October 22, 2013 at 8:52 pm
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Recharge and Relax
October 23, 2013 at 2:16 am
Sorry to hear about your friends.
I have an excellent wife who balances my working with demands that a) I see the kids (i.e. come home at a reasonable time) and b) take her and the kids on holiday (more go with them but I am sure that you get the point).
It was also her that encouraged me to take up field hockey which has demands on my time but gets me out in the fresh air, exercising and socialising.
Gaz
-- Stop your grinnin' and drop your linen...they're everywhere!!!
October 23, 2013 at 2:20 am
I simply book one week off every 3 months or so throughout the year based around the New Year and Christmas holiday period. I book this on the first Monday in April. As I work for the NHS I get more than most private sector employees, but still manage to use it all by the end of March.
If anything our managers are under pressure to make sure that we take all of our leave, and like it when we make life easy for them.
October 23, 2013 at 2:38 am
Alex Gay (10/23/2013)
I simply book one week off every 3 months or so throughout the year based around the New Year and Christmas holiday period. I book this on the first Monday in April. As I work for the NHS I get more than most private sector employees, but still manage to use it all by the end of March.If anything our managers are under pressure to make sure that we take all of our leave, and like it when we make life easy for them.
Opposite for me as I work freelance 😉
Gaz
-- Stop your grinnin' and drop your linen...they're everywhere!!!
October 23, 2013 at 3:54 am
I thought you only got about 10 days levae in the US.
I get 34 in the Uk and that's not really enough!
October 23, 2013 at 4:33 am
If you have worked for the NHS for more than 10 years you get 33 Days + 8 Bank Holidays, but depending on where you work you may be in for the bank holiday, but you get it as time in lieu (not overtime).
October 23, 2013 at 6:14 am
I just scheduled the rest of my time off for the year - every Friday until Christmas. 😀
Generally, in the beginning of the year, I'll schedule a week off for a beach vacation and I'll make sure I have my birthday off. Other then that, I may take a day here and there when I need a break. But any remaining days I'll save up for the end of the year. So far it's only back-fired on me once.
October 23, 2013 at 6:22 am
Admittedly I've been taking a day here and there to burn my vacation through the year although I have a week and a half booked for vacation in January. I've heard that in some places it's mandatory to take at least a week at a time at least once a year in order to make sure that you haven't become mission critical. So it's a good DR test in case you're not able to work.
The best DR tests are ones that I can do by sitting on a beach.
😎
October 23, 2013 at 6:34 am
I work for an automotive (brake parts) supplier and have a very odd vacation policy.
I get 10 days per year - 3 of those are mandated to use during July 4 shutdown (full week paid). That leaves me 7 days to cover sick and vacation. I do get another 10 days paid shutdown over Christmas/New Years - so plenty of time off - I just don't get much choice about when I use it.
I took a week off in May this year, leaving me only 2 discretionary days...and then I got the dreaded head cold that burned 1.5 days sick. I will make sure to use it more wisely next year and probably save a few days to roll forward into 2015 just to feel more comfortable with the potential sick time use.
October 23, 2013 at 7:06 am
I think if you have a fair amount of annual vacation, it helps to have some annual traditions for how some of it is used. Some of it may be around Holidays (Thanksgiving/Christmas), but even in other times I find it helpful to have other things I do every year, whether with a group of friends or as a couple.
I have gone between 3 and 4 weeks vacation in my last few jobs, and in a given year usually a week or two of that will already be committed ... annual golf trip, days around christmas, a weekday golf tournament we play every year, an extension of labor day to go up to a relative's cottage, etc
These are things I know I'm going to do far in advance, so it is easy to book them a long way out, and then the work schedule evolves around them instead of trying to fit days into a busy work schedule.
From there, its not that hard to eat up the rest with days here and there. I also like planning trips I'd like to take way in advance. The planning becomes part of the fun of the trip, and again you get it in your schedule before work gets in your schedule.
