Argh! My boss won't let me take a vacation!

[Xithras]

:grr:

I haven't taken a real vacation in YEARS because my boss REFUSES to give me any length of time off (no more than 3 days at a time), DESPITE a contract guaranteeing me 14 days a year of paid vacation. I just received my quarterly benefits summary, and it shows that I have 288 hours of accumulated paid vacation time (more than seven weeks), and 258 hours of accumulated paid sick leave (six and a half weeks).

Seeing these numbers is a huge reminder that I'm a workaholic and work way too damned much for way too little money (I do enjoy my work though), so I walked down to my bosses office to ask for a week off next month. "No, we have projects X, Y, and Z coming up next month, I can't spare you". How about October? "I already have four people out in October, and projects D & F will be coming up." November? "I can't give you any time in November off, we'll be in the crunch for next semester." How about December? "It's a short month already, you already get half the month off, and it's unreasonable to ask for more." So I asked him when I could take some time off.

"I can spare you for a week or two in April.":wtf:

What's your take on this, and how would you react? I'm union so there are a LOT of avenues open to me, but I DO want to maintain a peacable work environment as much as possible. Should I file a formal grievance with the union? Should I pull an "oops, but I already bought the non-refundable tickets" gambit and back him into a corner on it? Should I just request the entire month of next June off NOW, before he has a chance to schedule anything during that time? My options are many, and I need a vacation dammit!

[China_cat]

1. Go to your shop steward and file a grievance.

NOW.

You've got a contract and that works both ways...you are not the only one who has to adhere to it.

You might also try asking your boss what he'd do if you died.

[GCP]

2. Leave?

Seriously, what you're being subjected to is abuse, pure and simple.

[Xithras]

5. Nope, I'm a benefits prisoner

The low pay and abuse are financially compensated by the fact that I have an insurance plan that will pay for practically anything that can happen to me, my wife, or my three kids, and it does so without any copay or monthly premiums (unions rock!). Leaving this employer might bring me a better paycheck, but any financial gains would be severely offset by the cost of medical insurance.

Plus, I'm a computer programmer in an area where there is a dearth of programming jobs, so quitting means going back to commuting.

This is a situation where quitting would be far worse than staying. The problem, of course, is that the management here is acutely aware of this fact.

[Book Lover]

3. If your position is so essential to

the operation of the department, demand a raise to compensate for the lack of straight vacation time. Can you do that in a union shop?

[Xithras]

7. Can't do that.

I should have mentioned that I'm a public employee. My rate is precalculated based on the "regional average" (last updated in the late 90's) and my length of employment. No raises here.

Oh, and my position is vital because they laid most of my co-workers off four years ago in a series of cutbacks. At one time there were nine of us doing my job, and we constituted our own sub-department. Today there are only two of us and we've been rolled into a larger programming group (same job and responsibilities as when there were 9 of us, but without the independence and load sharing capabilities that we had back then).

[usedtobesick]

4. tell him you want to cash it out since he refuses to let you take it

that may motivate him to let you take it. It's didn't work for me since he said fine and had HR cut me the check, I didn't get the time off but I had a nice check...

[Xithras]

9. There's an idea...

I'll have to check into that one. I'd love to cash out a month or so and use it to pay down some CC bills or something. I'll have to check my contract.

[Shakespeare]

6. You're in CA--call the Department of Fair Employment and Housing NOW.

Talk to one of their agents about what your rights are, and they'll give you guidance on filing a grievance with the union or filing a formal complaint with the DFEH (or both).

[Xithras]

10. I don't neccesarily need to do that.

See, I know I can file a union grievance, and that will be taken over my bosses head to the division leaders who will no doubt order my boss to give me the days off just to appease the union. My problem with this is that, other than this one vacation issue, I actually have a very good working relationship with my boss that would probably be soured by those actions. I'm trying to decide if it's worthwhile to spoil that relationship for a vacation.

Requesting the whole month of June off is very tempting...I really want to hike the John Muir Trail again before I find myself too old to do it, and I haven't been rock climbing in years. Yosemite beckons...

[Gormy Cuss]

8. Your boss is a bad manager

Any boss who says no to a one week vacation for someone who has seven weeks accrued is an idiot. Good managers understand the restorative power of a break. Based on your description if I were the manager I'd encourage you to take the week in September because then I could work you into the ground in October,November and December.

Presumably your boss is aware of your accrued days off. Point out to him that September sounds the least disruptive and that you need a break. When was the last time you had 3 days off? How often do you even do that? As I said before, the boss is an idiot. He said he could spare you in April. Tell him that after toughening it out this semester by April you'll need to take six weeks vacation to recuperate.

If he doesn't concede a week this fall, file the grievance.

[Xithras]

11. January

I took three days off in January, that's the longest vacation I've taken in the past year. Oh, and I also took one day off to extend this past July 4 holiday so I could take my kids camping.

I won't disagree that my boss is an idiot on this point. In addition to working here, I also own and run a software consulting company with several employees (it augments my income, but doesn't pay nearly enough to allow me to quit here). I've had employees call up asking for "next week off" at 4PM on a Friday, and I've NEVER told one of them no. IMO, a happy employee is a more productive employee.

Sadly, my boss here seems to think that vacations are a waste of time.