Novocastrian

I've taken 9 weeks paid vacation so far this year. Eat yer hearts out. No, 10 weeks, I forgot one.

dbd33

I don't think I've had a paid vacation day since I moved to Canada.

Novocastrian

You seem to be conflating your job with that of your slaves.

dbd33

One does expect professionalism and so should set an example. Mind, I'm good with 40 hours/week billed (as long as it's every week). We're not like law firms where they expect a consistent 70+

Novocastrian

Well I know I'm lucky, (not exactly dumb luck though), but I'm curious as to what constitutes an hour billed in terms of real time.

dbd33

An hour. Sometimes there are payments for travel time but it's not usually the case. If the hour is at home or in our office it probably is an hour of head down working, if it's at a client's site they'll have "planning meetings" and "status meetings" and fire drills and other non-productive but still billable time.

Novocastrian

I have to admit to having quite a lot of billable time wasted on social media sites such as this one. I'm certain you're not guilty of that.

dbd33

I post all day. I keep up with half a dozen "news" suppliers. I work 60 bill 40 and lots of posting time is "wait time" anyway. It's a wash. (I am, btw, working in another window now).

It is true though that the timesheet is a nonsense, it's really a weekly fee for service as the hours billed aren't closely related to the hours worked. I just can't be bothered tracking precisely and I like the freedom to wander off in the middle of the day granted by always receiving and responding to emails promptly regardless of the hour of the day or the day of the year.

What I do find a bit iffy is sitting at one client's desk with their computer connected to another client's system. I was explicitly invited to do that some years ago and have carried on but it doesn't seem entirely kosher.

Novocastrian

Ah well. We have a lot in common IMO, but also some important variances.

Enjoy your next (paid) day off.

SchnookoLoly

Both Husband and I have 4 weeks paid here. Husband was offered 4 from the get-go. I was originally offered 3, I asked for 4, and got it without much of a fight.

The Big4 I worked for in my past life, if you are in the lower half of the totem pole (e.g., join as a grad) then you have 3 weeks holiday. Once you make Manager (5ish years) you get 4 weeks.

We both have flexible working hours as well, for things like appointments and such (I was gone for 2.5 hours in the afternoon today, just stayed a bit later to make it up).

ann m

I can't complain at all about my vacation and time off package. It's awesome , and the main reason I stay where I am. Not to brag, you understand, but simply to highlight that some employers are not stingy.

In February I go up to 5 weeks, plus I get 11 flex day, plus 5 Xmas days, and then all the public holidays. See, that's why I stay.

Edo

Canadians don't work as hard as Brits do and spend most of their days at work doing nothing so 2 weeks vacation serves them just right.

dbd33

That may be true but Canadians are all but irrelevant to my current workplace. There are some but they're usually managers or in the Human Resource department, bimbos and himbos, hired due to rampant nepotism (and yes I acknowledge exploiting that nepotism myself). I can't recall an instance of going to someone to get a problem fixed and finding they were Canadian.

Zoe Bell

I started on 2 , am now up to 5. I also get the days between Christmas and new year off as extras.
In place of a pay rise i was able to negotiate lieu time for all my extra hours. this usually nets me at least a week of extra vacation.

the problem I have is that I have more vacation days that time I'm allowed to use them

nikki dreaming

I think it depends on the industry in Canada , I was lucky from the start, don't know if the fact I work for a uk based company helps or not I think competitors in my trade are similar, 4 weeks vacation , 12 personal days and all holidays paid, I think you get an extra week after 10 yrs, some roles start at 3 weeks, even so the biggest thing I noticed moving here was the amount if vacation people carry over, ! In uk everyone used every day up by the cut off