I’m not American and I’ve done it too. That’s the whole point of PTO: take some time out to do whatever you want at any time, without needing to give advance notice or anything like that.
If you want to go on vacation, then you need to use your Vacation days instead - that way your employer will know, for example, that you should absolutely not be contacted by anyone from work during that period.
What are Americans doing on their Paid Vacation Days?
As I understand it, the term PTO (Paid Time Off) covers vacation time, sick time, paid holidays, etc.
Edit:
I went back to reread the post you were referring to. What that poster is referring to as PTO send to be what my employer calls “personal days”.
Where I work I get 20 vacation days, which are expected to be scheduled. We have a number of fixed paid holidays, and sick time. We also get 5 personal days. Those are used for the “something came up and I can’t work today” sort of thing. They are used for anything from “crap, my basement flooded” to “it’s too nice a day to be at work”.
The way I see it, PTO is a break from work but still on company time, while Vacation Days is your own time that the company has absolutely no right to, even though they pay for it too.
If I need something from a coworker and they are on PTO, I’ll send them a message but not expect any answer. If they are on vacation, I won’t send them anything.
Don’t call me. Don’t email me. I might as well be dead to you. I got the slip signed and approved, and you all knew I’d be off - find someone else to deal with your problems.
If they can’t manage without you after all that advanced notice, that’s on them. And if the problem wasn’t actually critical and I can take care of it when I get back, well now it wasn’t so critical to solve right then now was it?
I remember being given a quote that had to be completed within a day or two. Instead I was out for eight weeks due to an emergency Caesarian and maternity leave. When I got back, the request for quote was sitting on my desk, untouched. I learned a lot about taking due dates with a pound of salt. . .
Yeah, we don’t have distinct PTO and vacation days. everything falls under PTO, which can be anywhere from 0 to 30 days a year. Most leaning more towards 0, while government jobs lean more towards 30.
Some employers may also offer a certain number of sick days, but of course you wouldn’t want to waste your sick days being sick. you want to hold onto those in case something happens. If you aren’t lucky enough to be graciously provided sick days, a lot of employers will just dock your PTO for the day if you need to call in sick. So again, wouldn’t want to waste your off time being sick.
I’m not American and I’ve done it too. That’s the whole point of PTO: take some time out to do whatever you want at any time, without needing to give advance notice or anything like that.
If you want to go on vacation, then you need to use your Vacation days instead - that way your employer will know, for example, that you should absolutely not be contacted by anyone from work during that period.
What are Americans doing on their Paid Vacation Days?
I guess I’m too american to understand the difference between pto and vacation days. There is one?
As I understand it, the term PTO (Paid Time Off) covers vacation time, sick time, paid holidays, etc.
Edit:
I went back to reread the post you were referring to. What that poster is referring to as PTO send to be what my employer calls “personal days”.
Where I work I get 20 vacation days, which are expected to be scheduled. We have a number of fixed paid holidays, and sick time. We also get 5 personal days. Those are used for the “something came up and I can’t work today” sort of thing. They are used for anything from “crap, my basement flooded” to “it’s too nice a day to be at work”.
The way I see it, PTO is a break from work but still on company time, while Vacation Days is your own time that the company has absolutely no right to, even though they pay for it too.
If I need something from a coworker and they are on PTO, I’ll send them a message but not expect any answer. If they are on vacation, I won’t send them anything.
Nah dog, PTO is Personal Time Off. My time.
Don’t call me. Don’t email me. I might as well be dead to you. I got the slip signed and approved, and you all knew I’d be off - find someone else to deal with your problems.
If they can’t manage without you after all that advanced notice, that’s on them. And if the problem wasn’t actually critical and I can take care of it when I get back, well now it wasn’t so critical to solve right then now was it?
I remember being given a quote that had to be completed within a day or two. Instead I was out for eight weeks due to an emergency Caesarian and maternity leave. When I got back, the request for quote was sitting on my desk, untouched. I learned a lot about taking due dates with a pound of salt. . .
Yeah, we don’t have distinct PTO and vacation days. everything falls under PTO, which can be anywhere from 0 to 30 days a year. Most leaning more towards 0, while government jobs lean more towards 30.
Some employers may also offer a certain number of sick days, but of course you wouldn’t want to waste your sick days being sick. you want to hold onto those in case something happens. If you aren’t lucky enough to be graciously provided sick days, a lot of employers will just dock your PTO for the day if you need to call in sick. So again, wouldn’t want to waste your off time being sick.
(I know)