If you take vacation...make up an equal amount of time.
Posted on 06/06/2005 by corporateSlave
Viewed: 778 times
It appears that PTO (Paid Time Off) is a thing from the past. Now when you go for vacation, just take your computer and your cell phone (with your work phone line transferred to your personal cell phone) to the beach, so you don't have to wonder whether your boss will count that as a productive time, or not. This was published in our company newsletter this week. I cannot believe my freaking eyes. Where am I? A work camp?
Q: I work in a department with billable hours. Each year, our goals are set and we must reach 100 percent at the end of the year. My question concerns the buying PTO option. I regularly buy five days of PTO so that I have flexibility for family issues. However, our department managers refuse to adjust our billable hours down by 40 for people who select this benefit. So in order for me to reach my year-end goal, I have to work an extra 40 hours sometime during the year. This does not seem fair to me. Why should I have to work an extra week to enjoy a benefit that I am already paying for? Wouldn't a corporate benefit like this supersede the department regulations?
A: When business plans are developed, managers must take into account (1) the demand for our services (2) the average cost for those services and (3) the productivity requirement needed from each employee to meet the cost of doing business, while still earning a profit. Various business models and formulas are used to arrive at optimal staffing levels and productivity goals. Inherent in those models is a calculation for the various activities employees engage in, such as training and development, staff meetings, travel, etc. One of those variables is also the amount of company holidays and PTO typically allocated to employees. Beginning with 2,080 hours of available work time, managers begin subtracting an estimate of each of these activities to arrive at a production requirement. Keeping in mind that we expect managers to run a profitable unit, expectations are set at a level that enables our company to realize enough income to cover expenses and still earn a profit.
Each one of us develops a level of efficiency as we gain experience in our roles, enabling us to complete some tasks in less time than others. There are also times when the workload requires us to put in more than the standard 40 hours to meet the demands of our position. It is our
responsibility to recognize that need and keep pace where appropriate. When we make a decision to purchase additional time off during Annual Enrollment, we are also responsible for ensuring that we are able to pace ourselves throughout the year so we can still meet the expectations of our position. Similar to when you leave your home chores on an extended vacation, you will need to put in additional time to make up for your time away either before or after your trip. That is inherent in taking a vacation; your responsibilities don't end because you've taken a week off.
While our company promotes a balanced worklife for employees, we must also focus on positive financial results. Therefore, we must continue to set productivity requirements that enable us to achieve our bottom-line objectives. I encourage you to work with your manager to find ways to build in those efficiencies throughout the year so you can truly enjoy your time away from the office without worrying how to catch up when you return, regardless of how long you are away.
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ARE THEY KIDDING? So basically, I am paying for this vacation days (because I bought extra) but I still have to work the hours so this means I am PAYING them to work. Is there no justice for these kind of practices?
POST A COMMENTjohn locke(10/11/2005)
Well now aint that the TRUTH. Americans? We need to do a 180 when it comes to what is expected of us and what we have come to expect of ourselves and what we have come to expect to require to live. Seriously...do you NEED the TIVO, the 2 audi's in the garage, the granite countertops, the expensive dinners out? It is when we decide that we do, that we put ourselves at the mercy of company slave drivers. Food for thought...
LoveToughLivin'(10/11/2005)
Dear John Locke, I hardly think that the companies that make us work 40-50 hours a week (on a salary basis) are doing it because they somehow secretly know that they can make us work those extra hours to pay for granite counter tops? Sorry Johnny! The last time I looked, the junior status employees were working the same hours, if not more, than those on the senior level who have the Audi's. We don't get to accept a job and say "well, I don't have an expesive car or a really big house...so can I just work 20 hours a week?" Don't forget, we don't have a national healthcare plan, so for us to have insurance we have to be full-time salary employees most of the time. After you take your foot out of your mouth you may want to consider researching the national salary average (which by the way isn't that great in the U.S.). I work my @ss off, I don't have a car payment because my 10 year old car is paid for, I live in a very humble home that my husband and I share, and we save just a little for our retirement (considering we'll have no social security). So... take your American stereo-type and stick it.... before you open your obnoxious mouth again, I'd consider getting smarter about political issues and economic standing in the United States. And as far as the expensive dinners out, haven't you read that consumer spending is low? Maybe you have all of these things, and that is what you blame your work schedule on... that's your problem - don't blame others and make your misery our company!
john locke(10/11/2005)
Wow. I'm sorry, I thought I had a RIGHT to my opinion. My point, dear LoveToughLivin, was that companies can take advantage of us and treat us poorly because we have made ourselves available for that type of treatment because we have become a slave to our "things". This is my OPINION because where I used to work, everyone allowed themselves to be treated badly because they claimed they "couldn't afford" to quit. Why? Because they wouldn't be able to make thier Audi payments, their 400K+ house payment or pay for their annual trip to Hawaii. I'm serious, the more I talked to people, the more common I found this to be. Maybe you can calm yourself down, look around you and examine the state this country is in. I am not saying that people don't have to work 40 hours a week if they don't own things. Come on...where did you get that? Not what I'm saying at all. I am simply saying that I think corporate America has people by the balls because they won't quit a job that's treating them badly because then they won't be able to sustain the same lifestyle. And all this, was my commentary on the above story about vacation days.
SouthernProgrammer(10/12/2005)
ToughLovin - John Locke was agreeing with you. His point is that companies ARE taking advantage of employees but are enabled by the employees "greed".
LoveToughLivin'(10/12/2005)
Okay, okay. My apologies. I guess sometimes I'm a little sensative because I work really hard just to put my son in daycare, pay for a humble home, and buy food. Maybe you are right Johnny...but this makes it worse! America has the foolish-spenders by the b@lls, and this leaves those of us who seriously need work at the mercey of the 'typical'. Anyway, my apologies. I love America, and I hate stereo-types. Living abroad really set the standard for that, I hated that everyone thought we all ate McDonalds... I hate McDonalds food.... anyway...I dislike stereotypes too, but now realize that wasn't your intent! Thanks, and sorry.
SouthernProgrammer(10/12/2005)
ToughLovin - I do the same things you do (older cars, older home) to save money and let my wife stay home. I think the world would be a better place if everyone would not be swayed by commercials that tell them the only way to prove they are successful is to buy things. I see a LOT of young kids who listen to MTV which shows singers driving fancy cars and "owning" big houses while singing they are not materialistic...and these kids think the y deserve the same thing. It's a mixed up world...
american made (10/11/2005)
just another example of how companies are treating us like they own us and finding ways to stiff us of vacation or making us feel guilty for taking it!
AussieFromDownUnder (10/11/2005)
Hey Mate, you are in America what do you expect? You want fair work hours, move to foreign country (stay away from Asian though, they are riding on the coat tails of America when it comes to slave drivin hours)
american made (10/11/2005)
you know what...I think you have a d@mn good point there...mate. Next logical place for me woulda been Canada, eh? But I think they are further gone than Asia. Unless, there's a canadian who wants to correct me?
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