Which one of you wrote this? The feels...
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Schedule it in advance and take your vacation. Communicate early and frequently, put your out of office on and take time to recharge. I know-easier said than done and no guarantees that you will not have to work (hopefully only alittle to keep things moving).... Also don't be so responsive when you have your OOO on. Try it. It gets easier every year.
Yes! For example I know a few days and weeks I always take off every year and so when they come up no one can challenge me.
I take what my wife tells me to take my whole career, with the understanding that there are certain months we don’t touch and planned at least 3 months ahead. Normally take 3 to 4 weeks a year and a number of Friday’s off during the year.
Pro
Yeah this doesn’t look right at all. Public accounting has busy season and it has off-season. All my friends in public accounting take off both way more time consecutively and way more often than in other industry.
So tired of people blaming “culture” for their own inability to stand up for themselves. You’ve a crazy amount of pto to compensate you for busy season. Use it.
“So tired of people blaming “culture” for their own inability to stand up for themselves.” Could agree more.
I’d take it a step further and say, so tired of people blaming the industry culture instead of their own selfish, indecisive, and insecure choices. The sum of which give the industry its negative reputation.
Pro
No. People we need to stop the madness and quit blaming crap on your own belief in these unspoken rules. I’ve taken all of my vacation every year since starting. About 2 years in, I even stopped with the excessive hours. You are the orchestrator of your destiny and need to set boundaries. We are adults, not children that are being told to obey parents. Take your vacation and stop working yourself silly.
Same... take your vacation!!!!! This is why people are angry with the firm. They gave more than they were asked and aren’t getting what they felt they were promised even though no one ever said they would. What they did say you got was 4 weeks vacation so take that sh*t.
You guys don’t take your vacation....?!?!?!?
What sort of toxic people do you work with?
That’d be a no from me.
Sr 1 here. I almost freaked out when I was about to lose 2 weeks of vacation and told my manager that I wanted to take time off. He responded nonchalantly, "I've lost more than that".
There is this one upper culture unfortunately to see who works the most and who is the most miserable at work, its weird. But plan your vacations appropriately, inform your manager and enjoy them, assuming you are otherwise meeting utilization.
I definitely think its easy to fall in the trap of not using vacation. Though, personally, I’ve managed to take about 3-4 weeks per year. I generally do 1 two-week vacation, 1 one-week vacation, and then one or two days here and there.
At first it’s hard to stand up for yourself, but the more you set boundaries the easier it becomes.
I will say as a manager, my personal opinion is that there is zero reason an associate or senior should be asked to work on vacation. No engagement lives or dies by the associate or senior. Almost true for a manager too unless you work directly with a partner. Then you may need to be slightly more responsive or at least have daily dedicated emails checking time. And by then, I think you’re better at knowing whats an emergency and ehats not.
Is this real? I take all my vacation always. Last year I had some weeks that rolled over and took a total of 7 weeks off. No one bats an eye on my team. I guess we are lucky that we are heavily international ( from partners, to senior managers to seniors and staff) so everyone gets it and wants to go abroad to see family.
Rising Star
Lol if you don’t take all of your PTO, you’re a sucker. It’s work, it’s not that serious. “An unspoken rule” means you feel some sort of peer pressure and aren’t willing to overcome it.
Not taking your vacation is a cardinal sin. If you are somewhere where they don’t respect your vacation allowance then you should go somewhere that does. Have never let a single vacation day expire in over 10 years at EY.
You are entitled and definitely need to set boundaries. I take all my PTO and if I don't get paid overtime I shut down laptop. Not giving company my time and my Pto.
Pro
PwC monitors vacation hours focusing on those about to cap out and definitely encourages people to take it. The hard part is scheduling it but the further out you do it the better.
Never lost an hour of PTO in almost 10 years. Also have never worked or taken my laptop on a vacation and don’t plan on it. Have taken as much as 3.5 weeks off in a row (with about 9 months notice for that one). Agree with all the sentiments above that it’s your responsibility to prioritize taking it. Putting in the calendar and letting your teams know with a lot of notice helps if you think your manager is difficult about it.
I often have to fight with my team members to make sure they’re taking their time off. I get really mad if I hear anyone’s about to lose time.
I take 3 consecutive weeks of vacation every year right after my 6 month busy season. If you communicate ahead of time, put it on the calendar, and keep reminding your manager, you’ll get that vacation. I haven’t had anyone push back on this.
If you let the firm take what you give then, they won’t hesitate to take it. Gotta set boundaries.
I took slightly over 5 weeks of vacation this year and got yelled at 🤫
I’m in industry and I have a boss who has the mentality of “just get your work done” and doesn’t care how many hours I work. So I work half days on Friday and Monday. Every week. No body cares.
Yeah that’s pretty psychotic. I need my people to take their PTO and do 0 work so that when they come back they can run at 120%.
If you eat or skip PTO, you are off my projects.
Work hard, play harder 🤙
Public accounting hours can be bad but not this bad. This person either doesn’t know how to stand up for themselves or they think their working long hours are somehow gonna impress upper management.
I really think the firms you work for make a big impact in this.
The moment I worked for a firm that made me feel that way I was out. I have learned a lot in accounting and I do work hard but I know I make more than most of my friends so it’s worth it. End of day my personal life and my family is number 1, and my career is a way to make sure we can live the life we want. Career is important but not the most important thing
Bullshit. I take all of my vacation and then some. Further, if you work smart there is no need for 80 hour weeks. I don’t know why people feel the need to broadcast they worked the weekend or worked till midnight, but it baffles my mind...
I’m known as the guy that never works weekends... I’m okay with that. My career has not been impacted at all... I’m currently year 6 in my career and now senior manager. Stop making excuses.
This person is 100% doing this to themselves