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Well you are an exception, I would love if my boss did that. Most of the time I'm flexible so I'll ask the boss what days are available. She either won't know or "Has to get back to me" I've suggested having some sort of calendar that shows which days have already been requested or approved so that others don't bother asking for the same day(s). We can only have 1 person on a shift off at a time. I can submit PTO 3 months in advance and I won't get an approval or denial until about 2 weeks before the time requested. It's really hard to plan a vacation when I can't book flights. They have us using an app. now (Nursegrid) where open shifts are posted or can be submitted to address coverage issues. Apparently people are just dying to get all this over time yet when you need PTO there is no coverage.
Anyway, just venting.
I know. It's ok.
I have never understood why so many managers are so hard with people's PTO requests. Stressed out people make a lot of mistakes. It makes no sense to me why they would deny requests.
Work can always be done by someone else temporarily. Or heck, the manager can just work a little more if need to.
We spend most of our lives working and only take a hand full of days off each year. I firmly believe there is nothing at work that is so important that someone can't take those days off. I also operate by placing other people's PTO requests ahead of mine. After I know what days who got off, then I plan my vacations around them.
Well you are an exception, I would love if my boss did that. Most of the time I'm flexible so I'll ask the boss what days are available. She either won't know or "Has to get back to me" I've suggested having some sort of calendar that shows which days have already been requested or approved so that others don't bother asking for the same day(s). We can only have 1 person on a shift off at a time. I can submit PTO 3 months in advance and I won't get an approval or denial until about 2 weeks before the time requested. It's really hard to plan a vacation when I can't book flights. They have us using an app. now (Nursegrid) where open shifts are posted or can be submitted to address coverage issues. Apparently people are just dying to get all this over time yet when you need PTO there is no coverage.
Anyway, just venting.
Describes where I work. One supervisor, rather than disapproving time off, simply refused to act on the request. Another tactic several have used is to approve, but then deny specific days within the requested period, meaning you couldn't actually go anywhere.
I don't like to accumulate more than 1 or 2 weeks tops. It's just too much of "my" time under the company's control. What if they change the PTO policy and I wind up with fewer days? What if I am fired and they don't pay my PTO? What if I really can't give the required amount of notice when quitting and wind up forfeiting that time?
Not to mention it's an indicator that I am probably working a bit too much if I have accumulated that much PTO.
I accrue just 4.7 hours per pay period or approximately 122 hrs of PTO every year. This has to cover both sick and vacation time. At my FTE, it equates to not quite four weeks.
It is a pittance, but luckily, I have a compressed work week and have four days off per week, so I can schedule myself in such a way that I can take a week off and not any time. Plus, I can roll over all hours up to the maximum limit.
I use my PTO only for international trips. I used two weeks this past February, and I am using almost two weeks next month for a second international trip.
Our PTO covers vacation time, sick time, personal time and holidays - it's all one big pot. We can accrue over 300 hours before we max out and stop earning. I have a coworker that saves up to the max and then during the summer months he takes off every Monday and Friday for those 10 weeks.
I would love to do something like that, but the most PTO I've ever been able to save up was 100 hours, and that was because I was specifically saving up for a 2 week vacation and wanted at least a couple days left by the time I came back.
I currently have 80 hours of PTO saved up and will continue to stockpile since I plan on taking extended time off for a staycation during the Christmas holiday this year (something I rarely do).
I can understand a week needing to be scheduled quite a bit ahead of time. There are some roles where that week off can be problematic to the rest of the team. With that said, a long weekend shouldn't be so terribly difficult for people to cover for a day or two.
It really depends how flexible your regular hours are, too. Does a trip to the mechanic, waiting for a plumber, or a dentist appointment require a PTO day? Or does your job let you do those things without PTO?
A half day here, a full day there really starts to add up over the course of the year.
I can understand a week needing to be scheduled quite a bit ahead of time. There are some roles where that week off can be problematic to the rest of the team. With that said, a long weekend shouldn't be so terribly difficult for people to cover for a day or two.
Trust me, a creative manager can always find a way to fill in the hole regardless of how important the person taking time off is.
The worst I've had it was our main documentation guy wanting to go on vacation the week before a major audit. I knew ahead of time so I arranged for a good documentation guy from another team to come before our guy left and had a little pow wow with each other so the replacement guy can know what is going on with our files. The audit went without a hitch.
I think that managers who don't approve of PTO requests are actually too lazy to spend an effort to accommodate and make extra arrangements.
I have never had to deny any PTO request. My boss has been in the business for 30+ years and he told me he's never denied a PTO request either.
It really depends how flexible your regular hours are, too. Does a trip to the mechanic, waiting for a plumber, or a dentist appointment require a PTO day? Or does your job let you do those things without PTO?
A half day here, a full day there really starts to add up over the course of the year.
That's a good point. I can work from home if I need to wait for the plumber or if the kid is sick enough to be out of school. And if I leave for a doctor's appt (for me or the kiddo), it's not PTO, nor is it if I come in but then don't feel well and go home. If I stay home the next day, that's PTO but if you are there for even part of the day, it counts as a full work day. Even if you come in and then leave at noon to go catch a flight, you don't have to take that initial day as PTO.
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They have us using an app. now (Nursegrid) where open shifts are posted or can be submitted to address coverage issues. Apparently people are just dying to get all this over time yet when you need PTO there is no coverage. 
