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(Un)paid Time Off

(Un)paid Time Off

Old Nov 25th 2014, 4:29 pm
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Default (Un)paid Time Off

Hello everyone,
I would like to know how easy it is to negotiate with the prospective employer possible unpaid time off, based on your experience and what you know. Since PTO is rarely given except for 1-2 weeks...
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Old Nov 25th 2014, 4:43 pm
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Default Re: (Un)paid Time Off

Isn't that going to depend entirely on the employer and why you want the time off?
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Old Nov 25th 2014, 4:46 pm
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Default Re: (Un)paid Time Off

It varies a lot by position and industry, but most of the time the answer to your question is "very hard".

What job are you expecting to be doing?
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Old Nov 25th 2014, 4:49 pm
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Default Re: (Un)paid Time Off

Originally Posted by Ricky_85
Hello everyone,
I would like to know how easy it is to negotiate with the prospective employer possible unpaid time off
Got an easier question...how long is a piece of string...

Can you check them out via something like Glassdoor?

http://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/index.htm
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Old Nov 25th 2014, 4:50 pm
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Default Re: (Un)paid Time Off

You don't negotiate unpaid time off but you ask for it. It depends on the company policies, your manager, and work schedules. For some companies and managers, they are very conscience of employees needs and as long as it doesn't adversely affect their schedule, it's usually granted unless people want to take long period of time off on a regular basis.

In the industry that I worked in, if an employee can hit their schedule with the time off, it was usually granted. However if an employee is usually behind schedule even without time off, then there will likely be a problem. When a software project has a deadline and one person doesn't meet the deadline, the whole project misses the deadline. In that case, allowing someone to take a month off may mean wasting more than a year's worth of manpower in the engineering group alone plus much more time in other groups and a product that comes late to the market by just a month or two can make the difference between a successful or failed product.

If you currently have a job where schedules aren't important and products are shipped whenever employees decide they want to work and complete the project, then someplace like a Silicon Valley company is not for you.

Your leverage is what you can offer the employer. If you are an average employee, you have very little leverage since the employer can find a lot of those without the headaches.

Last edited by Michael; Nov 25th 2014 at 5:11 pm.
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Old Nov 25th 2014, 4:50 pm
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Default Re: (Un)paid Time Off

Originally Posted by Ricky_85
Hello everyone,
I would like to know how easy it is to negotiate with the prospective employer possible unpaid time off, based on your experience and what you know. Since PTO is rarely given except for 1-2 weeks...
Not something to bring up at the job interview if you want to get hired!
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Old Nov 25th 2014, 4:57 pm
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Default Re: (Un)paid Time Off

Are you talking about trying to negotiate unpaid time off before accepting a position? No one does that, unless it's a trip you've already paid for and can't reschedule or get a refund, in which case you tell the employer you've got this time off already planned in the near future, one-time only thing, and hope he allows it. You don't negotiate future unpaid leave.

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Old Nov 25th 2014, 5:16 pm
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Default Re: (Un)paid Time Off

Originally Posted by Noorah101
Are you talking about trying to negotiate unpaid time off before accepting a position? No one does that, unless it's a trip you've already paid for and can't reschedule or get a refund, in which case you tell the employer you've got this time off already planned in the near future, one-time only thing, and hope he allows it. You don't negotiate future unpaid leave.

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No, just asking as someone who would like to be and work in the US.
So, hypothetically, I shouldn't negotiate possible unpaid time off during a later stage of the interviews...
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Old Nov 25th 2014, 5:22 pm
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Default Re: (Un)paid Time Off

Originally Posted by Ricky_85
No, just asking as someone who would like to be and work in the US.
So, hypothetically, I shouldn't negotiate possible unpaid time off during a later stage of the interviews...
Well if it's all hypothetical and you're not actually in the US, or have an offer...it's just so vague...piece of string etc
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Old Nov 25th 2014, 5:25 pm
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Default Re: (Un)paid Time Off

