Working Life: The Eternal Grind (5 Viewers)

[Josh Kifer]

I thought more than once about starting my own business when I was younger, but this was one of the big reasons I chose not to.

I decided that I preferred the stability of a salary with PTO and retirement to the responsibility of covering my own benefits and spending as much time (if not more) finding work as I spent actually working.

Wait till you do both! Best of both worlds (AND THE WORST OF BOTH)

 

[Schmendr1ck]

That seems pretty normal actually. That's been nearly the same methodology in my previous jobs.

The thing that got me was not earning PTO when I spend PTO.

In previous salaried positions, I would earn a fixed amount of PTO every week - I never got it all at the beginning of the year. But even when I took a week off, I would still earn PTO. At the end of the year, I would have earned the full amount (say 7 weeks).

When I figured out how my current system works, I felt a little ripped off because it's not possible to earn 7 weeks if I use even a single day and don't work OT. But the breakeven point is still decent, and I earn PTO for OT too. I'll probably hit the cap or get very close in spite of taking about 5 weeks off this year.

 

[Schmendr1ck]

While we're talking about PTO, my last two employers handled it in very different ways.

Employer A gave me three types of PTO: vacation (4 weeks), sick and excused (2 weeks), and floating holidays (11 days). There were different rules associated with each type of PTO. Sick and excused was generally for illness or doctor's visits and had to get approval, holidays could only be taken in 8 hour blocks, vacation rolled over but the other two didn't, etc.

Employer B just gives me one bucket of PTO. Vacation, sick time, Christmas, whatever - it's all the same, and it's all eligible to roll over.

At first I was stuck in the old mentality and didn't like using PTO for sick time, but it's really much, MUCH better. I rarely take more than a couple sick days a year, so being able to use that time for vacation or roll it over is way better than just losing it at the end of the year.

 

[Josh Kifer]

The thing that got me was not earning PTO when I spend PTO.

In previous salaried positions, I would earn a fixed amount of PTO every week - I never got it all at the beginning of the year. But even when I took a week off, I would still earn PTO. At the end of the year, I would have earned the full amount (say 7 weeks).

When I figured out how my current system works, I felt a little ripped off because it's not possible to earn 7 weeks if I use even a single day and don't work OT. But the breakeven point is still decent, and I earn PTO for OT too. I'll probably hit the cap or get very close in spite of taking about 5 weeks off this year.

Yeah, hourly I've been it for literally only hours worked. Salary is generally per paycheck.

 

[btbmason]

In previous salaried positions, I would earn a fixed amount of PTO every week - I never got it all at the beginning of the year. But even when I took a week off, I would still earn PTO. At the end of the year, I would have earned the full amount (say 7 weeks).

This is how my salaried position works as well, we get x amount of hours per week while you’re employed there, whether you’re physically there or not. The exception is a leave of absence, where that clock pauses.

Also have 2 buckets for time off, PTO for any time off (vacation, sick, whatever) and floating holidays we earn for having to work on holidays.

Our PTO rolls over but is capped at whatever we earn in a year, so that prevents you from just banking it up for years then not showing up for months on end. There’s no expiration on the rollover though so you could roll over 40 hours per year for 5 years if you earn 200 hours per year.

 

[Schmendr1ck]

Our PTO rolls over but is capped at whatever we earn in a year, so that prevents you from just banking it up for years then not showing up for months on end. There’s no expiration on the rollover though so you could roll over 40 hours per year for 5 years if you earn 200 hours per year.

I wish.

My rollover bank is capped at two weeks, excess is automatically paid out. Low end of my field, most are 2-6 weeks.

My last job it was ONE week, and you lost the extra. Insane.

 

[Schmendr1ck]

Stealth edit, sorry.

 

[btbmason]

I wish.

My rollover bank is capped at two weeks. My last job it was ONE week - insanely low as most employers in my field offer 2-6 weeks.

Yeah that’s terrible. My last job was also capped at 1 week and they didn’t pay out any excess so you had to use it or you’d lose it.

I wouldn’t say my current job values their employees more, they just have such a high turnover rate that most people don’t end up realizing the higher PTO rates they give out for longer tenures. Once you hit 5 years though it gets really interesting.

 

[Schmendr1ck]

Yeah that’s terrible. My last job was also capped at 1 week and they didn’t pay out any excess so you had to use it or you’d lose it.

I wouldn’t say my current job values their employees more, they just have such a high turnover rate that most people don’t end up realizing the higher PTO rates they give out for longer tenures. Once you hit 5 years though it gets really interesting.

In my last two moves, I've asked for and received seniority for benefits. Many people don't realize that you can do that.

I'm in my 50s with a family, and I don't want to wait around for five years to reach max PTO or fully vest employer 401(k) contributions. So I have started including seniority perks as part of my offer negotiation, and so far I'm two for two.

 

[bergs]

I’ve got the unlimited time off thing and a very good boss. There are advance notice requirements and I need to ensure it’s not during a time when he’s out or we have particular projects underway, else it’s no big deal.

Ends up being between 5-6 weeks off per year. We all work remote so you’re not taking PTO for random stuff like doctor’s appts - these are off for the day, not checking email type getaway true vacation days.

 

[bergs]

In my last two moves, I've asked for and received seniority for benefits. Many people don't realize that you can do that.

I'm in my 50s with a family, and I don't want to wait around for five years to reach max PTO or fully vest employer 401(k) contributions. So I have started including seniority perks as part of my offer negotiation, and so far I'm two for two.

Wife tried this and was 2/2 but just got ahot down. Her current employer puts everyone in Corp on par with people in the stores. Going back to 2 weeks vacation sucks but we live where we used to vacation so I’m hoping we can just do long weekends locally.

 

[Schmendr1ck]

We all work remote

Sigh. I miss that.

Most people at my current employer work hybrid, and eventually I will again too. But the project I currently work on involves large, custom hardware kits. My team has to be mostly on-site to work with them, so I have to be there too. I manage to squeak in one WFH day every 2-3 weeks, but I look forward to getting back onto a 50-50 schedule.

 

[CraigT78]

I need to see if I can negotiate poker meetups not counting as PTO. Thanks for the idea!

 

[ekricket]

I need to see if I can negotiate poker meetups not counting as PTO. Thanks for the idea!

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