4 ms·

It's all bullshit. When my company switched to "flexible time off", they also instated an annual goal for number of hours billed, and surprise surprise: to hit

by feoren 3y ago

It's all bullshit. When my company switched to "flexible time off", they also instated an annual goal for number of hours billed, and surprise surprise: to hit the annual goal, you have to take basically ZERO time off. Previously we earned 2 to 4 weeks depending on seniority. Now it's zero. You cannot take time off and also hit your goal unless you work tons of overtime. It's all fucking bullshit and I'd be surprised if it's legal. When in doubt, if some corporate executive wants to do it, 99% of the time it's to absolutely fuck you over as hard as possible. Corporate leadership at most companies in the U.S. are parasitic insects existing solely to suck the blood out of the company until their next spawning cycle when they sprout wings and fly off looking for another victim. Never doubt it.

dathos 3y ago
What if you miss your goal? I mean if you wouldn’t lose your job just take 6-8 weeks to compensate for the loss of bonus
simoncion 3y ago
> When my company switched to "flexible time off", they also instated an annual goal for number of hours billed, and surprise surprise: to hit the annual goal, you have to take basically ZERO time off. Previously we earned 2 to 4 weeks depending on seniority. Now it's zero. Does your company have any offices in California? Is this policy applied to those offices in California? If the answer to both questions is "yes", then have a coworker in California talk to a labor lawyer to see if California might consider this PTO policy wage theft. (For context: California considers PTO to be part of your wage, and considers companies that attempt to weasel out of paying PTO to be engaging in wage theft. Based on what I've read California courts give "non-accrual"/"unlimited"/"flexible"/"whatever-they-are-called-these-days" PTO schemes _extra_ scrutiny, because those things hide all sorts of ways to deny workers the wages that they're owed.)
whitemary 3y ago
If you live in the US, it's absolutely legal, and even if it's not then it doesn't matter because you live in the US under a dictator (your boss).
- sfe22 3y ago
  Yeah, you nailed with the word choice here. Dictator needs to be a ruler, that also you cannot get rid of. In most of the us you can ditch your boss tonight. It looks like you want a real dictator to “protect” you from possible poor decisions you can make. Which is fine, just don’t get me and others like me involved please.
  - junon 3y ago
    As an American working in Germany after working in San Francisco for a company with unlimited time off (Uber), I prefer Germany without even thinking about it. The US labor system is so insanely broken I don't even know where to begin.
    - sfe22 3y ago
      It is fine to have opinions. I may even agree with your opinion. Pushing it to others is what i am against.
      - xupybd 3y ago
        Here you are pushing your opinion on opinions on us.
        sfe22 3y ago
        No, i am not the one advocating for mandatory schemes, which some people push into the rest, usually through government. By default no such schemes exist, so i am not the one that meddles in others business. If you want to get involved you are free to do so.
        piva00 3y ago
        > No, i am not the one advocating for mandatory schemes, which some people push into the rest, usually through government. I can conclude then that you are also not an advocate against child labour, as that is a mandatory scheme pushed through government. You are also not an advocate against monopolies, since those are regulated through the government.
Fnoord 3y ago
A perfect recipe for burn-out. What is the burn-out rate in USA compared to Western EU?
Tade0 3y ago
> Previously we earned 2 to 4 weeks depending on seniority. Yikes. You really were expected to do 1900h+ per year previously and the current situation got even worse?
- clnq 3y ago
  2 to 4 weeks isn’t normal?
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
  - Tade0 3y ago
    2 to 4 weeks is not normal.
    - engineer_22 3y ago
      2-4 weeks seems pretty normal
      - freedom2099 3y ago
        I have 7 weeks plus bank holidays… but I am not in the US (mandatory days… you are obligated to take them all)
        engineer_22 3y ago
        Sounds like a nice balance! You've got a great job :)
        drewcoo 3y ago
        It sounds more like a nice country to me.
        freedom2099 3y ago
tanseydavid 3y ago
It so sad it's almost funny. Have you heard the one about "our open office plan is meant to enhance the opportunities for collaboration?"
flashgordon 3y ago
The only company that I felt actually stood by this was linkedin. On top of their whole week off for July 4th and Christmas I actually observed people taking 1-1.5 weeks each quarter on average as part of flex time. Plus with "in days" (1 Friday each month to do absolutely anything including staying home) it was almost 8 weeks of leave each year. Not sure if things are the same now (this was until 2 years ago in the US). I doubt any other company was this generous.

