If your business isn't sustainable when I visit family over the holidays, your business isn't sustainable.
this post was submitted on 30 Sep 2025
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I don't think I agree with the second comment. I work in a team. If you just take it and leave them to handle your shit, you are an asshoke. If you say it in advance and sort your stuff, then do whatever you want
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Over here in Germany where everybody has at least 3 weeks paid time off (being ill does not count to this contingent btw), it is common that leaves are planned in the beginning of the year for larger vacations, so there are no collisions.
Also, if you have children you have priority during school breaks for paied leaves.
This concept could be copied by us employers also, I wonder why not? Maybe because this way you can pressure your employees with your vacation as leverage
And in this system, it is common courtesy to make effort to make sure your team has as few problems as possible from your absence. Of course it is also common courtesy that you are not contact for anything work related during your vacation time.
This is exactly what seems to be missing in the US: courtesy.
A system that gives everyone entitled leave means better employees and less downtime due to leave (surprise surprise, courtesy leads to coordination).
Shockingly this leads to people caring about their team mates, and things aren't zero sum anymore.
In the Netherlands we have laws in place to ensure what is called "good employership" and "good employeeship". It's basically the minimum of what you should expect from each other in matters of courtesy. Good employership as a minimum states an employer should be thoroughly, not abuse his powers as an employer, substantiate big decisions regarding employees, live up to expectations, treat all employees equal and provide good insurance.
Good employeeship is seen as being at work at agreed upon times (this includes taking PTO), doing suitable work, being honest, loyalty to a certain degree like not starting a company without consultation and "stealing" work from the employer, and descretion/secrecy regarding company sensitive information.
It's all very general, and most of the time further explained either in additional laws or in a "CAO", a collective working conditions agreement which is reviewed periodically with the unions (about 70-75% of employees have such an agreement).
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Over here in Germany where everybody has at least 3 weeks paid time off (being ill does not count to this contingent btw), it is common that leaves are planned in the beginning of the year for larger vacations, so there are no collisions.
Also, if you have children you have priority during school breaks for paied leaves.
This concept could be copied by us employers also, I wonder why not? Maybe because this way you can pressure your employees with your vacation as leverage
And in this system, it is common courtesy to make effort to make sure your team has as few problems as possible from your absence. Of course it is also common courtesy that you are not contact for anything work related during your vacation time.
All of this is possible in North America, but you need a union job.
My day-job is a unionionized Managed Services gig subsidiary of a larger company. The rest of the company fits a stereotype we see in the deLoittes and IBM Pro Servs of the world, but the union contract gives us a sane bit of breathing room:
- 9x9 'compressed' time so you get one day off each week regardless
- statutory holidays are sacred
- OT for weekend work, but it quickly goes double-time so it's rare; and holidays are 2.5x quickly
- standby time is paid. Call-outs are paid.
- mandated remote work capability. It's in the union contract, guys, so we can Work From Home Office or Work From HQ as best suits us
The combo of compressed time, stats and careful placement of my 21 vacation days this year will give me 7 carefully-placed weeks off; it's not contiguous, but it's really great.
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oh in america management requests you plan them early then ignores reality anyway.
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Says the guy who has Scrooge Mcduck as an avatar. Sure buddy.
If you haven't hired enough people to cover vacations and unexpected absences, you've hired poorly.
My department has been complaining to the big boss that we need more people. People have been retiring for years with barely one new hire per two empty positions. And now… I am in long term sick leave (protected) and shit is coming dooooown. Not enough people to cover all the projects. Multiple projects put on hold for the time being, others being roughly merged. People are pissed.
Lol. That's what happens when those in charge chronically chase short-term profit over long-term sustainability.
What do you mean I can't get by with a just-in-time workforce? I need a 100% deduction on my taxes (business and personal) or else I might faint!
It does depend on the size of the company. If it's a small business, it may have no leeway occasionally, and you may need to time your PTO.
That being said, the last time I worked for a small business and they contacted me during my vacation to beg me to work, I quit directly after the vacation ended.
Our org has a response division with a couple of teams on rotation. So long as you give them notice, you can take whatever you like off whenever you like - as the meme says, it's an organisational problem to manage, not the employee. The only exception is Christmas where the period from say the 21st to the 3rd January, where it's always massively oversubscribed so any PTO requests get put into a hat and drawn in September.
they contacted me during my vacation to beg me to work
Whereas that is bollocks, I would absolutely negotiate terms and see what they'd offer first! Might be a nice little earner if you didn't have plans after all.
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I mean, having a plan for the work you won't be there to do is normal, I tell my boss "I will be out on Friday, will you do x, and when I get back I will do Y".
And sure, would not request a day if the other two people in my department will both be out that same day.
This is in the flexible environment I work in, though. Don't need to take PTO for appointments, can come in late or leave early, can take a long lunch to go for a walk or run, nobody even blinks. I come in late sometimes because I needed to do gardening before work. I am flexible for them because they are flexible for me.
I actually enjoy answering emails when I’m off work but I guess I like my job
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Maximize the disruption so they know what'll happen of they fire you.
Then demand a raise.
Manager here: seriously, just take your PTO.