Vacation Need/Want
I usually have just enough vacation days to keep me happy, but the problem is a 6-work-day trip I am taking with my University, which seriously cuts into my PTO package. I have 10 PTO days, 6 of which will be going towards a trip, leaving just 4 days for everything else, which is not enough.
However, even though the trip is not directly related to company business, the owner told me he wanted to support it, and had donated some money to the University for the trip's cause.
Boss / HR
My boss and I talked about my situation, and agreed that an extra week of PTO will work well for my needs. Boss went to HR with the following:
- that will be the typical PTO package in my industry (software)
- I am going on a long trip, which is supported by the company (company-backing)
- I have property in Florida I visit often (personal)
Boss & me also had the following questions:
- can my annual raise be converted to PTO?
- can I take my trip as unpaid time off?
- can I work from home somehow?
Through negotiating with HR, HR explained that they have a mindset, which is "all employees are to be treated fairly and the equally, and no employee should get extra privileges over another". And for that reason, they cannot allow extra time to be negotiated for my case, and they frown on work from home arrangements.
My boss felt it was misguided, since he himself had more time off than me. HR said: "you, boss, have more time off, because you are in Managerial layer. Your subordinate (me) is not, so he does not".
My boss noted that he has seen people leave the company due to issues like these, and doesn't want to lose me and was concerned. His muttered that if there are different rules for different classes of employees, maybe HR can move me to the class that gets more PTO. He is really looking out for me.
In the end, HR came back with a plan: "What if we let the employee (me) work extra hours per week, to make up the 6 days off that will be taken off for the trip". Draw up an agreement and we'll accept it.
Boss is not happy but after long negotiations that's the best offer HR had thus far. My spouse is not happy & told me to look for new offers. Myself, liking the job so far, is conflicted, and want to get some solid feedback to possibly help sort this thing out. For one I'd rather have the owner give me unpaid time off for the trip instead of making a monetary donation to the University but that was not my call to make.
In Conclusion
In the end... I am not getting the time off for the trip, paid, or unpaid, but can work it off by working overtime, which is not the most convenient. Considering all of the above, what do I do? My thoughts are:
- Accept HR's offer to make up 6 days by working extra hours
- Look for new offers
- Try another negotiation tactics