by feoren 3y ago

dathos 3y ago

What if you miss your goal? I mean if you wouldn’t lose your job just take 6-8 weeks to compensate for the loss of bonus

simoncion 3y ago

> When my company switched to "flexible time off", they also instated an annual goal for number of hours billed, and surprise surprise: to hit the annual goal, you have to take basically ZERO time off. Previously we earned 2 to 4 weeks depending on seniority. Now it's zero. Does your company have any offices in California? Is this policy applied to those offices in California? If the answer to both questions is "yes", then have a coworker in California talk to a labor lawyer to see if California might consider this PTO policy wage theft. (For context: California considers PTO to be part of your wage, and considers companies that attempt to weasel out of paying PTO to be engaging in wage theft. Based on what I've read California courts give "non-accrual"/"unlimited"/"flexible"/"whatever-they-are-called-these-days" PTO schemes _extra_ scrutiny, because those things hide all sorts of ways to deny workers the wages that they're owed.)

whitemary 3y ago

If you live in the US, it's absolutely legal, and even if it's not then it doesn't matter because you live in the US under a dictator (your boss).

sfe22 3y ago
Yeah, you nailed with the word choice here. Dictator needs to be a ruler, that also you cannot get rid of. In most of the us you can ditch your boss tonight. It looks like you want a real dictator to “protect” you from possible poor decisions you can make. Which is fine, just don’t get me and others like me involved please.
- junon 3y ago
  As an American working in Germany after working in San Francisco for a company with unlimited time off (Uber), I prefer Germany without even thinking about it. The US labor system is so insanely broken I don't even know where to begin.
  - sfe22 3y ago
    It is fine to have opinions. I may even agree with your opinion. Pushing it to others is what i am against.
    - xupybd 3y ago
      Here you are pushing your opinion on opinions on us.
      - sfe22 3y ago
        No, i am not the one advocating for mandatory schemes, which some people push into the rest, usually through government. By default no such schemes exist, so i am not the one that meddles in others business. If you want to get involved you are free to do so.
        piva00 3y ago
        > No, i am not the one advocating for mandatory schemes, which some people push into the rest, usually through government. I can conclude then that you are also not an advocate against child labour, as that is a mandatory scheme pushed through government. You are also not an advocate against monopolies, since those are regulated through the government.

Fnoord 3y ago

A perfect recipe for burn-out. What is the burn-out rate in USA compared to Western EU?

Tade0 3y ago

> Previously we earned 2 to 4 weeks depending on seniority. Yikes. You really were expected to do 1900h+ per year previously and the current situation got even worse?

clnq 3y ago
2 to 4 weeks isn’t normal?
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- Tade0 3y ago
  2 to 4 weeks is not normal.
  - engineer_22 3y ago
    2-4 weeks seems pretty normal
    - freedom2099 3y ago
      I have 7 weeks plus bank holidays… but I am not in the US (mandatory days… you are obligated to take them all)
      - engineer_22 3y ago
        Sounds like a nice balance! You've got a great job :)
        drewcoo 3y ago
        It sounds more like a nice country to me.
        freedom2099 3y ago

tanseydavid 3y ago

It so sad it's almost funny. Have you heard the one about "our open office plan is meant to enhance the opportunities for collaboration?"

flashgordon 3y ago

The only company that I felt actually stood by this was linkedin. On top of their whole week off for July 4th and Christmas I actually observed people taking 1-1.5 weeks each quarter on average as part of flex time. Plus with "in days" (1 Friday each month to do absolutely anything including staying home) it was almost 8 weeks of leave each year. Not sure if things are the same now (this was until 2 years ago in the US). I doubt any other company was this generous.