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So that system is inherently flawed as well. All that does is add another time management problem to the worker - they will still have to schedule time off for

So that system is inherently flawed as well. All that does is add another time management problem to the worker - they will still have to schedule time off for all of the things that don't happen in that mandatory time off, and they will still have to front-load all of their work into the days before they are out of the office, and then have even more work waiting for them when they return. In the article, they found out that 7 weeks was too often, 12 weeks was too far apart, so they moved it to 8 weeks. Bluntly, at that point as an employee I'd be looking elsewhere as fast as I could. I'd rather just have a job that let me set my own time off and not hassle me about it - making me juggle even more nonsense like that would just be another obstacle to actually accomplishing anything at work, and make it even harder to leave work behind when away from the office.

pc86 9y ago
They allude to this in the article, but part of the reason why this is regularly scheduled and mandatory is that there's no front-loading of work. You simply stop coming in and the work is spread to other folks on that team/project, because they knew you were going to be out anyway. And of course they'll still have to schedule other time off. I don't think anything in the article says this is the only time they're out of the office.
- silverbax88 9y ago
  That's a pipe dream, but employees will just do whatever they have to do to make it work despite the company adding more obstacles. Oh, Jim's not going to be here next week, so let's schedule that client meeting for the week he gets back, plus the other meetings that come up while he's out. Same old story, just now not even manageable by the employee.
- Beltiras 9y ago
  6 weeks is plenty vacation time in the year. I'd go bonkers having to take more.
  - jnty 9y ago
    Could you explain why - would it make your working life harder, or do you struggle to find things to do outside work?
    - Beltiras 9y ago
      I took the job I have to make a dent in the universe. I like time off but that much time might be too much for me.
  - pc86 9y ago
    I know, I'm not talking about vacation, I'm talking about things like doctor's visits, weddings, etc. The things that don't fall into the buckets of "work" or "vacation" but which require you not to be in the office.
- coldcode 9y ago
  At my present place I have not had vacation of more than 1 day (so far this year, 2 of those) in 18 months. One app release after another, and for our portion we have 2 programmers covering three apps, there is no backup. Budget does not allow for more, so basically impossible. Of course the real problem is that we should not be releasing apps on such an insane schedule, we don't need it.
  - shyn3 9y ago
    It's ironic that you guys create the mess you put yourself in. Let the business fail. Book your vacation. Stop risking your health. I guess it's easy to say for me, but I don't get it.. you won't make 93% of the profits of the business, you will only make $140,000.
    - tnzn 9y ago
      Because he needs a job maybe
    - tnzn 9y ago
      Because he needs a job maybe
bryanlarsen 9y ago
Whenever you take vacation in any small company, you (or your boss) always has to ensure that your duties are covered during the vacation. With this system, if you needed to take vacation on a certain week, you'd just trade vacations with somebody who was scheduled for vacation that week. A lot simpler than the traditional system.
- silverbax88 9y ago
  What about needing time to cover something like your child moving to college, or a doctor visit? How is this simpler than just taking the actual days off you need instead of having to factor in an additional set of variables? What about if your sister is getting married the week before mandatory time off, and no one is available to switch with you because they have deadlines or their sister is also getting married? I just find this adding more obstacles to getting work done and more overhead. We need solutions to employee time off, but this is naive.
  - pc86 9y ago
    Nothing in the article even implies that employees don't also have other available PTO. Nothing says directly or indirectly "we give employees a week off every seven weeks, and they don't get a single extra minute."
  - pnutjam 9y ago
    maybe there is an option to swap time off weeks
- stephengillie 9y ago
  At many jobs, this is known as "finding oncall coverage" and it's a hassle. This system stacks another artificial constraint on top of all the existing constraints. And what small business (in the US) can afford to give every employee 6-7 weeks (30-35 days) off every year? A market like that sounds ripe for disrupting.
  - bryanlarsen 9y ago
ako 9y ago
Seems like they are trying to get rid of older more expensive employees. Older employees are more often in a relationship, likely with kids, and do not have the flexibility to plan holidays on these set times. So they'll look for work elsewhere.
ColinWright 9y ago
My assumption is that any company that's going to go down this track is trying to make it work, trying to make it useful, and trying to improve the employee's life and hence their happiness and productivity. Your assumption is that the company is going to take the work that would have been done in that time off and force the employee to do that work anyway, but in the smaller amount of time they have available. People with that point of view are valuable in some contexts because they can see how things won't work, can never be made to work, and in response will demand things that they know will work. For them. The upshot is that, like most people, not every work environment will suit you. If I ran a company like this, and if a policy like this makes you head for the door, I would offer you free use of the company's facilities to help you find a place you would be better suited and unlimited time off to search for and interview at places you feel would suit you better.
WhiteOwlLion 9y ago
In a agile development shop, couldn't you schedule vacation as part of sprints? Once the sprint is over, you take a break... Not sure how this works in practice in a team environment, but vacation would be a project management aspect?