October 23, 2013 at 8:00 am
WOW only 10 days for vacation and sick, no way I could work for your company. I get 25 vacation days, 8 paid holidays, and I accrue 5 days of sick per year, caps at 360 hours of sick time.
In my first 20 years at this job I would spread out my time with a day here and there or two. Granted I didn't start with that much time, I think I started with 10 days of vacation. I was talking to our CIO a couple years ago and we talked about how we each use our vacation. He told me he at least books two weeks off in a row each year to truly disconnect from work. This really hit home with me that I wasn't truly enjoying my time off knowing I would be back to work in a day or two, maybe a little longer if I scheduled around a holiday. So I talked to my wife about this and we decided to try it. We took our first trip to Mexico(Cabo San Lucas) and loved it. And he was right, before the end of the first week I had truly disconnected from work and was enjoying my vacation. Second week was even better.
Last year was two weeks in Hawaii, the best two weeks of my life. 🙂
We had a guy here, 'Larry' that worked every day for 30+ years. This man only took a 1/2 day off when his father died. As you can imagine one day 'Larry' didn't show up for work. We find out he died of a heart attack. Now did 'Larry' get anything more from the company buy giving up all those vacation days? Nope, they hired a replacement for him within two weeks. They didn't care, so take your vacation, life is indeed to short.
Not to open a can of worms from a previous post, but for those of you with less time, wouldn't a union be great to fight for you to have more time off(paid)? I know I would, 30+ days off sounds better to me like they have in the UK.
-------------------------------------------------------------
we travel not to escape life but for life not to escape us
Don't fear failure, fear regret.
October 23, 2013 at 8:04 am
At my last job, I got a grand 2 days of vacation time a year, and everyone got Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day off; that was it. I was more or less forbidden to use my vacation days, too; the fear of "something happening with the server" was too great to let me have time off.
I moved to a new job earlier this year, though, and I'm already set to take some vacation time; three days of it next week, in fact! It's actually kinda surprising to be able to do that, which is probably a little sad, but now I can attend some of the events that I missed out on for two years! It's going to be great to be able to take a day off here and there when I need an extra bit of time to unwind, and the previous job definitely taught me that such time is necessary on occasion 🙂
- 😀
October 23, 2013 at 8:08 am
I know we can get caught up in work, but, geez, definitely take all the time you have coming! I love my job, but how many of us can honestly say that if we won the lottery tomorrow, you'd keep coming to work? Nope, not me. There are so many things I'd rather do. Take your time-off and do some of them.
You only get so many spins around the sun.
October 23, 2013 at 8:14 am
ryk 98103 (10/23/2013)
I know we can get caught up in work, but, geez, definitely take all the time you have coming! I love my job, but how many of us can honestly say that if we won the lottery tomorrow, you'd keep coming to work? Nope, not me. There are so many things I'd rather do. Take your time-off and do some of them.You only get so many spins around the sun.
Thats why I but tickets for every drawing. Hope I hit it tonight.:-D
-------------------------------------------------------------
we travel not to escape life but for life not to escape us
Don't fear failure, fear regret.
October 23, 2013 at 8:14 am
below86 (10/23/2013)
Not to open a can of worms from a previous post, but for those of you with less time, wouldn't a union be great to fight for you to have more time off(paid)? I know I would, 30+ days off sounds better to me like they have in the UK.
NHS staff = civil servants i.e. public sector workers.
In theory, and very much historically, the larger amount of holidays was to cater for accepting a lower wage from whichever government body they worked for.
As for unions it is a very complex issue. Just look at what they achieved at Grangemouth today. Or rather between the union and the employer over 1300 people have just lost their jobs. Please note that I am not putting any blame on any party as I don't know all the facts. All I am saying is that unions are not a panacea (silver bullets are not restricted to IT).
Gaz
-- Stop your grinnin' and drop your linen...they're everywhere!!!
Viewing 15 posts - 1 through 15 (of 44 total)
You must be logged in to reply to this topic. Login to reply