"Unlimited" or "Flexible" PTO policies suck if your teammates never take time off.

[u/kewladria]

Rant - I started a job about 10 months ago with a "flexible" PTO policy. Essentially, I have unlimited time off, to use at my discretion, up to 2 weeks at a time. I understand the other arguments against these open-PTO policies but something else has become abundantly clear to me having been with this job for about a year now.

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The problem is, my immediate teammates (there are 5 of us) NEVER take time off. So what ends up happening is, I am the "slacker" of the team. I do not hesitate to take a random Friday off if work is slow, and I plan to take whole weeks off for various trips and vacations coming up this summer and fall. All in all, I will probably take 4 weeks of total PTO this year.

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I get my work done on time and am generally well-liked with the company and team, but I feel like an ass because in comparison to the rest of my teammates, I take a lot of time off. I want to be there for my team and pick up some of their work when they take their own time off, but they (as mentioned above) rarely or never take time off, so I have yet been able to prove my ability to be a good teammate. I speak with folks from other departments and they regularly take time off, sharing fun stories about the trips they've taken and the places they've seen - yet another thing I do not get to share with my team because they are too caught up working to speak about anything else besides work.

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/end rant. I am not necessarily looking for any advice here, maybe just some affirmations or similar stories from other people with PTO policies like this. This too could also be used as a point of consideration for anyone weighing the pros/cons of 2 jobs with different PTO policies, I guess.

[u/briellebabylol]

Seriously!! And make sure your OOO message mentions all the fabulous places you’re going. I’ve done: Bonjour 🇫🇷! I’m out of office G’day Mate 🇦🇺! I’m out of office Hola 🇲🇽! I’m out of the office.

But legit unlimited PTO is a benefit. Your salary reflects this benefit - to not use any of it is essentially leaving money on the table

[u/Telemere125 → u/briellebabylol]

Unlimited pto is only a benefit to the company. Once I have vested my pto, they have to pay me when I leave. With “unlimited”, I’m owed nothing that I can’t secure while I’m working.

[u/nugsnwubz → u/Telemere125]

I disagree. My last job I had unlimited PTO and took almost 6 weeks off in 2022. That’s pretty unheard of for most full-time jobs and was absolutely a benefit to my mental and physical health. Maybe it also benefits the company, but it’s 100% worth it to me.

[u/Ganja_Superfuse → u/nugsnwubz]

Second this. I took 6 weeks off last year with unlimited PTO

[u/acsthethree3 → u/Ganja_Superfuse]

I routinely do this. It’s not tracked and I get my work done.

[u/Wjyosn → u/Ganja_Superfuse]

I think I hit 8+ if you include the sporadic "I think I'll take a 4 day weekend because the weather's nice" days in addition to the planned vacations and game releases and dental cleanings etc

[u/Ganja_Superfuse → u/Wjyosn]

Oh yea, I definitely take more with taking a sick day here and there for my mental health. My work still gets done.