I put 3 weeks, but it probably is closer to 4 weeks. I get 6 hours of leave time for every 2 weeks (80 hours) worked and most days I have to work 9 hours. But, I have a compressed schedule with every other Friday off.
My job is such that anything I don’t do when I am out has to be done when I get back, so taking more than a week at a time is difficult. I usually take 2 one-week-long vacations per year plus four or five 4-to-6-day mini-vacations that take advantage of weekends, holidays and my scheduled Fridays off. I’m hoping to start doing some more international travel in a couple years, so I will need to work out a way to actually be able to take 2 weeks straight off.
I’m required to take mine all at once, so I either take nothing, or about six weeks. I get four weeks leave and leading up to the leave I get twelve days off, so near enough to six weeks.
This is one of those things where the language difference between each side of the Atlantic tells you more about the culture and attitudes - it’s not as simple as “vacation” is the US English word for UK “holiday”, which is a common misconception over here.
In my understanding, you guys get more “holidays” than we do - 4th July, Thanksgiving etc. Then you get a couple of weeks “vacation”. What I’m surprised at is the number of people saying they also get “personal days” and a defined number of “sick days”. What’s the difference between a “personal day” and “vacation”? It’s all holiday over here - it makes no difference whether you have to take a day off to wait for a plumber because a pipe has burst, or attend a friend’s funeral, or whether it’s the two weeks in Spain you booked a year ago - it comes off your holiday entitlement.
In the UK, the commonest holiday pattern seems to be four weeks (20 days), which people will typically use for a two week main holiday, and the odd weekend break and day off for various personal and leisure reasons. Then there’s eight public or bank holidays (Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Year’s Day, Good Friday, Easter Monday, First Monday in May, Last Monday in May, Last Monday in August). YMMV, and mine certainly does (Scotland has a whole different take on bank holidays).
Last year I took a week. The year before that I took two weeks. This year I’m planning on taking two days next month. ATM I have 128 hours accumulated. I need to start thinking about taking more time off.
I said two weeks because that’s how much time I get and I fully intend to take all of it this year. Since last November, when I got my two weeks, I’ve only taken three days. Last year I actually lost three vacation days because I didn’t take them all–I took only seven vacation days. This November I will be at my workplace five years and therefore will get three weeks! Yay!
Oh, and because I teach in a university, I get the week of for Christmas off, too. We aren’t a traditional school, though, so there’s no summer vacation, and while students get a week for spring break, teachers have to work that week or take vacation days.
None until my client dies. She fired the others and won’t hire a replacement for me. It puts a huge amount of stress on me. I am getting a few days off this summer when she goes to Boston for her great grandsons wedding!
I love my job but I long for a week off. I think they have it right in Europe with the 4 week holidays where they go away and relax. What a concept!
We have quite a few people who don’t take their full entitlement. I’ve never really understood why… we’re not allowed to carry annual leave forward, or exchange it for cash, but we regularly get reminders from management noting that some people still have 3 wks holiday remaining.
I always take my ful entitlement, although I tend to save 5 days for “emergency” childcare etc, so often end up taking a few days at the end of the year just for the sake of it, rather than to do anything specific.
I answered 5 weeks, as that’s what I get at work (20 mandatory + 5 as hiring incentive) but I forgot public holidays. So just over 6 a year I guess. However I was able to carry untaken vacation over so I actually had 38 days’ paid vacation to take this year.
I screwed up. I get 20 days, and I try to take everyone, plus my four personal days. But I work for a not for profit and in lieu of high pay, we get lots and lots of time off.
Same basic concept as the UK pattern you describe above.
There are several different strategies that employers use for PTO (Paid time off), and in some respects it’s simply a way to label things more than anything.
Public Holidays: These can change depending on your state, but the basics are New Years day, Presidents’ day, Memorial Day, Independence day (July 4), Labor day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Others are added in depending on State, or type of business. In addition to the above, I also get Martin Luther King Jr day, Good Friday, and an elective holiday (use any time, often stated as the "This is the holiday that you celebrate, but as a company, we do not). A total of 10 days. These may be paid, or not, depending on your employment agreement. They may be shifted to the Monday/Friday closest to the date if not M-F.
PTO pool: You get a certain number of days that you don’t need to come to work. Use them for anything you like. Vacation, sick, “personal” are all in the same pool.
or
Vacation time: A pool of days to be used as desired. Preferably for “fun.”
Personal time: A pool of days that are supposed to be used for non-sick, non-vacation reasons. e.g. Waiting for the plumber, taking the kid to the Dr., meeting with the kid’s teachers, etc.
Sick time: A pool of days that are used when you are sick. In theory (hehe) not to be used for “fun.”
I’ve worked in places with all of the above types. Most of the time, if it’s a total PTO pool, they’ve had trouble with people abusing the other “type pool time” system, and just said, “OK, x days out of office, use them for what you want. When they are gone, any more out of office days are unpaid.”
In the end, what type of PTO or non-PTO you get and the amounts of time granted are individual to your employment. You may get more time as your tenure increases, or not.
Right now I get 2 weeks per year, not counting holidays, but the only days off I take are the days between Christmas and New Years. We get a couple days of holiday pay that week, but there’s always two or three work days in there so I use my vacation to take the entire week off.
Two reasons. One, my wife doesn’t like me taking time off. She believes if my coworkers realize they’re able to cover for me when I’m away, then they’ll think they really don’t need me after all and let me go. Second, I get laid off every few years when contracts end or programs get canceled (nature of the business I’m in), and it’s nice to have an extra month (or whatever I’m able to carry over) of pay at the end to help bridge the gap to the next job.