How much vacation time do you get per year? Are holidays or sick time included in this bank, or are they separate?

At my job we earn something like 4.5 hours of "earned time" per week. So that adds up to about 5-6 weeks of "earned time."

*"Earned time" includes sick days, vacation time, required holidays. There are 10 company holidays per year.

There is a ceiling as to how many hours you can accumulate. At that point, your hours are converted into long-term medical leave time, which you also earn weekly on a smaller scale. You can also cash out 40 hours worth of pay twice per year if you reach the ceiling (which is around 300 hours of earned time accumulated).

I obviously don't get paid anything...but I thought I'd answer for Tony. With his new promotion he will get 7 paid vacation days this year. I am unsure at this point if that time gets longer each year or not. I also am not sure about sick days...I think they don't get paid sick leave, but I will have to check now that he is higher up in the company he might.

I get 3 weeks and 3 personal days, 2 weeks of sick time and then major holidays off.

I think we get about 13 or 15 holidays off a year? Also, every July (beginning of the new fiscal year) we get 19 hours of personal time. Every two weeks we accure 3.80 hours of sick leave, and depending on how many years you have been with the county you earn an amount of vacation every two weeks. Since I've been here six years I get 4.80 hours of vacation every two weeks, I think when I hit the 10 year mark is when I will accure more. After you have been here 20 years you will get 8 hours of vacation every two weeks. So currently I get about 8 1/2 weeks off a year with the holidays, personal leave, vacation & sick time. Dang, looking at it at that perspective it seems like a ton of time! :)

I think we get about 13 or 15 holidays off a year? Also, every July (beginning of the new fiscal year) we get 19 hours of personal time. Every two weeks we accure 3.80 hours of sick leave, and depending on how many years you have been with the county you earn an amount of vacation every two weeks. Since I've been here six years I get 4.80 hours of vacation every two weeks, I think when I hit the 10 year mark is when I will accure more. After you have been here 20 years you will get 8 hours of vacation every two weeks. So currently I get about 8 1/2 weeks off a year with the holidays, personal leave, vacation & sick time. Dang, looking at it at that perspective it seems like a ton of time! :)

My ex was always bitching about that when he moved into his public works position and all of his employees were civilian govt' employees. He'd get so ticked off that all these people took every other Friday off (rather than accumulating it for a vacation or whatever) or half days once a week, which created this huge lag in the efficiency and work that got done. Everyone was like over 50 too, so they'd been there like 30-40 years just working through to retirement. Anyway, he was all cranky because they'd work 35 hour work weeks and he was working like 80 hour work weeks and basically lived there to pick up the slack.

It brings up an interesting question though about use of personal time and efficiency. Do you think you'd work harder if you had a shorter work week, allowing you to focus and concentrate your efforts, or do you think you'd work about the same and/or get less done due to less time available? I feel like whenever we have a holiday, giving us a 4 day work week, I get SO much less done just based on the mentality that the week is shorter. In any case, in spite of our weekly accumulation, my job won't allow us to schedule shorter work weeks, or work 40 hours in 4 days. You have to be there every day with your work time encompassing the hours between 9am-4pm (so no coming in late or leaving early).

My ex was always bitching about that when he moved into his public works position and all of his employees were civilian govt' employees. He'd get so ticked off that all these people took every other Friday off (rather than accumulating it for a vacation or whatever) or half days once a week, which created this huge lag in the efficiency and work that got done. Everyone was like over 50 too, so they'd been there like 30-40 years just working through to retirement. Anyway, he was all cranky because they'd work 35 hour work weeks and he was working like 80 hour work weeks and basically lived there to pick up the slack.

It brings up an interesting question though about use of personal time and efficiency. Do you think you'd work harder if you had a shorter work week, allowing you to focus and concentrate your efforts, or do you think you'd work about the same and/or get less done due to less time available? I feel like whenever we have a holiday, giving us a 4 day work week, I get SO much less done just based on the mentality that the week is shorter. In any case, in spite of our weekly accumulation, my job won't allow us to schedule shorter work weeks, or work 40 hours in 4 days. You have to be there every day with your work time encompassing the hours between 9am-4pm (so no coming in late or leaving early).

I can see how your ex would have gotten really upset about people taking time off all the time and not getting things accomplished, then leaving him to pick the slack up. In the past when I was at my old department I would use my vacation and personal time almost immediately instead of saving it up, since I was miserable there. I would always take the day off before or after the holiday and it made it hard when I really wanted to go somewhere since I'd have to save up my vacation. I've been here almost a month and have only used 4.5 hours of leave (when I got really sick last friday) and that's a record low for me! I'll actually be able to take time off in July for my niece's horse show and then again later on for christmas, etc. I've noticed that when I work only four days a week because of a holiday I feel more flustered since 32 hours to get my work done isn't adequate. And I don't think I'd be able to do 4-10 hour shifts since it would drive me nuts to be working 10 hours instead of 8. The counselors where I used to work do the 4-10 hour shifts and they do it to get 3 day weekends, but I don't see it as being a good thing since their work was suffering a lot!

I LOVE my job when it comes to time off :). I work at a school and this is my time off schedule:

2 weeks floating time off for whatever (dr. appts, vacation, etc)
2 weeks for winter break
1 week for President's week (I'm off all this week)
1 week for Spring Break
Some scattered holidays such as 4th of July and MLK day

And ALL of it is paid :D