Unlimited PTO etiquette

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m a stodgy elder Millennia. New company has “unlimited PTO.”

How much time off is actually reasonable? Expected?

Trying to MMOB but employee who started at the same time has taken 6 weeks off in a 4 month period. Non consecutive like work 2 weeks, take a week off.

I’ve taken 2 days for being sick.

Years of limited PTO makes me fearful of taking time. Clearly I’m doing it wrong. What’s the norm?

My company has unlimited PTO, but in the last few years amended the policy to say that after taking 30 days off in a year you should check in with your manager before taking additional time off. I see 30 days at the limit. We also get 11-12 federal holidays plus 3-4 additional days between Christmas and New Year. Additionally, in the US we have 10 sick days in addition to bereavement leave and 24 weeks of maternity leave for women.

This will get them a lawsuit. I'm surprised they have leave limited to one gender.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I hate unlimited PTO, it’s really just a tactic to not have to accrue and pay out leave. Also employees take less leave overall because of the uncertainty. I kind of love that your coworker is milking it, but they are going to be spoken to soon if it wasn’t a special circumstance like pre planned honeymoon or severe illness.

+1.

Unlimited PTO is such a scam.

[Anonymous]

My DH had “unlimited” at one company. He hated it. But he just mentally told himself he had 4 weeks a year because that’s what was typical for his level at previous employers. No one complained.

[Anonymous]

I just started at a company with “unlimited” FTO. (I still don’t quite understand the distinction). I’m a consultant and the guidance is maintain a certain percentage of productive billable hours.

In my case, I just recall recent jobs and the amount of PTO I accrued and follow that as a general guideline. In addition to taking two days off a week after I started (I’d planned a long weekend trip last August), I’m taking Fourth of July week off (four days) and a week off in September (milestone birthday trip to Napa). I will take two weeks off at the holidays.

I know that companies use this tactic to disincentivize people from taking time off and to avoid having to pay it out at termination. I am still going to take time off. Life is short.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m a stodgy elder Millennia. New company has “unlimited PTO.”

How much time off is actually reasonable? Expected?

Trying to MMOB but employee who started at the same time has taken 6 weeks off in a 4 month period. Non consecutive like work 2 weeks, take a week off.

I’ve taken 2 days for being sick.

Years of limited PTO makes me fearful of taking time. Clearly I’m doing it wrong. What’s the norm?

My company has unlimited PTO, but in the last few years amended the policy to say that after taking 30 days off in a year you should check in with your manager before taking additional time off. I see 30 days at the limit. We also get 11-12 federal holidays plus 3-4 additional days between Christmas and New Year. Additionally, in the US we have 10 sick days in addition to bereavement leave and 24 weeks of maternity leave for women.

That is very generous leave!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DH had “unlimited” at one company. He hated it. But he just mentally told himself he had 4 weeks a year because that’s what was typical for his level at previous employers. No one complained.

This. I would say to think of it as 80 hours vacation and 80 hours sick time, at minimum.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just started at a company with “unlimited” FTO. (I still don’t quite understand the distinction). I’m a consultant and the guidance is maintain a certain percentage of productive billable hours.

In my case, I just recall recent jobs and the amount of PTO I accrued and follow that as a general guideline. In addition to taking two days off a week after I started (I’d planned a long weekend trip last August), I’m taking Fourth of July week off (four days) and a week off in September (milestone birthday trip to Napa). I will take two weeks off at the holidays.

I know that companies use this tactic to disincentivize people from taking time off and to avoid having to pay it out at termination. I am still going to take time off. Life is short.

^
I will add: it’s a small company and we have a shared calendar where you can see everyone’s birthday, work anniversary, and when they’re out of office. People definitely are using the unlimited FTO.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m a stodgy elder Millennia. New company has “unlimited PTO.”

How much time off is actually reasonable? Expected?

Trying to MMOB but employee who started at the same time has taken 6 weeks off in a 4 month period. Non consecutive like work 2 weeks, take a week off.

I’ve taken 2 days for being sick.

Years of limited PTO makes me fearful of taking time. Clearly I’m doing it wrong. What’s the norm?

My company has unlimited PTO, but in the last few years amended the policy to say that after taking 30 days off in a year you should check in with your manager before taking additional time off. I see 30 days at the limit. We also get 11-12 federal holidays plus 3-4 additional days between Christmas and New Year. Additionally, in the US we have 10 sick days in addition to bereavement leave and 24 weeks of maternity leave for women.

This will get them a lawsuit. I'm surprised they have leave limited to one gender.

Yeah. There is no difference between what happens to a woman when a baby is born and what happens to a man. Makes total sense.

[Anonymous]

If it's described as "unlimited time off" then you can't complain when someone actually takes it as unlimited. The company should change its policy if it is limited.

And 2 days off in 6 months is nothing to be proud of. You should be showing your team that it's good to take vacation.

[Anonymous]

DH has unlimited PTO and takes off just 2-3 weeks a year. Even that takes convincing. I really do not think anybody would mind him taking more, but he has this belief it looks bad.

My employer has unlimited PTO but I’m part-time so it doesn’t apply to me. However, they distributed a list of rules/conditions that must be met to take vacation which are unreasonable and discourage time off. One is that only one person on our team can take off at a time. The other is they must arrange for someone else to cover their work which is a hardship for people who have unique responsibilities.

[Anonymous]

I’d take at least 4 weeks off (what I get now with limited PTO) but if my boss took 6 weeks, I’d do 5 first year and play it by ear.

[Anonymous]

I am an hourly employee with no PTO but the freedom to take time off whenever I feel like it. I usually end up taking 4-5 weeks a year plus federal holidays.

[Anonymous]

I really wish there were a different name. We have it (and I have been with the company both before and after) and it's fine, I guess. Over the last year or so the policies have gotten a lot more clear about the expectations and norms which has been good--though even more clear that the name needs to shift.

What I like about it is that it promotes people taking off each year, as they can't bank that time for when they leave the job. Before this move the burnout was unreal with a lot of people taking very little leave and indicating that they would only take the amount that wouldn't roll over so they could bank that time.

I would keep asking questions and push the company to better set expectations and norms.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I hate unlimited PTO, it’s really just a tactic to not have to accrue and pay out leave. Also employees take less leave overall because of the uncertainty. I kind of love that your coworker is milking it, but they are going to be spoken to soon if it wasn’t a special circumstance like pre planned honeymoon or severe illness.

+1. DH had a job with unlimited PTO, but the boss rarely ever took a day off, and his attitude was that no one else should either. DH ended up taking 2-3 weeks a year max. Not a good policy.

[Anonymous]

Just take the same amount (or slightly more) than you would have had.

There are no attendance prizes at work.