A Great Surprise !

[N Florida Mike]

I love the company I work for. I changed companies almost 3 years ago. Same job, different company.

So this is our slowest season, December and January. I make money based off commission mostly. 
So I had a low check coming up , and the day before my pay period was over the owner calls me and says I had an extra week of vacation that I didn’t use last year, and it rolled over to the new year. I had taken my 2 weeks ( or so I thought ), the last 2 weeks of the year. The owner informed me that Id only taken one week, because they pay us already to be off at Christmas! So I really get 3 weeks paid vacation!

He paid me 6 extra days, it went on this pay period, so now I have a decent check!

AND… I can take the 6 extra days anytime. So technically I get a whole month vacation this year!

Our owner could have let it slide and I might have never known. He had to convince me it was true.
All companies should be this honest and giving to their employees. But sadly, many aren’t like that anymore….

I got choked up a little when I realized what they were giving me…Ive never been treated this well before by any company… It may not seem like much to many of y’all, but it means a lot to me !!! 

[gim]

11 minutes ago, N Florida Mike said:

technically I get a whole month vacation this year

A generous amount of paid time off is one of the best perks of having good job in my opinion.  Obviously some employers are more generous and flexible than others.

 

My Father is a retired math teacher and the amount of time he had off when he was still working was second to none.  3 months for summer, winter break, spring break, MEA, plus every major holiday...and he still got paid 12 months salary.  Just absurd

[Junger]

16 minutes ago, N Florida Mike said:

Our owner could have let it slide and I might have never known.

 

When you find a boss/owner that actually gives a crap about people versus focusing on bottom line, you'll fight tooth and nail for them. Sounds like you found the place you want to retire!

[Jigfishn10]

My company just went to unlimited PTO (personal time off). I read that a lot of companies have been experimenting with it pretty much since the pandemic started and it's really taking hold. A bit of a reverse psychology I guess, companies are actually finding people are taking less full days off but at the same time have shortened their work day and being more productive.

 

When the pandemic started I was working from home and found I was more productive. Instead of having lunch or working out at the same time every day, my time was more flexible and was able to do those things when I wanted to do them. My work day may extend later or could be shorter to fit my schedule. At the end of the day, I wasn't as stressed out. I loved it.

[Captain Phil]

I started a small business when I was 22 years old.  I sold my business 30 years later.  During that time, I had dozens of employees.   My employees, mostly young men, married, bought homes and cars, had kids and I did everything I could to help them prosper.  My employees never missed a pay check.   Operating a small business is tough.  Making payroll in hard times can be stressful. Markets change.  Business can be great, then you find yourself starting over from scratch.  One of the most difficult things for a small business to overcome is vacations and sick time.  If you are running your business wisely, you have just enough people to get the job done right.  When a key employee is gone, it stresses the entire operation.  Your boss cares about you or he/she wouldn't have paid for your unused vacation time.  

[Scott F]

I used to work for a big corporation and after 30 years, I’d worked up to having 6 weeks of paid vacation. My local manager used to HATE that I got that much time off and always gave me a hard time when I took my vacations even though he approved each week when I turned in my requests at the beginning of the year. 

[N Florida Mike]

4 hours ago, Junger said:

Sounds like you found the place you want to retire!

Exactly right. Except that I’ll keep working as long as I can. The job is actually fun and rewarding in more ways than one.

[Koz]

Very cool. Enjoy the pay and the time off.

[Log Catcher]

It is great when everything works out for you the way you want it to. I retired after 21 years from working maintenance for our school district. It didn't matter how long you had been there you got 12 vacation days a year. You could carry over 6 days from one year to the next but you could never have more than 18 days a year. Any more than that and you lost them.

[DitchPanda]

I'm now working 8 hour days Monday thru Friday ..also because of this I'm no longer working holidays or weekends. If a holiday falls on a weekend we take the prior Friday or following Monday to recognize the holiday. Between paid holidays and PTO I accrue I get 29 extra days of a year..I'm not complaining.

[Mobasser]

Good for you Mike. Enjoy the extra days, and extra pay.

[Jigfishn10]

18 hours ago, Log Catcher said:

 Any more than that and you lost them.

Really? We got paid for unused time. I don't now b/c we have unlimited time off, but prior to this year I used to get at least an extra weeks pay form unused time. 

[volzfan59]

Looks like you have a great employer! I'd stay until retirement time.

[Log Catcher]

4 hours ago, Jigfishn10 said:

Really? We got paid for unused time. I don't now b/c we have unlimited time off, but prior to this year I used to get at least an extra weeks pay form unused time. 

When I retired I got paid for my unused vacation days. Also got paid for over 1600 hours of sick time I had not used. They just never let us have more than 18 vacation days built up in a year.

