of F and P hours that must be used or you will lose them on Jan 10.
HR Lady
Now, I can understand the idea that there is leave out there I can use, and that it won’t roll over to the next year. So I’ve got what amounts to two free days to take off for family and personal leave.
But should I take it? I’ve only been working here for 3 months. I’m the kind of person that doesn’t ever take off anyway, unless I’ve got a planned vacation with family or am so sick I can’t walk.
Morally, I feel like I should just let them go, because I don’t have any family or personal business to take care of in the next couple of weeks, or even months. Also, we’re at end-of-year upgrades and what-not for a bunch of systems, and it wouldn’t be fair to leave my co-workers in the lurch for two days during a really busy time of year for us.
What’s more, I have a real issue with the idea of “use it or lose it” type leave. IMHO, it’s madness. You tell a person that they have X amount of leave and must use it by X date or it’s gone forever. Obviously, people are going to take it. Well most, of them anyway. Essentially you’re telling people "Hey, we’d rather have you at home instead of doing something productive.
Or something like that. I think I’ve lost my direction here.
So: Work? Or two days of video games and cheezy poofs?
So I modified the salutation. What do you want from me?
Take it. Those days are part of your company’s compensation to you. And even if you’ve only been there 3 months, you could probably use some mental health days.
StG
Who has 2 weeks of unused vacation time I’ll be carrying over.
what will make you happier in the long run? A shortstanding but substantial amount of pleasure, or the overall self-satisfaction of knowing that you havn’t taken off days when you didn’t really need to? I would say, go to work, like you are used to, and you’ll feel better in the end. Really.
I thought the ethical dilemma was going to be they credited you with more time than you thought you should have, should you tell them? As it is, there is no dilemma. You are perfectly within your rights to take the time and no one should hold it against you. It’s completely up to you, and I agree with julius; do what you feel comfortable with. There’s always a possibility you will be sick this winter (I hope not) so just don’t worry about taking it until the last few days. Three months may not be long enough to burn out, but you will need mental health days at some point, so I hope your time is replenished soon?
As far as use it or lose it policy is concerned, the company must feel it is their best interest for you to get some down time and as mentioned, it is part of your compensation. More importantly, accrued vacation is carried on their balance sheet as a liability so they like to have you use it up or they will use it up for you. (It’s a liability because if it is vacation time owed to you at departure, and they had to have everyone depart, they would owe that money. That liability must be managed like any other.)
If you really feel bad about leaving people in the lurch, see if you can’t take the two days separately, or even as half days, and spread them out. That way the office isn’t without you for as long at one time, and the work won’t build up so badly while you’re gone.
This is why I hated taking time off at my old job - stuff would pile up for me when I was away, and having to struggle to make up for that time off made me even more stressed.
I say take it. Speaking as another one who doesn’t like taking time off … deniseV’s suggestion is a good one, if you really feel guilty about making your colleagues cope with your absence (though they are supposed to be able to cope - if they weren’t, your employers wouldn’t give you the time off in the first place, would they?)
My sister’s job allows them to give away accrued time. Her whole office got together and gave away all their extra days to someone who was undergoing chemo and was out of paid sick time. Maybe, if you’re allowed to do that, you will feel doubly good because someone else who may be actually having an emergency can use the time and you still get to go to work.
First of all, this is an ethical issue, not a moral one.
Secondly, I don’t think you understand the ethics here. You aren’t given vacation in order to take care of necessary personal business, you’re given vacation because you’re supposed to have vacation. It’s part of an employee’s compensation. Can’t you think of something fun to do for two lousy days?
I would caution against thinking this way. Two days is not a significant period of time; there’s no conceivable way the company can’t survive without you. Really, it’s silly to think you should be skipping two days of vacation for fear of missing something.
There is a general rule of human behaviour, Jones’s Law, that states that the amount of time a person is willing to dedicate to something is the amount of time it will inevitably consume. I think you’ll find that if you take your vacations, the work will still get done.
