Do you take your full vacation?  Or perhaps a better question is, do you get vacation time?

According to an initiative called “Time Back Your Time” vacation time for the United States isn’t a sure thing.  More than that, a small percentage of people (14%) “will get a vacation of two weeks or longer this year.”  The remainer of people either get less than two weeks or have no time off at all.  Worse than that, some people don’t use their vacation for fear that they will be demoted or laid off. 

I know a few people who would fit into this category, and it’s just crazy.  If we don’t have time away from work, how will we ever truly unwind and get some balance? 

Take Back Your Time is spear-heading a campaign to pass The Minimum Leave Protection, Family Bonding and Personal Well-Being Act of 2007.  This act would establish a minimum three weeks vacation for any American that’s been at a job for a year, even if you change jobs. 

Other countries have a national paid leave time, but somehow I can’t see this happening with the United States. 

Do you think we should create a law that protects vacation time?

Image from Morguefile.

Post from: Blisstree

Do You Live In No Vacation Nation?

With young kids, I feel like I’m using mine up 4 hours at a time because someone is either sick, or, there’s something going on at school and I have to be out of the office for part of the day.

I try to make sure I have enough time saved for Christmas and summer vacation, but, I’m always torn about what I call the “minor” holidays.

In our part of the country, Spring Break is a big deal, and, actually Winter Break is becoming one. I mean, we are a “breaking” kind of crowd, and, there’s an unwritten rule that you have to be able to provide an answer other than “nowhere” when someone asks where you went for break.

As the kids get older, the pressure to “go somewhere” builds. Let’s pretend for a moment we can actually afford to go somewhere (I know! But, hey it’s my imaginary scenario, OK?), do I use up vacation time for this knowing that summer is only a few weeks away? My husband is a teacher, and, he doesn’t have this problem.

Granted, I don’t have as much vacation time as some people since that balance hasn’t really ever recovered since my mother was sick and died, but, I suspect some of you have to set priorities with your vacation time, too.

What about occasions such a the Fourth of July, or another long weekend? Do you use vacation time that might be more needed later? Or, do you just “go for it”, and, worry about Christmas when it gets here.

I’ve made a couple of compromises about “minor holidays” and vacation time. Sometimes, if we go somewhere, we make it a short trip. For example, Spring Break is a week, but, we’ve gone on 3 day trips so I don’t have to use as much time, and, it has the added bonus of getting to both travel and, relax at home during the break.

Other times, my husband has taken the kids somewhere for a couple of days and I’ve stayed home. That way, the kids get to do something, but, they’re not gone a long time, and, I get some time to myself without having to miss work.

How about you? Have you had to prioritize how to use your benefit time at work?

Post from: Blisstree

Vacation hours and the minor holidays

As I was reading Paul Nyhan’s Working Dad entry about the nuances of sending sick kids to school, I realized I may have done just that.

My middle child was home with what looked sure to be strep throat yesterday, but, as the day progressed, he felt and looked fine, so, it must have been a viral thing, or, allergies, so, he went back to school today.

However, my daughter woke up with a sore throat. Perhaps I should have consulted Who is Sick first?

Her throat is red, she has no fever, and, feels a bit low, but, after having some ibuprofen, she opted to go to school (she’s a 7th grader). I may or may not end up going to get her later today, but, I checked my vacation time balance, just in case.

I realize I’m very fortunate to have it, but, you may be familiar with the fact that I have very little sick and vacation time left, as a result of many months of my mother’s illness and death, my father’s surgery, (details of which are chronicled at GenBetween) as well as various child related issues.

As I pondered how in the world it would be possible for me not to use vacation time in my life situation, I realized that I may indeed have to use more sick or vacation time to leave work earlier than I had planned.

You see, I was already planning to use my lunch time to go to my 5 year old’s preschool to help with the Teacher Appreciation luncheon to be a good working parent who participates in activities during the school day, and, I had planned to leave a little early this afternoon to catch my daughter’s soccer game.

As discussed on The Juggle, I don’t feel like I must attend all my kids’ sports events, but, I try to where reasonably possible, since I truly enjoy watching the games. If I have to miss a game, then, well, that’s OK, too. No working parent angst needed.

Since we have 3 kids and 2 parents, there’s times where one kid doesn’t have anyone at the game, and, yet they are still happy and healthy. OK, healthy, most of the time.

Did you catch the last issue? My daughter? Who may or may not be sick? She has a soccer game. Though it’s not necessarily because I am a working parent, I also have to figure out if she should play or not.

Perhaps tomorrow, I will live out the posts on the blogs about making money, instead.

Post from: Blisstree

A host of working parent issues