[Columbia Craw]

Awesome

[txchaser]

That owner made a good investment, moves like that pay off for everyone in the long run. You know they care about you, and so you'll reciprocate. I'd guess if you got a call from him to pitch in on something that was important, but way out of the scope of your job, you'd be happy to help. I'm really glad everytime I hear about another leader or owner that has a clue. Big companies have by and large forgotten

 

Amazing what happens when we just actually care about other people. 

On 1/21/2022 at 7:54 AM, N Florida Mike said:

Ive never been treated this well before by any company

Write a note on actual paper and mail it to him. It'll mean a lot.

[Jigfishn10]

14 hours ago, Log Catcher said:

When I retired I got paid for my unused vacation days. Also got paid for over 1600 hours of sick time I had not used. They just never let us have more than 18 vacation days built up in a year.

Oh, got it...You get the cashout at retirement...I think I'd rather have that.

Sorry buddy, must have mis-read your post. ?

[TOXIC]

Being a Fed at a non-appropriated agency had its perks before I retired.  I earned 8 hours of annual leave every 2 weeks and 6 hours of sick leave.  Sick leave could be carried over in its entirety from year to year and I could carry over 240 hours of annual leave every year.  My first year I didn’t take any annual and for the rest of my 34 year career I carried over the maximum annual and used all that I accrued during the year.  I also had some positions that paid nice bonuses.  Rare for government work.  All my sick leave got added to my “time in grade” in 30 day increments which upped my pension amount when I retired and I was paid for all of my unused annual.  Benefits kept me doing a tough job as a career.  401k, thrift savings plan, 10% employer match, full insurance including dental and vision that came with me into retirement and a generous pension.  I’m a happy retiree right now.  My wife is the Executive Director of a non profit here in the county and we haven’t touched any of my retirement accounts.  I’m 64 and don’t plan on getting social security until 67.  I’m maxed out in that as well.  

[slonezp]

I work for a large, small family business. Has it's good and bad. The good outweighs the bad. When my mom got sick I left early on a number of occasions and got paid for full days. When she passed, they told me to take as much time off as I needed. 

Our vacation/PTO hours are kept track online. I can use, roll over, or get paid out on my vacation and PTO days. 

I could make a call tomorrow and ask for a payout of unused time and it will be on my check Friday.

[Log Catcher]

8 hours ago, Jigfishn10 said:

Oh, got it...You get the cashout at retirement...I think I'd rather have that.

Sorry buddy, must have mis-read your post. ?

I may not be explaining things the way I should. I only got paid for just a few vacation days I had not used in that year.

[TnRiver46]

I’ve worked for the same place 15 years, I’m not expecting much when it all ends. The mice might take over 

[Jigfishn10]

11 hours ago, Log Catcher said:

I may not be explaining things the way I should. I only got paid for just a few vacation days I had not used in that year.

I actually think it's me having a moment...no worries buddy...?

[N Florida Mike]

On 1/23/2022 at 8:28 PM, TnRiver46 said:

I’ve worked at the same place for 15 years, I’m not expecting much when it all ends 

My last company was trending that way. They did give me a nice free eat out lunch when I left after 23 years. When I left I had 1 week of vacation ( that I was forced to take at Christmas), and no sick days,( thank God I didnt get sick the last 7 years I was there). We did get the major holidays off. They took away all the advantages I had accumulated in sales to “even the playing field “ for the fellas that had just started. So after 23 years, I was exactly the same to them as the ones that started yesterday! 

To add insult to injury, we had to compete daily between each other to get the sorry “ Home Advisor “ leads.  The owner would get the lead and just send it to all of us, so we all called the lead at the same time. It was like throwing rotten meat to 4 hungry pit bulls. All in the name of speed and being competitive! 
The biggest reason I left was that they were planning to hire 2 more sales people. We didnt have near enough referrals with 4 ! So my check just get going down year by year.

My current Job was a huge improvement. I made nearly twice as much this year as I made at the last company. No infighting , or micro managing. Now , Im the only sales inspector  that only does sales. So thankful I moved.

[Sam]

Super!

[fishwizzard]

A company I work for had the most amazing payroll lady. We would work really nutso hours, 80 hour weeks were not uncommon,  so a lot of the time my timesheet would contain some really embarrassing math errors or just plain nonsensical entries. 
 

She was incredible about catching and correcting errors in my favor and letting me know about it. One day after a particularly egregious one that would’ve cost me a couple hundred bucks, I stoped by her office to thank her and jokingly said that she should take a cut every time she finds an error in my favor.She looks at me and instantly dead-pans “What makes you think I haven’t been doing that all along?”

 

 Now that she’s gone I actually have to pay attention myself.