Vacation Time and Salaried Employees

**amykhar** · #1 07-20-2006, 09:52 AM

As a salaried employee, I understand that I am expected to work nights and weekends to get the work I have to do done if I can't get it done during normal work hours.

I also understand that if a work deadline is coming up, vacations may have to be postponed or taken at 'off' times of the year.

But, I think that if I do take a vacation or a personal day, I don't want work bugging me during that time or expecting me to have worked on those days. If I am going to work, I am not going to take a vacation day.

I know people who take their laptops and cell phones with them on vacation and I just don't get it. If you're not the POTUS or in some other critical job, you deserve time to yourself away from work. Employers need to understand that we do have a need for some sort of life away from work.

**theworm**[$] · #2 07-20-2006, 10:04 AM

I've been in that position where a boss wanted me to check in twice a day when I was on vacation. I told him no. I said that if and when I could I would check my voice mail, that I wouldn't have access to my e-mail, and that I was away with my husband and not working. I did check my voice mail most days. We wrote all about my bad attitude on my review.

Redlass · #3 07-20-2006, 10:50 AM

Sure, I'll do work on my vacation--but then I won't be deducting vacation hours for the time when I'm doing that work. So if I spend an hour working on a vacation day, then I'm only going to use up 7 hours of vacation time, not 8.

**pippadaisy**[$] · #4 07-20-2006, 10:57 AM

As a salaried employee, technically, the second you "clock in" it counts as a day. There isn't supposed to be half-day, 1/4 day vacation days. I remember once looking up the labor laws regarding exempt/non-exempt time off for a boss. I never had to check in on vacation again.

**lynnzop**[$] · #5 07-20-2006, 12:03 PM

When I'm on vacation, I'm on vacation. My boss knows better than to expect anything else unless it's an emergency. She's called on rare occasion to give me an update on something (keeping our jobs was one time) but she apologizes profusely when that happens. I don't carry a pager or a work cell phone, I won't check my emails or voice mails while I'm out. But I do have back-ups identified and notified, so there is coverage for critical events if something can't wait.

It shouldn't HAVE to be detailed out to employers, but sometimes it does.

Redlass · #6 07-20-2006, 12:33 PM

Quote:

pippadaisy said

As a salaried employee, technically, the second you "clock in" it counts as a day. There isn't supposed to be half-day, 1/4 day vacation days. I remember once looking up the labor laws regarding exempt/non-exempt time off for a boss. I never had to check in on vacation again.

Is that state or federal law?

Of course, the way my boss puts it is that even though you're salaried and you're permitted to work less than 40 as well as more than 40, there's nothing saying you can't be disciplined for working less than 40.

**Joubert**[$] · #7 07-20-2006, 05:41 PM

I believe it's federal, Bridgette, but please don't quote me. I know it's been in multiple states I've worked in or managed employees in.

That said, you reach a certain point in the organization where being on call 24x7 is a given. I don't care for it either. My choice is to step back in my career likely with a pay cut or be available.

Work-life balance for people at that stage in their career means they cut out at 11 on Friday without "taking leave" and go do something with the family. Or they don't show up every day until 9 or 9:30. Or any number of things.

But if you're in mid to senior management in the US, you can expect that many employers will demand access to you regardless of if you're on vacation. Because at that level, there is always something happening.

I was on vacation in Utah late last year and getting buzzed daily for conference calls or to send an agreement. But it was for a multi-million deal that could have grown much larger. What was our company supposed to say, "Sorry, the guy we would assign that to is on vacation. We'll talk next week."

As for duplicating management, well, that becomes impractical above a certain level. You're not, for example, going to have 2 CFOs walking around. You're going to have a CEO who knows some of the stuff and a controller who knows the other end of the stuff, but probably not someone who does the stuff in the middle.

I hate to disagree with most of you, but it's not only expected in my experience, you would actually talk yourself out of a job if you deliberately made yourself inaccessible or told your boss they couldn't call you.

Amy said this:

Quote:

Employers need to understand that we do have a need for some sort of life away from work.

And my response would be "Not in the traditional sense you're thinking about. If the company is paying you X dollars or you have key management responsibilities, you need to be available whenever anything is going on as well as checking in to make sure nothing is happening.

Sorry, I don't see anything wrong with it. If executives and senior managers are unwilling to make themselves available, they don't deserve that job.

I was on a day trip with someone from the board and my Blackberry must have gone off 6 times. It was the Global VP of Business Development, trying to hammer out a deal with an international client. The answer to him is not, "Dude, it's Saturday. Call me during office hours." The answer is, "Let me look at the numbers one more time before you sign."

**pippadaisy**[$] · #8 07-20-2006, 05:50 PM

It gets wicked complicated, and this is why I never parlayed my experience into HR.

Here is the link regarding overtime pay: DOL WHD: Fact Sheet #23: Overtime Pay Requirements of the FLSA

And here is the criteria for exemption: U.S. Department of Labor -- WHD: FairPay Fact Sheets by Exemption - Overview

Now, where it gets hairy is that a lot of employers assume that "salaried" equals "exempt" when that isn't always the case. And if you are a true salaried employee, and aren't paid hourly, then you really can't take vacation hourly, then can you?

**amykhar** · #9 07-21-2006, 08:36 AM

George, as I noted in my original post, I understand not taking vacation time when something big is going down. I also understand taking vacation time in small chunks - 1 or 2 days at a time.

My comment is more about people who deal with the small, non-critical stuff on their down time.

What precipitated this thread was that I finally took a personal day here to go pick up my sister whom I haven't seen for 6 years. When I got back, the guy that I consult for emailed me and asked me if I had worked at all. He is charged by the hour for my time and gets a lot of free time out of me because I do put in time on weekends and at night to keep things going. I've worked on holidays and when I'm sick and just about non-stop since I started this project. There need to be some boundaries or some employers will suck the life right out of you.

**Joubert**[$] · #10 07-21-2006, 03:21 PM

I hear you, Amy. I guess at some point in your career something big is *always* going down. If it's not a point in your career, it could be the size of the company or their reliance on a particular worker's job skills.

The people who don't want to be in those positiions find themselves as part of a larger group all doing the same work or go into business for themselves.

Sounds like this guy relies on you for tech work, and while it would be nice if he were sensitive to your working while ill or otherwise not supposed to work, the fact is that he pays you. If you choose not to bill him for that time, that's a call you have to make.

For a standard management employee in most companies, the issue is moot. The boundaries are typically very simple. Take a lower-ranking job which typically pays less or make yourself available.