vacation time questions????? please comment!

[Guest myan_princes]

I work for a small company. I was up for review this last April (my 4th year). I was supposed to have gotten a 2.5% raise (at least) but my boss said he couldn't because the budget was tight. I asked him to at least increase my vacation and sick time to 1 more week. He said he'd review the industry average. I checked with him this week about his 'research' and he said that it is normal to get 2 weeks vacation time and 1 week sick time until after you've been with a company for over 10 years. Is this true? does anyone know? I'd appreciate all your comments on this matter!!!

[Guest nac]

Depends on the industry.

10 years seems like a lot of time to have to wait for that next week of vacation. Many employers increase vacation by an additional week at 5-8 years. But again, it depends a lot on the industry. Competition is the name of the game.

Increases in paid sick time are pretty much up for grabs, a lot of companies give the same amount per year, regardless of service.

[Guest Aardvark]

I agree with nac. This one is industry dependant. I work for a hospital. It's not unusual to have 5-6 weeks vacation. A friend of mine has worked in retail for his whole adult life (now approximately 50 yrs. old) and received his second week of vacation after he worked three years for his company. He had to work a whole year before he received his first week!

My best advice for this situation is that the ball is in your court. Don't grumble about your boss, if you're not satisfied with your surroundings...move on. If you stay and grumble, chances are, you'll move on anyway.

Good luck!

[Sheila K]

Our PTO plan (which encompasses both sick & vacation time) allows for 17 day/year for the first 2 years, an increase to 20 days/year at the beginning of the 3rd year, and then increases at 5,10 and 15 years. The maximum time is 29 days/year. Again, this includes both sick and vacation days.

Good luck.

Sheila K