Friday, August 26, 2005

Three WEEKS!!?

Several of my faithful readers have expressed surprise, amazement, and maybe even a little jealous hostility at the fact that I’m planning a three week vacation.

Hey, I can’t help it if I work for a great company with liberal vacation policies! My boss, Greg, stopped in my office today to ask about my vacation plans and commented, “You know, everybody ought to be required to take at least two weeks off at one time at least once every year, just to get away from this place and recharge. When you’re gone that long you come back with a fresh perspective on things.”

I’ve told you how great my boss is, right? (And how he reads my blog to find out what I’m really saying about him?)

You’re a great boss, Greg! (Now maybe I’ll still have a job when I get back!)

Oh yeah, I also can’t help it if I happen to be the H.R. Manager and write all these employee-friendly policies, can I? After all, it’s not really just self-serving. Part of my job is to improve morale and reduce turnover. So I do that part of my job very well.

My daughter Joy (Christina to many of you) knows all about getting fired the first week back after taking a week of vacation. This past January she’d been off for a week on our annual family ski vacation, went to work on Monday, and was fired on a trumped up issue on Tuesday. We figured they “selected” her for discharge during her time away.

I tell all of our employees that Catbert, the “evil H. R. Director” in Adam Scott’s comic strip “Dilbert,” is my hero. I have a little bean-bag figure of Catbert perched on top of my office computer monitor. But I think (hope) that most of our employees perceive me as a bit more benevolent than Catbert.

So, anyway, my employer actually encourages two or three week vacations. It took me 39 years to find this job, and I don’t plan to leave it any time soon.

(No, we’re NOT accepting resumes or applications now, so please don’t send me yours.)

4 comments:

Karyn Lyndon said...

I have 208 hours of PTO (a little over 5 weeks) and I really prefer to take them one day at a time...sometimes...one hour at a time. I drive the administrative assistant who handles keeping track of it crazy. I also enjoy combining them with other holidays. Sometimes with only 5 days of earned time you can actually get like 12 consecutive days including weekends and holidays.

Karyn Lyndon said...

Oh, and why doesn't Greg ever post anything? Is he shy?

the many Bs said...

I take my vacation in one day increments as well. I try to use as little vacation time as possible, since life is uncertain and I never know if I'll have a job tomorrow. Hopefully, I would get my vacation paid out to me upon "separation" from my company. I would LOVE to have an entire week off just to rest and do some things around my home that are needing attention. Maybe when I change jobs, I can get that week!

I do take 40 hrs every year away from work to attend CPE courses, but I don't really count that as vacation, since I'm sitting in a chair, learning stuff about my profession!

Anonymous said...

Some useless information - I used to get 20 working days annual leave and usually took 3 weeks in one go, using the balance as odd days during the year. In France, it is law that everyone takes 4 solid weeks every year.

Au revoir, I am off to Paris!