Classic or Dud: Having to use holiday at the end of the year or you lose the days off

Classic for the unexpected time off! I'm in a similar situation soon. Will do something exciting if I can but promise nothing!

Meh, you can understand why the company wants to keep this sort of thing in check. Revel in it! I personally would plan what you're going to do, but that's because I know I'd just waste it if I didn't. A good mix of productivity and lovely, indulgent laziness should suffice.

A good mix of productivity and lovely, indulgent laziness should suffice.

Mark C OTM!

Classic

I guess planning is U+K, it will all go to waste otherwise. But I can't really plan to do much, since I have no money, and I don't want to spend the whole week gardening, although that might be nice for a day or two.

I'm in a similar situation - I've got next week off, but I just found out I have three more weeks of holiday to use by the end of August. I've been here long enough now to get Extra Holiday Time, and didn't realise just quite how much I had left.

We're allowed to carry two weeks over and we still get smug bastards complaining about having to use leave up to get under the limit. Makes you sick.

So: classic if you're the guy with all the leave, dud if you're me.

Dud: companies that don't allow you carry any days forward to the next year, won't pay you in lieu, and won't let you take any days off before the year ends because "you're too busy".

Isn't that kind of illegal? Don't they have to let you use your holidays?

I've got two and a half days off next week because I have to use them by the end of May. This is the first place I've ever worked where you weren't allowed to carry any holidays at all over to the following year. I think it's a bit stupid, especially since I will just be hanging out at home, which is kind of what I do anyway.

I think it probably was illegal. I only lost 1 day though, someone else in my office lost 5! I ranted to the senior manager about it at the Xmas party and was quite paranoid I'd get into trouble for a few weeks afterwards but nothing happened about it.

worst thing ever - working for ParcelFarce, only being able to book whole weeks off at a time (4x5days), having to book all of these in advance at the same time, and then been told that I couldn't have any of my first three choices as 'senior drivers' had first pick. Ended up having random weeks off and nothing to do. And missed two very good ATPs.

i usually have a month's worth of holiday left over at the start of december. but this year we were told they've changed it to run from apr to apr. except we were very busy from feb onwards so i had a month's worth come april instead. BUT this year they are paying us for our excess. woot.

(what do people do with holidays anyway? i never feel like going anywhere on my own and just tend to sit at home watching tv, y'know, like an average weekend and i have 52 of those anyway)

dud

worse: vacation policy written such that in addition to having no rollover, vacation time is cycled on jan 1 regardless of when you started employment and you can't use any in the first six months. meaning that if you sign up in the second half of a year, you're fucked out of your 1 week* of vacation.

*wtf

okay srsly new job time

That does sound shit squared. That's rather par for the course in the US isn't it? I gather we're rather spoiled with our 28 days holiday per year and such.

nah, the US is bad w/vacation but not generally this bad. all of my other jobs have started with 10-13 days, allowed rollover, renewed on employment anniversary, etc.

My first job had roughly the same vacation policy as sleep's -- it was a weird mix of being the worst workplace in the world as far as employee policies, and best in the world as far as having decent co-workers.

That sounds so mean. And to think I'm pissed off with my work because they won't let me take three weeks off in a row.

The last place I worked, you earned 7 hours off with each paycheck, paid twice/month, so a total of 168 hours of combined sick time/personal time/vacation/paid holidays per year for the first 5 years you were there. You could take it as soon as you'd earned it though and roll it over to the next year w/ no problem.

A selling point for the new job was 3 weeks vacation, plus 200 hours of sick time, plus 10 paid holidays each year. And, the paid holidays turned into 14 paid days when they decided to give all of us the week between Christmas and New Year's off.

What they didn't tell me about was the 14 hour day/7 days a week for 6 months working-in-the-landfill part of the deal.

My work year runs January to December (most other jobs of mine have run April - March) so taking a big wedge off in December is always fun. Although I've realised my boss will happily just roll it over so I'm not too bothered.

Having a set number of days you can take as sick live is pure insanity.

Though this may be another tipping-type discussion so maybe I'll shut up.

I'm not sure that it's even a U.S.-Britisher divide, though. I've worked in several companies that gave you a fixed number of sick days a year, but what they meant was uncertified sick days. If you exceeded five or six, you had to have a doctor's note every time for the extra ones, and they could make you see a doctor of their choice if they wanted to.

Classic: companies that allow you to donate your sick days to a colleague who really needs them.

Jesus fucking Christ, you guys complain? You have holidays. What about the poor bastards who have to work a lot and not get any days off?

Legally it isn't allowed to transfer your holidays to the following year (in our country). It used to be different, but they changed it... this year? Fuck if I know, I just know that our employees have to use'em up.