Why do I always feel bad when I request vacation?

[elizilla]

I am so fed up with this passive-aggressive vacation sniping bullshit. Why do they always have to make me feel like I'm being unreasonable when I want to take my vacation? If they'd let us accrue vacation forever, and not force us to use or lose it, I'd just save it until I'm ready to quit, and take it all at the same time when I go, since there's always some reason I cannot be spared. It would be so nice to take a day off and not have to hear how everything is going to melt down without me, and not have to know that whatever I leave behind is going to snowball in freefall while I'm gone and I'll be coming back to utter disaster. It would be so nice to just leave on vacation and never come back.

Comments

[treebones.livejournal.com]

I thwap them for their stupidity with a dayglo virtual carp!

[xtatic1.livejournal.com]

Me too!

[ericcoleman]

Our corporate office is on the west coast, so we have to stay open till 5:30 in case they have any questions, problems, or just plain have their heads placed firmly somewhere where they shouldn't and we have to pry it out. I take the late nights. I'm here the same amount of time regardless, but the gerbils I work with are convinced that the quality of life is better if they leave work at 4 rather than 5:30.

It makes no difference to me, but on those rare occasions where I have to either be gone for an entire day or have to be somewhere, there is much gnashing of teeth and pulling of hair about how bad I am being.

The next time one of them treats it as my obligation, rather than something I am doing to be nice, I am simply telling them "ok, it's time to split it up again, we're all taking a late night now".

[bikergeek.livejournal.com]

BTDT. My favorite are the ones who come in late and leave early by playing the "kid card", and stick the childless person (me) with all the extra work, and then complain when I dare to leave early to, say, go get my car serviced.

[ericcoleman]

being a parent that accounts for about half my having to leave early

[bikergeek.livejournal.com]

A lot of that depends on how your workplace handles it. It sounds like they do poorly in the other direction from what I experienced. Or maybe as a person without children I have a different take on things.

I had a coworker at one point who *definitely* abused the privilege. This person was also very much a slacker in ways other than her self-imposed "flex time".

[bikergeek.livejournal.com]

Have you considered sending out some résumés? Vacation time is *yours* and they're supposed to let you take it, within reason. Avoiding conflicts with coworkers who want to take vacation at the same time is "within reason"; continually finding reasons why you can't take your earned vacation is not.

I worked at a job like that some years ago. It was a good sign that it was time to find another job. Or that someone a little higher than your immediate manager needs to review staffing levels and how tasks are assigned so that one person on the team taking a vacation does not bring things to an immediate halt. That's a pretty serious management failure.

Your choice how you want to address it. If you feel like you'd be pissing up a rope by complaining about it, then it's probably time to look for something else.

[1dreamr.livejournal.com]

Don't forget to remind them how valuable you are when it comes time to pass out salary increases!!!!!

[elizilla]

Frankly I couldn't care less about the salary increases. I wish companies offered the option of taking your salary increases in extra vacation days. Suppose you are getting a two percent increase, how about getting two extra vacation days every year instead? Two days of vacation is less than two percent of your working hours, so they'd actually get us to work for less money this way! Save money and improve employee satisfaction, whaddya think?

Of course this brings us right back to the main problem, which is that they won't gracefully give me the vacation I'm already earning.

Alternative to salary increases...

[1dreamr.livejournal.com]

...Given that choice, I'd probably take the time off. Raises don't even cover cost of living increases anymore, so vacation time is increasingly valuable to me.

[hotwire7.livejournal.com]

When I was at Ford they did that, offered to "sell" weeks of vacation time to employees at their current pay rate. I took the maximum. For all of Ford's faults many of their personnel policies were good. In particular they understood that Ford would keep going when you were away, so go ahead and take the time you need for family or health or fun, don't feel bad about it.

I find it ironic that many large companies, who can afford to act that way, don't. And that many small companies, where they really will miss you, will cut you the slack anyway because they're human.

Elizilla, it sounds like your employer has cleverly (stupidly) managed to combine the worst of both worlds. They are small enough to really need you, but too corporate to appreciate you properly. That sux for you, but I'm tempted to say that in the long run their loss will be someone else's gain when you move to a company that actually has a clue. :-)