Comments on: Vacation Micro Management

By: free credit repair

free credit repair — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 02:06:54 +0000

I agree, but it's not that I'd hate to work for this person. Maybe your employees are not efficient for the position they are handling because they don't feel that they are welcome to the company, maybe employees want to be treated in a special way.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 22:04:34 +0000

I am a small business owner. My employees get 4 weeks' vacation (paid) and they take them when they want. The OP is not realistic.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 22:39:33 +0000

I used to work for a company with this short-sighted vacation policy. Never again. After taking my 2 weeks 1 week at a time as required – during times I didn't want, actually, but were convenient for my employer – I asked for ONE DAY off to attend the funeral of an immediate family member who died very suddenly. My boss gave me incredible grief about it and in a not so subtle way threatened to affect my next performance review, even though my colleagues were more than willing to cover for me. He said it would "set a precedent." (Note that he himself had taken 2 weeks off – not counted against his vacation time – when he had a death in the family, and management regularly took a random day or two off at a time, whenever they wanted to.) Bottom line, I took the day off anyway and gave my notice the following week. FYI, I am now the owner of a competing firm and am able to hire stellar people partly because I treat them well and give them control over their deliverables. That way, they can take vacations whenever they want to as long as their work gets done. Works for us! Our P&L is the proof.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 21:59:40 +0000

Most of the commentator's are out of touch with running a small business. Although I would not use the word "spoiled", I understand where the owner is coming from. Take 2 weeks salary time 6 people and add in three weeks salary of the highest paid employee and imagine that you are paying it of you salary instead of negotiating with upper management for the benefit. Now remember the cars are doing crap right now and this company is likely 20% or greater decrease in business. And that the decrease in profits comes out of this owner's salary as well. He is sacrificing a bunch to offer this benefit and it makes sense that he desires the employees to pitch in by making it convenient for him in scheduling. Although he is not going to foster goodwill with the strict policy. I would recommend that he offer two weeks vacation to employees whenever they want to take it. But if the schedule vacation in full week increments between April and October he will pay them. With so few employee I believe that he is not required to pay for vacations

By: Nous Sommes Amoureux

Nous Sommes Amoureux — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 18:03:47 +0000

If he is really as bad as all of you are thinking he is, then I have to ask how he still has employees. There must be more to the story. His employees must feel some sort of loyalty to him otherwise they wouldn't continue to stick around. From his letter, he obviously is wanting feed back on if he should change the policy. The fact that he is seeking advise and an outside opinion gives him credit. In his mind he probably made that policy as the best thing for him and his company. He is now asking himself if it is the best thing for his employees. The goal here is to find a policy that balances both.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 23:31:23 +0000

What about employees that have kids who are off of school in December with no alternate child care??? Does this manager discourage people with young children from working for him/her?

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 14:43:34 +0000

It is not just in small business. I worked for a major theme park a couple of years back. They had a policy of no vacation in June, July, or August. When the chain was purchased by a VERY large corporation, they sent in some "consultants" to look at how the business was run. One of the first things they said was, "How can a business that has been around for decades not have figured out how to give their people vacation?" The policy soon changed.

Before anyone comments about how "crutial" it must be for all hands to be on deck in a park during the summer, it it the spring and the fall when they are short staffed and really need everyone there. The old policy also had us with next to no one there at times when the business planning processes were happening.

Truth is, if you have full time people, you have full time jobs. You give people time off and you figure out how to make that happen so as to retain your talent and get the job done. Talented people do find a way get both done.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 22 May 2009 15:01:23 +0000

wow, this is the most unbelievable vacation policy i’ve ever heard! how can you say someone can’t take vacation for 5 MONTHS of the year? what possible valid business reason could you have for that? i’ve never head of such funky rules for vacation. remember your employees are adults, for goodness sakes, not preschoolers!

if there are so few employees, i would recommend having a calendar posted and ask people to give as much notice as possible on that calendar when their vaca will be, and ask that 2 people not take the same week (again, in as much as that can be controlled – in the case of a wedding or baby, like evil hr lady said, you just have to deal!). and for goodness sakes, let them spread out the days however they like, that’s just silly!

By: Clare

Clare — Mon, 18 May 2009 19:43:00 +0000

And I felt “controlled” when my employer told me I had to take one of my four weeks’ paid holiday over a public holiday in August… (But bear in mind I’m in Europe where permanent employees have lots of holiday, sick leave, pension contributions etc.)

The manager may well have a business point for not taking holiday at certain times, but beyond that should offer flexibility to his employees. If you don’t treat people with respect and consider their personal needs, they’re going to end up resenting you.

By: nuqotw

nuqotw — Sun, 17 May 2009 05:37:00 +0000

Yes, your policy is strict. In fact, your whole letter smacks of a sense that your employees' human needs and wants come second to conforming to company policy. How would you feel in that situation?

Your office manager did you a tremendous favor telling you that your policy is strict. You say this person has been working for you for 5 years. There are two possibilities: (1) She's incredibly capable, loyal, and responsible to have stuck with you through your policy / attitude or (2) She's the only person you can get because of your policy / attitude. If (1), she's not the type to complain to her boss about something unless it's a big deal, which means that the vacation policy / attitude really turn off employees. If (2), it's because your policy / attitude really turn off employees. It sounds like (1) based on your letter, since it doesn't seem likely that you would keep an employee who was not capable, loyal, or responsible.

Think of it this way - when your boss says to you "I have a major performance concern" s/he is doing you a tremendous favor: s/he is giving you a chance to fix a problem before it's a crisis. Now, if you say to the boss "You're spoiled because you're used to higher performance" you might as well pack your things. A much better choice would be something like "Thank you for letting me know. Are there some specific ways you can suggest I improve?". Frankly, few bosses are prepared for the reverse conversation, and few employees are brave enough to have it. The fact the your employee summoned up the courage to do it anyway tends to imply extreme discontent.