Let’s say you have a two-hour appointment during the day, and taking it over lunchtime just isn’t an option (or it’s longer than lunch). Is it expected that you use PTO to cover it, or is it generally understood that anything less than a half day that doesn’t interfere with work or meetings can just slide, assuming that’s not abused?
I tend to take little chunks of PTO, because I’d rather do that than worry someone thinks I’m abusing the system, but I get teased by my coworkers for that. Which makes me think I’m the only one who does this.
Don’t know how to make a poll, not really interested in making one anyway.
I’m usually paranoid that I should take PTO, but my company has been pretty clear that with COVID stuff things are more flexible with WFH so just keep your calendar up to date and get your work done so I’d be slightly anxious about it but wouldn’t take PTO, would just block it off on my calendar.
“Hey boss, I have to take a long lunch/off early, (optionally note what you’re doing). I’m on top of my workload and I (worked late yesterday/will work late over the rest of the week).”
That said I previously worked at a company that was very strict, I think you got a recommended 5 hours of time per year for appointments/etc. and it was somewhat scrutinized.
I do not use PTO for anything less than half a day.
I’ll just work more hours later that day.
My job is quite flexible that way, in that I do not have to be at my desk at specific times. And since my desk is at home, I can do my work any time without having to drive in to work, which I have done late at night in the past (had a desktop at work and couldn’t use home PC for work), but pretty much never again
When I worked at company ABC, I’d take PTO if I was even an hour late, etc. It seemed to be expected. In my later years there I rounded it to the nearest four-hour chunk. If it was year-end, I’d only register it if I was out the whole day since I was otherwise working 10-12 days plus another 4-12 on the weekend.
When I worked at company XYZ one day I finally stumbled into the office around noon, was looking in the company’s online-PTO-tracker for how to register taking a few hours off, couldn’t figure it out, boss happened to walk by, I asked him about it he said, "OMGWTFBBQ42!!! What kind of a moran are you? Everyone knows that you only need to track full days that you miss. "
Now that I work at company QWERTY I have no idea what our policy is because of this whole COVID nonsense. I can tell you one thing - boss isn’t keeping track of what hours I’m logged in.
My company has different rules for folks who are hourly vs. not (we have many folks getting paid hourly who would be salaried at almost any other company).
For salaried, less than half day, you don’t use sick/vacation time, 4+ hours you do.
For hourly, it is by hour, so even 60 minutes is supposed to recorded, but you can also make it up other hours (which is in practice what everybody does).
Current company is laid back about it, just take the time that you need. Last job I left was rigid, to the point that they required employees to punch in and out. One time the president spotted me walking outside to get a bagel late in the morning and complained to my boss.
The prez had his quirks for sure but he was a nice guy, really cared about his employees, benefits were great and excellent work-life balance. Morale went way down when the new guy came in, even though he was more flexible with time.
interesting cause being told on for going out for a bagel indicates he’s not a nice guy. what did your boss have to say about this? that makes it sound like prison.
well yeah, i also have to bill my time, so as long as i meet my billable hour goal and don’t miss meetings, and nobody notices, nobody cares, particularly with this wfh all the time arrangement. i usually will block off the time in my outlook calendar if i think someone might notice or care. will not use PTO though for a couple hours.
My boss just laughed it off, said he thought it was BS but it’s the rule so we just have to play along. He thought that next time I should just get a bagel from the place next to the office building rather than walk a couple blocks to get it.
Basically the same as what a lot of others have said. Typically I will just make up the time by arriving early/working through lunch/leaving late. Sometimes I’ll just take the full half day and simply not go back to work after the appointment and do something else. Prior to COVID that would be something like see a movie or golf, but now i mostly don’t bother with PTO since it’s easy to make up the time WFH.
So for those who don’t take PTO, is this something you’ve ever discussed with your manager? Or is it just generally understood that this is how it works?
We have an official company policy, but actuarials (and other professional areas, presumably) who are salaried seem to be quite relaxed about it. I don’t have a problem with that, but it’s not how I want to approach it without being told it’s ok. Not because I need someone to tell me how to act, but because I exert far too much emotional effort on worrying that what I’m doing is making people resent me or talk about me behind my back.
interesting. seems based on this and other interactions with you that you’re waaaay too concerned and nitpicky about rules at times.
i doubt most people even know the exact policy on these things or talked to their manager about it. you gauge how others approach it when you’re new and go with it.
When I first took my current job I put in a request for 2 hours of PTO because of a doc appointment, but my boss said that it wasn’t necessary to do so. By all means you should talk to your boss about it, chances are it won’t be a problem but good to make sure.
I enjoy knowing the rules and following them. At a past company, when someone had a question about policies, they asked me before they went to HR. It’s almost a hobby of mine.
Sometimes I know a rule and choose not to follow it. Get a little wild, living on the edge. But I like to know I’m breaking a rule when I do.
I don’t really like to be teased because I know and follow rules. I’m not walking around with a little notebook keeping track of the rules other people are breaking or ratting them out or anything. It’s just how I like to do things, and I often wonder why other people are different from me, because they obviously are. It’s an interesting topic to me.
that’s horrendous for morale