Do you use all of your vacation?
 

Am article on CNN's website continues to shed light on the fact that many Americans aren't given (and don't take) very much vacation when compared to the rest of the world:

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Unused vacation days: Why workers take a pass - May. 18, 2012

When I was at Boeing, taking vacations was discouraged. I was even chastised during a performance review for taking 4 days of vacation when my daughter was born. These days, I am simply too busy to take the three weeks a year I am given.

What about everyone else?

I usually only take vacation days for a planned vacation which means I end up taking the last week or two of the year off to use it up. Sometimes I leave a day or two on the table because there's so much to do at the end of the year.

The union guys on the shop floor use every last minute of vacation time. Some of them end up taking off the month of December which screws up work at the end of the year, while a few of them use it all up by March :)

Interesting article.

I usually take 5-10 days a year. We encourage our staff to use the paid vacation they accrue (minimum of 5 days a year). In my opinion everyone needs a break from work.

I'm saving up for a three month run somewhere. Need wife to get done with school. If she doesn't find a job right away. We are outta here.

All told I'm probably out of the office probably 6 weeks to 2 months a year. Seldom more than 2 weeks in a row. For the first 10 years after i started the business I didn't take any vacation at all. Even now there is almost always something work related included in my vacations. It's hard for me to separate work from life.

I take all the vacation i'm given/earn. It's either use it or loose it.

Our policy is use it or lose it. I try to use it, but frequently end up leaving some behind. It helps that our company (and most of the industry) have a company shut-down during the week of July 4 on most years.

Self-employed, no employees.
It took me over 20 years to figure out I deserved some mental health days.
Jim

I get the odd Sunday off.

No vacation granted, but I take off 4.5 months a year. Work to live and all that...

I retired last year......what's a vacation?

Yup, use it or loose it here as well, just off the phone with the wife planning as we speak. After 13 years, I have 20days.

I wouldn't work for Boeing. Or they would be used to reprimanding me. I do take vacation. Sometimes it's just to get work done around the house and sometimes it's to go visit mom, but I definitely take vacation. Life is too short not to.

Since my job change 3 years ago i take just over 3 weeks (I get 4). I also get nine holidays. My goal is to take all four weeks this year. At previous employer, year-end bonuses were purely discretionary and I heard days off got worked into his calculation. Usually took only 2 weeks there (plus market holidays).

In the film business shows shut down in April/May. Hiatus is till July, but usually pick up a feature film in between along with some well earned vacation time. We also shut down Christmas till New Years, so I get that time off. It may sound like a lot of vacation time, but when you're working 60-90 hour weeks, you need it.

Yep, me too. Don't want to lose it. I'd even be ok with just taking off a day or two here and there.

Vacation is what a company offers as compensation
Take every minute, it would be like not cashing paychecks

Next time they question your use of vacation time, ask them why they offer it? Or tell them you'll take cash instead.

How many of you work while on vacation? I have found this to be a great way to avoid being swamped with work when you return, and it also helps insure forward progress when you're gone. When I take vacation I bring my Blackberry and my laptop, I typically check my BB during downtime during the day and I can log into my work PC via laptop in the evening if necessary. I maybe spend 30 minutes a day doing work stuff, mostly at night when my wife and kids have gone to sleep.

Yep, Boeing would be paying me for any I didn't take if I didn't take it because they discouraged it.

What is a vacation? When I do get a day off, I'm still connected.