Does anyone else find themselves with bosses/MPs who don’t take vacations/days off? I’m a second year, started in August 2018 after the Bar and our firm’s managing partners have not taken more then one day off at a time since I started. They also are, generally, in disbelief that an employee is actually sick when taking a sick day. A real “gotta see it to believe it” mentality there. I think it really adds to my stress/anxiety when I do rarely take days off or tell them I’m going on a vacation!

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I worked at a firm exactly like this, and I’m so happy I left. Life is too short to be around miserable workaholics. Employing you doesn’t entitle them to control your personal life. You have to draw boundaries and not feed into such extremely controlling behavior. If they want to fire you or retaliate because you took a vacation and weren’t available 24/7, then you need to find another place to work anyway because nobody should live like that.

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I used to work with some people like that. Honestly, it was awful. I would take working vacations where I literally carried around my laptop and made sure I was 100% available and getting my work done and I still got snarky side comments. It really sucked and wore on me. I’ve since lateraled and work for much more reasonable people who generally trust that my work will get done and are fine with people taking time off, vacations, working remotely. It’s a breath of fresh air. May be time to make a move?

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One of my top priorities was making sure I worked for a firm that values mental health. At minimum, I expect that my vacation will be a true vacation. I don’t mind answering an email or two while I’m gone, but I refuse to be “on” during my entire trip. The attorneys at my last firm who never took vacations seemed rundown, burnt out, and generally resentful. The attorneys who took at least one vacation each year were more productive and generally more pleasant to be around. I’m glad a lot of these attorneys with that toxic “gotta see it to believe it” mentality are starting to retire/exit the profession.

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Responding to all replies to my post: thank you for input! I agree it’s time to try and move on to a firm that values mental health and work-life balance more, or at least the same as, the billable hour. I’ve consistently billed over 170 hours a month since starting and I’m sick of being afraid to use my vacation time or be on call during my days off. Since this is my first firm job post law school, I struggle with the “well the grass is always greener” mentality and “what If I leave and land somewhere with the same firm culture or management.” Advice on questions you ask in interviews to get a better idea of what a new firm’s culture looks like?

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We just hired someone new that I knew from outside of the process. She flat out asked for this kind of info from me separately. I told her everything - no firm is perfect. I wanted her to come in with full knowledge. She accepted the offer.

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OP, glad you realize you need to leave. You can’t establish boundaries for yourself in a place where the leaders display no boundaries; you aren’t going to change them. At least it is really clear what they value. And if you have different values, then act on what you can control, which is where you work.

Be careful in interviews not to disparage the old firm, particularly on this subject. Others may interpret that as you aren’t willing to work hard. As commonly said, have positive reasons for your job change.

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Thank you!

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