Uh, well, yeah. Vacation is a health issue. The absolute fact of the matter is that it’s good for you to take a reasonable amount of vacation. There’s a law of diminishing returns involved in working extra hours.
There’s also the fact that unused vacation represents a liability on a company’s balance sheet. They don’t want $3 million in unused vacation pay sitting on the books, for good reason.
Take your vacation. It’s good for you, and there’s nothing unethical about it.
I say take the time and enjoy it. That’s why it exists. Break it up if you can, or tack it onto a weekend and have a mini vacation. Use it - it’s yours.
This philosophy explains my perpetually low leave balance despite earning 26 days per year.
Maybe you don’t have a planned vacation, but do some things that aren’t planned.
Read books about things you’ve never read about before, go to stores you’ve never been in and just walk around, write letters to old friends, rent a movie you heard about, think about ideas for fixing up the basement, get your camera and do some artsy photography, sit and really listen to some classical music, start doing research for your next real vacation, list non-work-related things you want to accomplish next year, watch Jeopardy and Jerry Springer, make cheese foudue for lunch, take an introductory flying lesson…
So I say take a couple of days to expand your horizons - being an employee is secondary to being a person.
Also consider this: they sent you an email to let you know that you’ll lose it. This means they’ve considered the fact that you’ll actually TAKE it.
If it will kill you to be out of the office when you think you should be in, don’t do it. The guilt in the long run will wear you down more than working.
Bud I’d say take the days. Why not? They’re called personal days for a reason - you can use them for whatever you want. Even if it’s to sit & eat cheezy poofs.
Take the time off! It’s more than just company compensation. Everyone needs to take or break from time to time – but we don’t always know it.
Since you are concerned about the ethics of it, spend your days doing something that will refresh your mind and spirit and make you even a more valueable employee. There has to be more to life than work, video games and cheezy poofs.
:eek: (goes to cover up her comment about losing acquired leave in another thread)
Also, when I started my new job, one thing mentioned by the HR person during orientation was how much time off you were expected to take per year. It was phrased exactly in that manner, not in terms of how many days will carry over each year or anything like that, because she noted that you are supposed to take a certain number of days off outside of the weekends.
Think of it as turning down a paycheck; would you cast that aside? Even though timing may be poor right now, it is still a payment of sorts from the company to you.
Yeah, that’s true. And welby, do you use every cent of your paycheck? Because if you don’t, then you have to consider what will make you happier in the long run - extra money that you’re not using sitting in a bank earning interest or the self-satisfaction of knowing that you’re no more of a burden to your company than is absolutely necessary. Give your extra money back to your company, you know it’s the right thing to do.
As a matter of fact, can you honestly say that you’re living as sensibly as possible? Why not tighten your belt a little this month, and give something back to the company to whom you owe your very livelihood? After all, you don’t need a haircut every month, do you? Change your own oil! Grow your own fruits and vegetables! It builds character and saves your company the money it takes to maintain your services!
And does your employer provide health insurance? Do you even plan on getting sick this year? I think that’s rather selfish, don’t you? I could go on and on, but I don’t want to pull my sarcasm muscle.
if you don’t use it soon, you really will lose it. What I mean is that everyone with unused vacation time has gotten that letter. Everyone wants time off around the holidays. Unless the business is shutting down, they’re going to keep a skeleton crew on board to run the place. So your boss might say “I wish you had come to me sooner, 80% of the company requested December 24 and 26 off and I can’t afford to have more people gone.” So pick your dates now or pick them for the less busy times of December.
Is there a way you can go to HR and ask to be compensated for time not used? You never know unless you try.
Don’t take the time off Welby! Times are tough. They’ll brand you as a slacker and besides you wouldn’t enjoy it anyway. Work is where you belong, it invests your very existence with meaning.
“There goes Welby” they’ll say, “taking two whole days off in the middle of the week. He doesn’t have the fire in the belly”.
Don’t go Welby, don’t go! They need you! Don’t deny your worker beeness. Embrace the reliable, unceasing, unvarying pile driving piston of production that you are!
