I am using up my excess PTO before the end of the year. That is Paid Time Off for the non corporate world. That started back when corporations of the Dilbert variety combined sick days and paid vacation into PTO. No more need to call in sick just to take a day off.
Corporations buy each other and merge benefits. That happened to me. I didn’t lose how many PTO days I can earn (at 14 years I am maxed out) but the limited number that can be carried over year to year changed to 50% less.
To encourage people to use their PTO the policy has always been (for my company) to use them or lose them except for the carry over. This is a philosophy promoted by HR (Human Resources) types to encourage a healthful life style by encouraging breaks from work. Time off for vacations. In Europe many countries take a MONTH off.
I notice a few of our younger associates (I have to be PC here) have been fully engrained with the full get away PTO lifestyle. They never have enough PTO and can’t wait until the next vacation. Somehow I enjoy what I do for a living and tend to conserve PTO.
Besides, being salaried and never putting in less than 10 working hours per day gives me a few hours for a dental appointment when I need it without filing for PTO. To some I may be a workaholic, but I do have a lot of outside interest (like projects in my workshop). They just don’t require PTO.
Many like me find extending paid holidays usually works quite well in devouring PTO days. Suddenly finding an extra week to use or lose at the end of the year has made the office rather thin staffed with us experienced old folks. We are no fools, if we are going to lose our PTO safety cushion and not get paid for days earned, then so be it. Use it!
It’s kinda fun but somehow scary (simulating retirement) with long periods of time off… At my age I guess I need to get used to it. I just filed for Medicare. Ha!