I have five weeks of vacation a year plus a week of CME, damn near unprecedented in the US. It would take good money to make me give any of it up, but at the same time I wouldn’t pay very much for more weeks.
I know a lot of doctors who are on salary plus a production bonus who get huge amounts of vacation time but don’t use it because it keeps them from getting their bonus. I deliberately avoided that arrangement in favor of a straight salary, because I knew that I wanted to use every minute of vacation time I was given, and I didn’t want to feel guilty about it.
I currently have 4 weeks vacation plus one week of personal time. Company policy is use it or lose it everywhere except California. In California you either have to accrue the time, or get a check.
I use one to two weeks per year, and get a check for 2-3 weeks.
That reminds me at the end of the month I get an extra pay day. WOOT!
Now before anyone thinks I am flat nuts, remember I travel a bunch for work, and also get to work at home some, so it not like I am in a cube farm for 51 weeks a year, and can’t don’t want to leave.
I work PT because I don’t want to be inhibited by the FT vacation schedule. Working FT, currently I’d be entitled to get 3 weeks off paid + 1 week of unpaid vacation. Last year I took 5 weeks off. Once I work enough years to qualify for 5 weeks paid, I’ll consider switching to FT.
My husband is a stock broker and is 100% salaried. He doesn’t have a vacation schedule. Last year I forced him to take 2 weeks off by scheduling 1 family vacation and 1 couples only vacation with a non-refundable deposit. That’s the first time he’s taken more than 6 or 7 days off in more than a decade. He makes a great wage, but I’d rather see him take a pay cut and get some more time off.