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I work at a big company, and no it is not negotiable. At big companies you get thrown into groups, and for people to be "special", requires a lot of HR work, an

I work at a big company, and no it is not negotiable. At big companies you get thrown into groups, and for people to be "special", requires a lot of HR work, and managing to get right. Usually something out of the box requires a high level okay, and they don't like to do that. That being said, if you offer something that is rare, big companies will work with you. This is true of high profile persons being hired by big companies. Also as you move up into hierarchy, or attain a certain number of years under your belt the company might be willing to budge.

byoung2 16y ago
I work at a big company, and no it is not negotiable I have worked for big companies as well (Gateway, Washinton Post), and while it is true that officially getting bumped to a higher vacation allotment is nearly impossible (e.g. managers get 2 weeks, and I'm asking for 3), it is possible to negotiate "off the books" vacation time with your direct supervisor. Usually your vacation requests go to him/her to sign send to HR/Payroll, who then deducts the days from your allowance. If you have an arrangement with your supervisor, the occasional Friday off or 1 week vacation when you only had 3 days banked can go unnoticed. 2 weeks of vacation can easily become 4 if you get one off-the-books day off per month.
- rphlx 16y ago
  Same experience for me. Sad that corporate culture is so thoroughly fucked at so many companies, but the closer you get to HR, the more likely you are to hit some power tripping asshole that gets off on creating and enforcing arbitrary policies that treat high-talent and low-talent individuals alike. In this world, you learn to get what you can, however you can, with as few people aware/involved as possible.
  - byoung2 16y ago
    creating and enforcing arbitrary policies It's actually not an arbitrary policy to limit vacation time. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires companies to report accrued but untaken vacation time as a liability on their balance sheets. Since companies are required to pay out vacation time upon termination, and some states don't allow caps on accrued vacation, bumping you from 2 weeks to 4 weeks now could be risky. What if you never use the 2 extra weeks? Fast forward 20 years to your retirement, and they could be forced to pay you 40 weeks pay in a lump sum.

byoung2 16y ago

I work at a big company, and no it is not negotiable I have worked for big companies as well (Gateway, Washinton Post), and while it is true that officially getting bumped to a higher vacation allotment is nearly impossible (e.g. managers get 2 weeks, and I'm asking for 3), it is possible to negotiate "off the books" vacation time with your direct supervisor. Usually your vacation requests go to him/her to sign send to HR/Payroll, who then deducts the days from your allowance. If you have an arrangement with your supervisor, the occasional Friday off or 1 week vacation when you only had 3 days banked can go unnoticed. 2 weeks of vacation can easily become 4 if you get one off-the-books day off per month.

rphlx 16y ago
Same experience for me. Sad that corporate culture is so thoroughly fucked at so many companies, but the closer you get to HR, the more likely you are to hit some power tripping asshole that gets off on creating and enforcing arbitrary policies that treat high-talent and low-talent individuals alike. In this world, you learn to get what you can, however you can, with as few people aware/involved as possible.
- byoung2 16y ago
  creating and enforcing arbitrary policies It's actually not an arbitrary policy to limit vacation time. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires companies to report accrued but untaken vacation time as a liability on their balance sheets. Since companies are required to pay out vacation time upon termination, and some states don't allow caps on accrued vacation, bumping you from 2 weeks to 4 weeks now could be risky. What if you never use the 2 extra weeks? Fast forward 20 years to your retirement, and they could be forced to pay you 40 weeks pay in a lump sum.