grumble: leave

[winterbadger]

OK, so I was curious and went back through my timecards for this year. I've taken three days off without pay (for minor emergencies, seeing repairmen, &c., so as not to cut into actual paid leave), and I've taken a little over nine days' leave (three for reenacting events, six for sickness, doctor visits, etc.) I currently have 13 hours of leave, and I'll accumulate 15 more (if I'm doing the math right) by the end of the year, which makes about three and a half days. So I'll actually have gotten about sixteen days' leave, three of which I got no for. That's our standard allowance (the three I took without pay are because I carried over a deficit from early last year when I was out sick with bronchitis for a couple of weeks.)

Now, federal labor law does not require employers to provide either vacation or sick leave (http://www.dol.gov/dol/topic/workhours/vacation_leave.htm and http://www.dol.gov/dol/topic/workhours/sickleave.htm), but it strikes me that three weeks time for sick leave and vacation combined is a bit on the stingy side. On the other hand, since a survey by the Urban Institute (http://www.urban.org/Template.cfm?NavMenuID=24&template=/TaggedContent/ViewPublication.cfm&PublicationID=8831) suggests that msot people don't even get that, I guess I should count my blessings (that I have a job and it pays me fairly well) and not complain.

Comments

[flyingwolf.livejournal.com]

The US is one of the stingiest countries when it comes to employee perks. go us.

[shy-kat.livejournal.com]

Most places that I've seen (in the US, other countries are a lot better) start salaried people at 2 weeks vacation and 2-3 weeks of sick leave. But I don't really think people take much more than a week of sick leave per year (I seem to be out sick more than almost everyone else here and I've only taken 5 sick days this year).

[sidhne.livejournal.com]

If I get the job I'm up for, I'll get a whopping two weeks, which is a lifetime to the ONE DAY I'd get if I stayed with the staffing agency for a year!

[robbysmom.livejournal.com]

University staff accumulate .5 days per month vacation, plus 1 day per month sick leave, plus 2-3 adminsitrative leave days. One can't mix and match them. So unless folsk get sick (you can take sick days for doc visits, plus illness, and a supervisor can ask for proof of 3 or more sick days. . . that's 7-8 days after one year. Of course, as at many institutions, they toss in the week betwen 12/25 and 1/1-- except that oen of those days is almost always a forced vacation day. It winds up being about 12 days off, 7 of which are chosen-- unless one (or an immediate family emmber) is ill.

That's more generous, largely because of the week off at the traditional holidays. (But the University also saves huge dolalrs by totally shuttign down, except for police and such.)

After ten years, though, it gets much better. I have almost 6 weeks paid leave, plus an accumulated 90 or so sick days. . . one reason I am not "hot" to go elsewhere, *especially* the private sector. My main complaitn tends to be that there are tiems I can basically never take out-- 6 weeks from late June through early August and msot of the tiem students are present. So I actually have more than 6 weeks I will have accumulated by July 1 2005.

[blushing-grace.livejournal.com]

I think I get 25 days by the end of my first year. Thats ~1 per 2 week pay period. Its just all 'Paid Time Off'

[redactrice.livejournal.com]

That's definitely on the stingy side for salaried white-collar work.

It's obvious that your leave policy was not crafted by a woman. A significant share of women I know get cramps so bad that for at least one day each month, they can barely do more than curl up in a ball. I always wondered whether that's why the federal govt. gives 13 days of sick leave per year--roughly one per month. So women can take off one day a month if they need to.

If such a woman worked for SAIC (your employer), she'd never be able to take a vacation. Doesn't seem very fair to me.

[winterbadger]

I think the expectation (knowing our corporate culture) would be that a woman in those circumstances would take the day off, if she needed to, and then work extra during the rest of the pay period to make up the time if she didn't want to take a day off. Of course, if you work a specific shift and don't get flex time, you're screwed.

But, yes, you can tell the company was set up and has been run by a group of predominantly male engineers.