Why would a company not want you to carry over vacation?

[mill4023]

We were just notified that our company has changed their policy and is no longer allowing employees to carry over any vacation.
I get 3 weeks a year and I right now, I've got 4 weeks that I'm going to have to use by the end of the year.
I was planning a 2 week WDW trip for next spring, thinking that I would be starting the year with at least 4 weeks of vacation. But now it looks like taking a 2 week trip in the spring would only leave me with 1 week for the rest of the year.

I'm puzzled, trying to figure out how it benefits the company to get rid of the carryover vacation.

 

[lovemygoofy]

If someone carried over vacations days, that person would have to reimbursed with payment when the employee and company parted ways.

 

[DizBelle]

I don't know. I could see how they wouldn't want you to be able to carry over "forever" and then be able to take 6 months off one year. But a policy where you can carry over only so much and you have to use a previous year's accrued vacation in the current year doesn't seem like it would be a problem.

Maybe there is an accounting reason for it.

 

[Eeyore'sthebest]

We are only permitted to carry over so many days and they all have to be used by March 31st or they expire.

My dad at one point was carrying over like 8 weeks a year that he had accumulated after many years of service. Finally they just told him that he had to take the time or lose it. So he and my mom took a 6 week cross-country drive.

 

[LuvOrlando]

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[mill4023]

The previous official policy was that you could carry over 1 week.
But for salaried employees(like me), the company doesn't actually track vacation time anywhere. My boss said it's supposed to be tracked within each department, but she hadn't done anything to keep track of it. It was definitely the first time I've ever had a boss ask me if I remembered how much vacation time I was supposed to have left. She also said that we could unofficially carry over as much as we wanted. She's out today, so I'll have to ask her about this new policy when she gets back, but I'm hoping that she'll still be ok with unofficially carrying vacation over.

 

[LanaJayne]

It is not in the company's interest to have hours owed, like a previous posted said. If you and the company part ways, these hours or equivalent dollars are owed. Bottom line, enjoy your 2 weeks off, even if it only means 1 week of vacation left. You can look forward to it and enjoy it!

 

[allison443]

My dh works for a major insurance company. Their policy for years has been "use it or lose it". If you don't take your allotted vacation each year, you lose it. You don't get reimbursed when you leave, either.

DH gets six weeks vacation (he's been there a long time). He never takes it all. One year he only took two weeks. This year he will probably take about four weeks.

 

[clutter]

A company has to balance Assets with Liabilities. IF Assets overcome Liabilities the company looks strong. If, however, Liabilities overshadow Assets the company looks weak. In response a company can make itself appear healthier by either generating more assets (making more money) or by reducing liabilities (layoffs, switch from purchasing equipment to leasing) to make the Asset side appear relatively strong. On paper vacation time is a liability. If you are not allowed to keep the days as an asset your company looks healthier on paper.

Right. At year end, the company has to calculate the value of the unused vacation (number of hours x hourly rates) and report it as money owed. (It is, the employees need to use it or be paid it upon exit.) The other reason is that, depending on the state, when you leave a job, the employer may be required to pay you for any earned but unused vacation. By instituting a 'use or lose' policy, you minimize the payout.

 

[mill4023]

I understand the assets and liabilities point, but in this case, it doesn't sound like there is anything on paper that shows how much vacation we have. At one point, I asked our HR department where I could look up how much vacation I had left and I was told they don't have that information anywhere and I had to ask my boss.

I know it's not that uncommon for companies to have a use it or lose it policy. It's just annoying when a benefit is taken away. Having the option to carry over at least some vacation gives you a lot more flexibility.

 

[Pumbaa_]

this usually ends up with problems that they did not consider and change it to carry over no more than 5 days

If you have 1 bucket of time for sick and vacation, people end up keeping days right up to the end of the year in case they get sick and then last week of the year people all have to take the same time off

I would ask management to reconsider and limit the number of days that can be carried over rather than eliminate it all together

good luck!

 

[Evil Genius]

Salaried or not, your vacation time is still a liability on the books.

 

[mill4023]

Salaried or not, your vacation time is still a liability on the books.

