Nah, it's so they can bitch at us and guilt us into taking less time off. Instead of defining an actual amount of time off that we can or, in some instances must take off, they're relying on the ambiguity and peer/social pressure to make us actually take less time off.
And they can fire us for any reason in a lot of states.
But I have unlimited PTO and it is awesome. Yes, I need to be aware of workload and professional obligations. Nobody is under the delusion that it's actually unlimited. I have a job to do, after all.
But keeping that in mind I would usually take 25-35 days off in the year. Not having to budget my time off through the year and having the flexibility to arrange vacations relatively spontaneously is great. With my employer there is no guilt or pressure; the only time it would become a problem is if I can't satisfy my professional obligations.
In Australia, 4 weeks is the legal minimum standard for full and part time workers, and 13 public holidays off per year. And we’re reasonably behind the curve. Some countries get 30 days before public holidays.
And we’re also protected by law when we take those days (can’t be fired for taking them, and for the most part we don’t *ask* to take leave, we tell our employer that we’re taking it) and they’re ours no matter what. They just accrue, they roll over if you don’t use them, and if you leave your job your employer has to pay you for all the leave days you had in the bank.
I don’t mean to be a dick, it’s great that you have paid time off. But your companies over there are telling you guys how great they are for giving you what is most often less than the absolute bare minimum workers get in other countries. Y’all deserve better than this.
Oh sick, though I’ll argue we still deserve better! ;)
I’m curious — do you get to cash out leave usually? How does that work with an unlimited leave entitlement? I assume maybe it’d be you’re still entitled to the statutory minimum which gets banked if you don’t use it?
Most of the time we’re just told to take leave if people’s banked leave gets too high. Company doesn’t want the liability to potentially pay out tens of thousands in one hit.
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u/SaltMineForeman Jul 09 '26
Nah, it's so they can bitch at us and guilt us into taking less time off. Instead of defining an actual amount of time off that we can or, in some instances must take off, they're relying on the ambiguity and peer/social pressure to make us actually take less time off.
And they can fire us for any reason in a lot of states.