How far in advance does your employer ask for your vacation plans?

[ahurtt]

:|
Yesterday just got an "URGENT" email from my "team lead" saying that our "manager" has asked for dates of our vacation plans if we are planning on taking more than 2 days off at a time between now and. . . AUGUST 15. That's only about a month shy of asking for a half year advance notice of vacation plans. Holy hell!! Is it me or is this request just a little bit ridiculous? So I reply that yes I will probably take some of my 3 weeks of vacation during the summer but not all of it and I will try not to plan anything with less than 30 days advance notice whenever I do decide. So they start asking me "do you think it will be more like June? Or July? Or August?" Well I don't F-ing know! Let me narrow it down for you. . .It will be some time between 30 days from now and the end of the year. . .that's the best I can tell you. How much time do you guys think is typically considered a reasonable amount of time in advance to ask for people's vacation plans? Five months seems more than a little bit outlandish to me. A lot can happen in 5 months. . .

Probably a 5/10 rant in most people's opinions I know. . .but I had to get it off my chest.

 

[amdskip]

1/10, my dad has to plan this out a year at a time to claim open slots.

 

[clamum]

Yeah that does sound like a long time in advance to plan for.

For me, I'm not sure. If I was only taking say two to three days off, probably a couple weeks is fine. If I took a week off, a month maybe? I'm not sure as I haven't taken that many days in a row off. Unless I'm busy or there's a deadline, I could ask my boss on Monday if I could have Friday off and probably get it off.

 

[ahurtt]

Originally posted by: amdskip
1/10, my dad has to plan this out a year at a time to claim open slots.

Actually that makes me feel a little better. It helps me remember that no matter how bad I think I have it, there's probably always somebody else who has it worse. What does your dad do?

 

[E equals MC2]

My boss is pretty damn cool. 2 weeks. If something urgent comes up, you just talk to him in person and he understands.

The only time he prefers a longer notice is for the Christmas break where everyone tries to get off. We work it out usually at the end of November.

 

[jiggahertz]

What do you do for work? The two jobs I've had pretty much required no notice (research laboratory and defense contractor). My first job out of college, people would write on the white board that they'd be out and then submit the paperwork to deduct their time days or weeks after they returned. My GF works in a hospital and they want a longer lead time (2-3 months), but they need to get people to cover if someone is out.

 

[olds]

There is a fromula:
1 day off, 1 day notice.
2 days off, 2 days notice.
3 days off, 3 days notice.
.....

My brother who is a firefighter has to ask for vacations dates for the whole year in January of the year he wants to take it.

 

[RandomFool]

Usually about 2 or 3 months but that's mostly for project planning and not really set in stone as far as I know.

 

[ahurtt]

Originally posted by: jiggahertz
What do you do for work? The two jobs I've had pretty much required no notice (research laboratory and defense contractor). My first job out of college, people would write on the white board that they'd be out and then submit the paperwork to deduct their time days or weeks after they returned. My GF works in a hospital and they want a longer lead time (2-3 months), but they need to get people to cover if someone is out.

I'm an enterprise Java and Web developer/architect for a long term contract with a federal "service" bureau under the US Treasury. I don't want to say more than that really in case it turns out my boss also likes to nef around on ATOT.

 

[The Boston Dangler]

minimum 2 weeks notice for vacation. i usually take most of the time as spur-of-the-moment sick time.

 

[Queasy]

We only get the "plan your vacations months ahead" notices for project/resource planning. I generally don't respond because I just don't know. There are some people that do though.

My manager's general rule of thumb is to give at least one week's notice if you are only taking a day. Two week's notice if you are taking more. Emergencies are anytime.

 

[imported_Section8]

I ask for employees to give me anticipated dates for time off through December 31st of each year. They are not locked in and can change if they need to. The reason we do it this way is to ensure staff coverage. If I let everyone tell me they wanted leave a few weeks in advance, I run the risk of having no coverage. I have been a supervisor for many years and to date have never denied an employee's leave request. I believe the above process has helped to ensure this.

 

[PrinceofWands]

Two weeks to a month, but I understand places that ask for more. Many require 6 months to a year ahead, especially if they're project oriented.

 

[Svnla]

If I need to take more than a week, then I need to, not "HAVE TO" give my director as much notice as possible. As a courtesy, not requirement.

If I need to take a day or two (as long as it is a week or less), then 24-48 hours notice will be fine.

I already told her about my 1 month vacation at the end of this year.

 

[kalrith]

Originally posted by: The Boston Dangler
minimum 2 weeks notice for vacation.

That's what I would expect. My company has no set amount of notice required. However, it's a small company, so there are issues of two people in the same department not being able to take vacation at the same time. I try to put mine in a few months in advance because of this.

 

[trmiv]

If you're taking a long vacation, at least two weeks is good. If you want to take time off during the holidays you have to get that in like in January because if you don't you'll miss out because everyone will have the good days.

That said, I don't worry about any of that stuff since I've been a temp-to-hire contractor for four freaking years now. No vacation for me.

 

[hanoverphist]

Originally posted by: amdskip
1/10, my dad has to plan this out a year at a time to claim open slots.

my ex had to do the same thing. my job is a bit more lenient, ive even requested the time off after i got back from vacation... just to make sure the paperwork was on file, the boss knew i was on vaca before i left. officially the company policy is 3 weeks advance notice. my ex had to have her vacations planned by jan 15th of each year.

 

[Ns1]

I've been here for almost a year and I don't have any accrued vacation. GG i lose

 

[Demon-Xanth]

If you're not on a hot project, around here you can really get away with just calling in PTO every now and then. Don't bother saying sick because it's all from the same lump. There's been a couple times when I've just decided around Wednesday that I didn't want to come in Friday. Not problem. If you're on a hot project,that's another issue.

 

[DisgruntledVirus]

Wow this thread makes me love my vacation.

In Oct of the current year a vacation cal goes around the team from longest with the company to newest. It then goes in reverse order the second time around. Third time is same as first. After that its a FFA. I have 27 days of PTO, which include sick days and vacation time (27 days to do with how I choose). We can only have 2-3 out/day and as long as those slots are not filled I can take the time. I can take anything, and give as little notice as I want, as long as the slots aren't filled.

 

[hiromizu]

I need to give 3 months notice but also find a temp to fill the spot at least a month ahead of the date for training. Yes..ridiculous.

 

[Scarpozzi]

3 days.

I usually give them a few weeks or months if I plan on being out more than 3 days.

 

[Mxylplyx]

Originally posted by: amdskip
1/10, my dad has to plan this out a year at a time to claim open slots.

This is common with civil service jobs.

 

[DrPizza]

My weeks off are dictated to me. I don't get to choose my vacations.

My wife is a nurse. Vacations are granted by seniority. They limit the number of people who can be off at any one time to ensure adequate coverage. She has to put in for vacation time during January. Otherwise, there's no guarantee of being granted a particular week off.

 

[MotionMan]

I let me boss know as soon as I know as to when I am planning on taking time off.

That being said, I need to plan about a year in advance anyway so that I can make sure I do not get assigned a trial in the middle of when I want to take a vacation.

MotionMan