Matthew Gates 2m 607 #paidtimeoff
The views of this article are the perspective of the author and may not be reflective of Confessions of the Professions.
Work As If Your Job Is Your Career, But Vacation Like A CEO
PTO, also known as Paid Time Off, is when a company provides you with time off, away from work, and pays for it. It usually comes in the form of a vacation or just leisure days where you can take off at your leisure. It is often given as compensation and earned per pay check. For example, an employee may earn up to 5 hours of PTO or more which grants them nearly a day off for every paycheck they receive. As your loyalty to the company increases, meaning the longer you work at a company, the more you will receive for paid time off credits in your paycheck.
Usually within the first year of working for a company, you might usually receive around 3 days off, or around 1 credit hour per paycheck, but more often up to a week in time off. As your seniority adds up, paid time off will usually result into around 3 weeks off, and there are some companies that have great benefits where you might receive up to a month or longer, especially when you take sick days, floating holidays, and official holidays into account, you could almost expect to receive a month and a half off at some of the best companies in the world.
If you have not experienced the benefits of PTO, most corporate jobs provide this as one of their benefit packages. Recently, a Twitter user said you shouldn’t take PTO, which backfired, because all it means is that you are giving your company more of your time, and giving them back free money, which you were promised when you began working for the company. The advice given by this Twitter user is horrible. Truth is, everyone is replaceable, but you do find out real quick just how valuable you are when you do take some time off from work, which everyone needs. If a company is unable to have a smooth workflow during your time off, then you are either understaffed, or the company is relying on you too much to ensure the work is getting done.
While there is nothing wrong with being the lead person for the job, and you want to have some comfort in the fact that your company will not replace you while you are on vacation, if your company is scrambling around because they are lost without you, then you already know you are underpaid or your team is not educated enough to step in and compensate for your time off. Regardless of any situation, you are entitled to the compensation and you should take full advantage of it, as most people show up to work, and do work very hard everyday. From a company standpoint and even a government standpoint, happiness in the workplace is actually viewed upon lightly and something most companies aim for, which is why they offer PTO in the benefits package in the first place.
Make sure that if you have vacation time, you take it accordingly, preferably with time off, but some companies may even compensate you in the form of an additional paycheck, though it may be subject to tax, which only should further push you to take the actual time off from your company. PTO allows you a much needed break, time to relax, unwind, get away from work, and should be a time where you disconnect from the Internet completely, and spend time with friends, family, or even alone, reconnecting with yourself, the human connection, and nature. Don’t hesitate to take the time off and appreciate what is rightfully due yours.
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