Would you rather have 5 weeks guaranteed PTO or unlimited PTO?

[baydude]

Given all else equal, would you rather work for a company that gives you 5 weeks PTO gauranteed with the ability to cash out your balance when you quit, or a company that gives you unlimited PTO?

 

[soulcougher73]

Unlimited PTO? I’d never work a day lol

 

[Dr. Detroit]

5-weeks, screw unlimited. The ability to bank PTO is great.

I cashed out 320hrs at my last job - There was just no way I could take 5-weeks a year so running a department where if my managers were gone I needed to be there.

Unlimited PTO is terrible for the employee, studies have shown, people take less when its unlimited!

 

[Ns1]

5 weeks. Unlimited PTO is a scam to not pay you vacation when you quit.

 

[purbeast0]

Depends on how their "unlimited" really is. I personally don't care at all about cashing out so that means nothing to me, I always use my days or am negative. But if unlimited really means you can take 7 weeks vacation then I'd rather do that. But from what I hear, unlimited isn't quite unlimited in the sense that after you take 3-4 weeks they may start telling you that you can't go on vacation anymore. I've never personally worked for a company that does it so I have no experience with it. I get 27 days PTO now though and it's great.

 

[AdamK47]

I don't use vacation days. My days off are filled with me being reminded of the miserableness of my life. The less dwelled upon the better. Work distracts me from all that.

 

[zinfamous]

I don't care what the policy is, but if they tell me I can't take vacation when I want to take it, they get a visit from mister dogshit-filled-flaming-bag at their office/department/building/provost's door.



...I don't know, maybe I'm lucky to work in the field where I work.

 

[pete6032]

I don't use vacation days. My days off are filled with me being reminded of the miserableness of my life. The less dwelled upon the better. Work distracts me from all that.

I love my life and it is fantastic, so is my job.

 

[NutBucket]

5 weeks. Unlimited PTO is a scam to not pay you vacation when you quit.

Exactly.

I have 4 weeks of vacation and unlimited sick leave. That's the sweet spot! The rumors surface every so often that sick leave will go away and everyone will receive an additional week of PTO. Terrible deal. The vast majority of people don't abuse sick leave and having unlimited is great when you actually get sick! I'll come in to work sick if I need to use PTO...and I'm sure most others would too.

 

[Scarpozzi]

I have like 5 weeks vacation 2 weeks sick and just short of 3 weeks holiday pay.

I take time off when I want to and the holidays keep me in the office part of the time (knowing I'll be out). It's a decent setup. If I quit, I'd get a payout of my annual, but not my accrued sick leave.

 

[ultimatebob]

"Unlimited" PTO usually means that you can take off whenever as long as you're caught up on your work.

Of course, if you work in places like I have, you're already doing the work of two people and you'll NEVER be caught up.

 

[NutBucket]

That's most places. We want to hire as everyone is busy and aren't getting good applicants. Go figure.

 

[ImpulsE69]

I don't think I've used a 'sick day' ever....

 

[SMOGZINN]

Given all else equal, would you rather work for a company that gives you 5 weeks PTO gauranteed with the ability to cash out your balance when you quit, or a company that gives you unlimited PTO?

Either of them would be good. I've never seen a place that would let you roll over more then a couples of weeks of PTO, so you can't really 'cash out' of PTO, it is always use or lose, and if you use it you are a bad employee that will get let go.

 

[snoopy7548]

I'd go with guaranteed five weeks. Unlimited sounds nice at first, but you can't trust the company to always allow you to take time off; you'll likely end up taking less time off with unlimited.

 

[vi edit]

Another vote of 5 weeks and cash out ability. What the hell is "unlimited PTO?". That's way too vague of a term and seems much more subject to change.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

Given all else equal, would you rather work for a company that gives you 5 weeks PTO gauranteed with the ability to cash out your balance when you quit, or a company that gives you unlimited PTO?

Whether or not a company will pay you out for PTO is 99% of the time determined by if the state law forces it or not... Else, I'm pretty sure every single company wouldn't pay out unused PTO

 

[dyna]

5 weeks, unlimited PTO is for companies that don't want you to take vacation.

 

[Thebobo]

I love my life and it is fantastic, so is my job.

Until one evening, there's a knock on the door.... (fill in story here)

 

[GoodRevrnd]

5 weeks. Unlimited PTO is a scam to not pay you vacation when you quit.

I think that's just a side benefit to the real scam, which is pitting employees against each other to see who will take the least vacation.

 

[jpiniero]

Either of them would be good. I've never seen a place that would let you roll over more then a couples of weeks of PTO, so you can't really 'cash out' of PTO, it is always use or lose, and if you use it you are a bad employee that will get let go.

California banned Use it or Lose it (so Govt employees can soak the system), so this is how companies get around it. Most other states have a hours cap at most. Usually don't see unlimited unless the company is based there. If employees take less vacation, that's a cherry on top.

 

[ultimatebob]

I think that's just a side benefit to the real scam, which is pitting employees against each other to see who will take the least vacation.

Oh, I'd definitely lose that "competition". I have a kid and a wife that's off during summer because she's a teacher. No way in hell would she let me work straight through summer without a break.

 

[Thebobo]

Oh, I'd definitely lose that "competition". I have a kid and a wife that's off during summer because she's a teacher. No way in hell would she let me work straight through summer without a break.

Fed you can have carry unlimited sick, annual Leave is 200 hours a year.

 

[child of wonder]

My company is based in California and I have unlimited PTO.

Personally I like it and am not concerned about PTO being paid out to me when I leave.

The only down side is since my job is sales related and I have a quota, no one blinks an eye when you take 2 weeks off when you're killing your numbers, but if you're not hitting your numbers and taking lots of time off your manager may have a word with you.

 

[dainthomas]

My current job we can carry over 300, but I've been hovering around 200 for a few years. So I guess I'd only want the 5 weeks if there was a high carry over.