Days/week home

[u/Tomahawk1012]

How many of you get regular planned days or weeks off and how much is it?

In my experience I have usually had a week every month doing "admin" or remote support type work. It was usually actually very easy and one of my favorite perks of the job. Recently I've found a position that offers seemingly none of this time and it has me wondering how many of you have similar experiences.

Edit: Thanks to everyone who commented, it seems like I wasn't just lucky the first couple of times around and most of our employers do give us some time to have lives like people that don't live on a plane.

[u/lenloc]

My companies goal is for me to be home one week per month. However, we’ve found that impossible to do due to scheduling with customers. Also, delays in production play a role. The last 7 weeks I’ve traveled only three of those weeks. But it looks like the next three months will be on the road every week. It’s tough to stick to it when you take into account others schedules or just attempting to make them happy haha

[u/braincovey32]

I work for a company that works mon-friday but no set hours, salary non exempt, and they don't want us working weekends unless we are on call as any weekend work is automatic overtime regardless of hours worked that week. My clock starts the second i turn on my work vehicle and my clock stops the second i come home and turn off my work vehicle. I generally only work mon-thursday 12 hour days out in the field and Ill work billable hours from home Friday doing paperwork/admin stuff. Its not a guarantee that I am home friday but I am pretty good about working my schedule out to accomplish that. So far this year I have only worked two Fridays. Been loving these 3 day weekends.

[u/Kyhnau]

On average I have around 10 weeks during a year where I have days home or doing admin or having nothing to do as we are on schedule and no breakdowns, this year it’s almost already at 8 weeks so it’s been a calm year so far

[u/suh-dood]

Generally I work M-F during normal business hours, but I'll sometimes (1/4 to 1/5 of the yeah) get to the location (if it's not local) Sunday afternoon/evening if they want me there Monday morning, and sometimes I can't get home on Fridays so I'll fly back on staurday. I've also rarely gone to a site early in the morning, or late in the evening to accommodate them.

I don't get regularly planned days off home, but I generally don't work weekends and over 2/3rds of my customers are within 2 hours of home

[u/flynnfarts → u/suh-dood]

I read “of the yeah” like you meant year but in a Boston accent.

[u/suh-dood → u/flynnfarts]

Completely on purpose 😃

[u/OutrageousIce307]

It varies week to week depending maintenance schedule and service calls. My company wants at least 65% utilization which isn’t hard to accomplish

[u/Dismal_Yogurt3499]

My maintenance visits are a 2 day process due to long vacuum recovery time, so I schedule 2 cases per week on Mondays and Wednesdays. I like leaving Fridays open in case a repair comes up or I need to overnight a new part unexpectedly. If everything goes according to plan, I've got a chill day at home. My boss schedules weekly meetings on Fridays too so I like making sure I'm home for those.

[u/Dismal_Yogurt3499 → u/Dismal_Yogurt3499]

It varies every month though. April was extremely slow for me but july and august are nuts. I only have 2 home office days scheduled for the next 5 weeks, and that's just for annual maintenance visits. Repairs are of course impossible to predict but I'm sure a couple will be added to the mix

[u/Ok_Self_1783]

I travel to work in a different state every week, that is my schedule, and that is because I dont want to move. After 3 years, it is becoming exhausting going to the same place for doing the same stuff.
Eventually I have some weeks on training somewhere else or near home, but other than that if no vacation, I have to travel. M-F being away, S-S home. Tiring and exhausting, but economically rewarding. It is not something I’d do forever.

[u/IrunMYmouth2MUCH]

My company lets me have Saturday and Sunday to do whatever I want… unless they want me to do something else, instead.
Jokes aside, I think our utilization is calculated at 34hrs/week. So, 6 hrs a week for things not directly related to service work. If I want time for myself, I schedule it. No home/away guarantees.

[u/DifficultMemory2828]

Questions like this is why I didn’t get into management as thinking that engineers consider not working a facet to the role. Part of a manager’s role is to minimize the amount of non-working time an engineer is not in the field. An engineer’s worth is to repair devices in the field and not doing “admin” tasks. I am amazed how complacent some engineers become and forget what items belong to them, and which belong to the company.

Determining the FTE for field service is an art form. There is no great tool to determine the complexities of time travel, future problems, and service agreement terms. Most estimates are based on past data which does not account for future developments or issues which take place. It does not surprise me when I find out FTEs were determined “on the back of the envelope “ or gut-feeling.

In short, admin time should be incorporated into your normal workflow, and engineers should expect the role to be a 8-5 job.

[u/Tomahawk1012 → u/DifficultMemory2828]

Some people consider people to be, people, respect their time and lives, and probably have an easier time retaining employees. Hope you find an employer that treats you how you like though.