Originally Posted by Hotscot
Well if it's all hypothetical and you're not actually in the US, or have an offer...it's just so vague...piece of string etc
again piece of string

Well at the moment I don't have some things, but that doesn't hinder me to think about it, does it?
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Old Nov 25th 2014, 5:31 pm
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Default Re: (Un)paid Time Off

Originally Posted by Ricky_85
again piece of string

Well at the moment I don't have some things, but that doesn't hinder me to think about it, does it?
Asking about unpaid time off at an interview is NOT a good idea. You are already giving the prospective employer doubts as to your commitment.
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Old Nov 25th 2014, 5:45 pm
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Default Re: (Un)paid Time Off

Originally Posted by Ricky_85
again piece of string

Well at the moment I don't have some things, but that doesn't hinder me to think about it, does it?
No it doesn't but it's like wondering what the weather will be like on 24th September somewhere unspecified in America.

Or if you move to America how much will you get paid.

Without more specific input you can only get the vaguest of answers, that's all.
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Old Nov 25th 2014, 6:06 pm
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Default Re: (Un)paid Time Off

Originally Posted by Hotscot
No it doesn't but it's like wondering what the weather will be like on 24th September somewhere unspecified in America.

Or if you move to America how much will you get paid.

Without more specific input you can only get the vaguest of answers, that's all.
I understand... But it's something even to listen to the different experiences. I kinda know that it's not a topic to bring up during the first interview or that it's impossible with a tight schedule. Still, I guess (that's what I wanted to hear) that it's doable.
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Old Nov 25th 2014, 6:08 pm
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Default Re: (Un)paid Time Off

Originally Posted by SanDiegogirl
Asking about unpaid time off at an interview is NOT a good idea. You are already giving the prospective employer doubts as to your commitment.
I suspect that is true for just about everything that an employee tries to negotiate. If they want to negotiate something special, they better bring something special to the table. Typically Americans either take what is offered except for salary negotiations unless they can offer the employer something that is special or they reject the offer and take another job. If they can then prove themselves on the job, they will likely be very well rewarded but if they don't perform up to expectations, they'll likely be on the hit list when layoffs occur.

I sense that Europeans have more of an entitlement mentality based on their qualifications and they negotiate around those qualifications and if hired, they are entitled to be paid and guaranteed of a job no matter how badly they perform.

When I worked at CERN, a Brit once told me that he wasn't hired to do work but he was hired because of his knowledge and educational background but in actuality, his job was to perform work.
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Old Nov 25th 2014, 6:22 pm
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Default Re: (Un)paid Time Off

Originally Posted by Ricky_85
I understand... But it's something even to listen to the different experiences. I kinda know that it's not a topic to bring up during the first interview or that it's impossible with a tight schedule. Still, I guess (that's what I wanted to hear) that it's doable.
Generally the few that get to negotiate significantly are employees that the company wants to transfer. The company needs that person to transfer and therefore the employee has leverage and the company is more willing to negotiate.

There was someone on BE that tried to get a transfer to the US for years and the company eventually decided to allow the transfer to go through. However after a month of negotiations, HR told the employee that the transfer was off using the excuse that he didn't have a degree which is not required for a L-1 visa. When he tried to find out what had really happened, he discovered that HR never got the lawyers involved. I suspect from a company perspective, they were doing the employee a favor and the employee blew it by trying to negotiate special benefits when the company didn't even want to transfer the employee and that upset HR so they cancelled the transfer.

Another example was when I was hiring people. I interviewed a guy that said, he doesn't work more than 8 hours per day, 40 hours per week and from what I could see, he wasn't anything special so the interview lasted about 10 minutes. As a manager, I had the ability to negotiate salary but little else but for the type of job we were doing, sometimes people have to work more than a normal 40 hour week if they fall behind in their schedule.

Last edited by Michael; Nov 25th 2014 at 6:33 pm.
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