James,

Didn't realize that and good information to have. It's good to know since it might mean that you can your vacation back if you have to work.

I have turned my phone off, or kept a piece of paper handy to crumple in the mouthpiece. That doesn't work as well with digital phones, but waving your hand back and forth in front of the handset does a good job of simulating dropouts 🙂

Holidays are funny with different jobs. Some people have compensated me, some haven't. Course, I liked them when I was hourly. Double time!

I think compensation/overtime/comp time for exempt (salaried) workers is hit and miss. Some people do it, some don't.