pc86 9y ago

They allude to this in the article, but part of the reason why this is regularly scheduled and mandatory is that there's no front-loading of work. You simply stop coming in and the work is spread to other folks on that team/project, because they knew you were going to be out anyway. And of course they'll still have to schedule other time off. I don't think anything in the article says this is the only time they're out of the office.

silverbax88 9y ago
That's a pipe dream, but employees will just do whatever they have to do to make it work despite the company adding more obstacles. Oh, Jim's not going to be here next week, so let's schedule that client meeting for the week he gets back, plus the other meetings that come up while he's out. Same old story, just now not even manageable by the employee.
Beltiras 9y ago
6 weeks is plenty vacation time in the year. I'd go bonkers having to take more.
- jnty 9y ago
  Could you explain why - would it make your working life harder, or do you struggle to find things to do outside work?
  - Beltiras 9y ago
    I took the job I have to make a dent in the universe. I like time off but that much time might be too much for me.
- pc86 9y ago
  I know, I'm not talking about vacation, I'm talking about things like doctor's visits, weddings, etc. The things that don't fall into the buckets of "work" or "vacation" but which require you not to be in the office.
coldcode 9y ago
At my present place I have not had vacation of more than 1 day (so far this year, 2 of those) in 18 months. One app release after another, and for our portion we have 2 programmers covering three apps, there is no backup. Budget does not allow for more, so basically impossible. Of course the real problem is that we should not be releasing apps on such an insane schedule, we don't need it.
- shyn3 9y ago
  It's ironic that you guys create the mess you put yourself in. Let the business fail. Book your vacation. Stop risking your health. I guess it's easy to say for me, but I don't get it.. you won't make 93% of the profits of the business, you will only make $140,000.
  - tnzn 9y ago
    Because he needs a job maybe
  - tnzn 9y ago
    Because he needs a job maybe

bryanlarsen 9y ago

Whenever you take vacation in any small company, you (or your boss) always has to ensure that your duties are covered during the vacation. With this system, if you needed to take vacation on a certain week, you'd just trade vacations with somebody who was scheduled for vacation that week. A lot simpler than the traditional system.

silverbax88 9y ago
What about needing time to cover something like your child moving to college, or a doctor visit? How is this simpler than just taking the actual days off you need instead of having to factor in an additional set of variables? What about if your sister is getting married the week before mandatory time off, and no one is available to switch with you because they have deadlines or their sister is also getting married? I just find this adding more obstacles to getting work done and more overhead. We need solutions to employee time off, but this is naive.
- pc86 9y ago
  Nothing in the article even implies that employees don't also have other available PTO. Nothing says directly or indirectly "we give employees a week off every seven weeks, and they don't get a single extra minute."
- pnutjam 9y ago
  maybe there is an option to swap time off weeks
stephengillie 9y ago
At many jobs, this is known as "finding oncall coverage" and it's a hassle. This system stacks another artificial constraint on top of all the existing constraints. And what small business (in the US) can afford to give every employee 6-7 weeks (30-35 days) off every year? A market like that sounds ripe for disrupting.
- bryanlarsen 9y ago

ako 9y ago

Seems like they are trying to get rid of older more expensive employees. Older employees are more often in a relationship, likely with kids, and do not have the flexibility to plan holidays on these set times. So they'll look for work elsewhere.

ColinWright 9y ago

My assumption is that any company that's going to go down this track is trying to make it work, trying to make it useful, and trying to improve the employee's life and hence their happiness and productivity. Your assumption is that the company is going to take the work that would have been done in that time off and force the employee to do that work anyway, but in the smaller amount of time they have available. People with that point of view are valuable in some contexts because they can see how things won't work, can never be made to work, and in response will demand things that they know will work. For them. The upshot is that, like most people, not every work environment will suit you. If I ran a company like this, and if a policy like this makes you head for the door, I would offer you free use of the company's facilities to help you find a place you would be better suited and unlimited time off to search for and interview at places you feel would suit you better.

WhiteOwlLion 9y ago

In a agile development shop, couldn't you schedule vacation as part of sprints? Once the sprint is over, you take a break... Not sure how this works in practice in a team environment, but vacation would be a project management aspect?