But what I'm saying is that it isn't in the books. There isn't any form we fill out when we take vacation and there isn't any record of how much vacation time we have at any particular time. Although it's possible that I misunderstood and that information is tracked, they just don't do it on a real time basis. Maybe each department manager is supposed to provide that information to HR at the end of the year or something and my manager was just slacking and not keeping up with tracking it.

As far as sick time, we don't have any set number of sick days and we don't have to use vacation. If we're sick, we just let the boss know.

 

[lovemygoofy]

I understand the assets and liabilities point, but in this case, it doesn't sound like there is anything on paper that shows how much vacation we have. At one point, I asked our HR department where I could look up how much vacation I had left and I was told they don't have that information anywhere and I had to ask my boss.

I know it's not that uncommon for companies to have a use it or lose it policy. It's just annoying when a benefit is taken away. Having the option to carry over at least some vacation gives you a lot more flexibility.

I don't know what kind of relationship you have with your boss but I would be asking right away for my vacation hours to be recorded especially if in a different bank from your sick leave. Right now it would be hard to back your statements of so many banked days if your boss stated something different. Start keeping track for yourself or pass through those hours directly to someone in HR.

 

[minniecarousel]

I work just less than half time at a public school and have been at the same site for 12 years. I have been accruing vacation hours all this time. I've been told that they don't want us carrying over a certain amount (can't remember the number of hours right now.) It's strange, since I have the summers off, and there is no $$ to pay someone else to do my job when I do take vacation days. Someone else at the school has to cover for me. So I won't feel at all guilty next December when I take off for WDW! After all, I've been told to take my vacation days, or lose them!

 

[The Mystery Machine]

But what I'm saying is that it isn't in the books. There isn't any form we fill out when we take vacation and there isn't any record of how much vacation time we have at any particular time. Although it's possible that I misunderstood and that information is tracked, they just don't do it on a real time basis. Maybe each department manager is supposed to provide that information to HR at the end of the year or something and my manager was just slacking and not keeping up with tracking it.

As far as sick time, we don't have any set number of sick days and we don't have to use vacation. If we're sick, we just let the boss know.

Yes, sounds like your manager may have been fudging numbers and more than likely it was not enforced. So now they are cracking down.

And technically it is "on the books" on a bean counters sheet somewhere.

 

[LuvOrlando]

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[TimothyQMouse]

If I think like an employer, I can think of several reasons. First, I'm giving you vacation for several reasons. I use it as a benefit to compete with other companies for your services. I also expect that your use of it will improve your disposition and attitude. Finally, making sure that people take their vacation helps me to catch problems (employees embezzling, employees without adequate backup, etc).

If you are carrying over too much vacation, I'm not getting the second two reasons for giving it to you. I'm also accruing not just a financial liability, but the risk that you'll start taking a disruptively large amount of vacation.

Most companies that I am familiar with allow you to carry over a manageable amount of vacation (typically half to one year's worth). That gives you planning flexibility without giving you an incentive to hoard it.

 

[Sandy V.]

But what I'm saying is that it isn't in the books. There isn't any form we fill out when we take vacation and there isn't any record of how much vacation time we have at any particular time. Although it's possible that I misunderstood and that information is tracked, they just don't do it on a real time basis. Maybe each department manager is supposed to provide that information to HR at the end of the year or something and my manager was just slacking and not keeping up with tracking it.

As far as sick time, we don't have any set number of sick days and we don't have to use vacation. If we're sick, we just let the boss know.

The problem with it not being "on the books" is that if HR doesn't have an official record of it and you decide to leave the company, how are you going to prove that they owe you all of this unused vacation time? Your boss may vouch for your records (or his/hers), but I sure wouldn't want to risk all of that $$$ on that hope. What if they don't and throw you under the bus if senior management steps in? Do you really want to be out all of that cash?

My company has a "use it or lose it" policy, and as others have said, for their bookkeeping purposes, I can see why. I know that the flexibility of carrying it over is nice, but in this day and age, if it were me, I'd take the vacation during this year and start afresh next.

Good luck figuring it all out.

 

[MovieJunkie]

hmm good to know. we can't carry over vacation and I never understood why. thanks for the informative posts!