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Ask HN: What is your company's maximum vacation (at one time) policy?

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Re: Ask HN: What is your company's maximum vacation (at one time) policy?

#41
post #28
post #4

If you want to increase burnout (and its inevitable resultant churn) in an organisation, capping vacation length sounds like a surefire way to achieve that.

I think its better to take 1 week off 4x per year instead of 4 weeks off once per year. Working 11 months without a single vacation would cause me to burn out.

It takes about 36 hours one way to reach India. If I am going to spend so much time and money on flight, I would rather stay for 3 weeks and make best out of the vacation. Yeah, so this policy is a little strange imo.

Re: Ask HN: What is your company's maximum vacation (at one time) policy?

#42
post #28
post #4

If you want to increase burnout (and its inevitable resultant churn) in an organisation, capping vacation length sounds like a surefire way to achieve that.

I think its better to take 1 week off 4x per year instead of 4 weeks off once per year. Working 11 months without a single vacation would cause me to burn out.

Good point — I guess it's akin to the effect of napping on a macro scale. However, if I only ever take a week out, I find that I don't get the mental rest I need to come back to my work fully energised. So, perhaps a mixture of both is ideal? :)

Re: Ask HN: What is your company's maximum vacation (at one time) policy?

#43
I don’t recall ever encountering an explicit “you can not exceed a vacation longer than X” policy- but most places I’ve ever worked have had a policy that generally sums up to “if you’re going to be taking a long vacation we need to review/plan around it a little differently than the typical process”

I took a month off for hunting and camping a few years back (possibly a decade ago) and what it amounted to was: go document the little things that no one knows you do to keep the ship afloat and cross train this guy in how to do it.

Re: Ask HN: What is your company's maximum vacation (at one time) policy?

#45
post #28
post #4

If you want to increase burnout (and its inevitable resultant churn) in an organisation, capping vacation length sounds like a surefire way to achieve that.

I think its better to take 1 week off 4x per year instead of 4 weeks off once per year. Working 11 months without a single vacation would cause me to burn out.

For me it's the opposite. With ~3 weeks I manage to properly disconnect from work and recharge myself to get back. First week is winding down, second week is enjoying the time off, third week is looking forward to get started again.

I do take long weekends and the occational day off beside that though.

Re: Ask HN: What is your company's maximum vacation (at one time) policy?

#46
As I no longer get vacation or sick leave, and get PTO instead, I can use it all up in one stretch if I want.

Previously, when the vacation time was actually vacation time, you had to get manager approval in advance for anything more than five consecutive business days. For us, it was a matter of filling in a form and getting it rubber-stamped, but I can see how that policy might be more selectively enforced for different classes of worker.

The common practice now is to limit the amount of PTO that accrues per pay period in the first place, and then cap the amount you can bank for the future. I have never had enough to take more than seven consecutive business days at once. And that has happened exactly once.

American employers (overgeneralizing) do not care about employee morale. They will use us up and throw us out if they can. The onus is entirely upon the employee to avoid their own burnout.

The letter-of-the-policy move here would be to take two weeks, work remotely or from a satellite office for one day, then take another two weeks. But I think this company may be treading on thin ice, legally. If the policy de facto discriminates against Indian employees, they may want to consult with an employment-law lawyer.

Re: Ask HN: What is your company's maximum vacation (at one time) policy?

#47
post #28
post #4

If you want to increase burnout (and its inevitable resultant churn) in an organisation, capping vacation length sounds like a surefire way to achieve that.

I think its better to take 1 week off 4x per year instead of 4 weeks off once per year. Working 11 months without a single vacation would cause me to burn out.

One of my staff members needs 1 month off to visit family in India. Our company does not limit Vacation time use.

Re: Ask HN: What is your company's maximum vacation (at one time) policy?

#49
Sadly this was the policy of my last defunct startup. We did get to enjoy the benefit, tho, twice:

For every day early we delivered a point release, the whole team got double days holiday, half paid for bonus.

Editing got in s twist somehow I have dumped the context in my profile because have to go away just now.

Re: Ask HN: What is your company's maximum vacation (at one time) policy?

#50
Interestingly, in terms of vacation I found banks to be better than technology companies. I have worked with two of them and both had instituted a policy where employees were compelled to take at least 2 weeks of leave. If not, upper management got involved and started asking question about work pressure.

My last job was at a technology company. While there was no limit of vacation time, the unsaid rule was to limit it to 1.5 week - 2 weekends + 5 days.

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