How easy is it to take PTO/sick days at your company?

[Anonymous]

Inspired by the other post asking how much people get and the absolute horror boss saying he/she asks for a doctors note after a ‘pattern of abusing sick leave’, which basically means you can’t use the sick leave you earn lol

I’ve worked at companies who asked for a couple of weeks notice and companies who had ‘take off as needed’ PTO

[Anonymous]

Vacation days are easy. We just put in our dates after making sure it doesn’t conflict with anything major. If we take longer than 3 sick days in a row then we need to bring in a doctors note, but an odd day here and there is no big deal.

[Anonymous]

Work in healthcare; regular leave is 6 weeks in advance (and even then can get denied if too many other people are off), almost impossible to take sick time off. That's one of the main reasons I'm getting out of patient care.

[Anonymous]

First responder here. We can take pretty much any days off as long as there is coverage. We can schedule sick leave for doc appts, dentist appts, kids appts etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:First responder here. We can take pretty much any days off as long as there is coverage. We can schedule sick leave for doc appts, dentist appts, kids appts etc.

Baltimore city fire department gives 6 months sick leave per medical issue. It's a huge scam. People essentially move from one body part to the next and never work (well they usually take that time to work their other job). God bless those unions.

[Anonymous]

I just put my days off on the calendar. If I need a sick day, I just text my boss. I sometimes have to keep a few things moving, but it’s easy to be out when I need to be.

I’ve had direct service jobs where taking leave was nearly impossible because of coverage for clients or students, etc. Once I had a kid I knew that wasn’t feasible anymore.

[Anonymous]

Community health union. I ask well ahead no issues. I did call out once morning of (I have a coworker). No issue. I always try to plan well ahead (2 weeks to 2 months ahead) when possible. I have a great manager though which helps. I used to work in hospital and even 6 months ahead, no. Seniority ranked.

[Anonymous]

PP here. I am very light on leave though. I don’t abuse the system.

[Anonymous]

I work in an environment where the majority of employees are represented by a few different unions. I am one of the unrepresented employees. It’s a world of difference. I can just put in a leave slip so long as there is coverage. And if I’m sick or have a sick kid, we have default coverage.

For the union people, vacation for the year is picked at the beginning of the year and you have to get advance approval for sick leave. If you or your kids wake up sick, you accrue points for unscheduled leave and after a few points all subsequent absences require a doctors examination, a diagnosis and a doctor’s certification for a period of time. But they get better raises than I do.

[Anonymous]

A day of leave doesn’t require much notice. For a week+ long vacation, we are asked to give 4 weeks notice. We don’t have separate sick leave, it’s all PTO.

[Anonymous]

Vacation, I put it on the calendar and send an invite to my manager and their manager. Sick leave I send a text saying I’m sick and put up my out of office.

[Anonymous]

Vacation requires two weeks notice, six if it's three weeks or more. Sick days are easy to take with no restrictions but we don't have anyone that takes a lot of mental health days either.

[Anonymous]

I have my own (small) business and it's very difficult to take time off. I do take vacations but usually end up working part of the time, and then work to catch up when I return. I am trying this year to take more deliberate time off since the last 2+ years have been exhausting.

In terms of planning, I do need to plan at least 6-8 weeks out for a vacations or days off so I can block my calendar.