Ever sell back vacation time?

[timj219]

I'm trying to decide whether to sell back a chunk of my PTO. Somewhere between 80 and 150 hours. I have 230 now so selling 150 would leave me with 80 which is the minimum they say I have to have left after the sell back. The company is offering 90% value. I have no commitments now that will require much vacation time and obviously I don't usually take much time off. I've accrued about as much as I can and will either have to start taking time off or do the sell back because soon I'll hit the limit and won't accrue any more.

I'll probably sell it back - just getting cold feet at the last minute I guess and wondering if maybe I should be using this time. Maybe the time off is worth more than the money. Anybody ever do this? Did you wish later you hadn't?

[Remo]

Not sure what line of work you are in, but I would not sell it back at 90%...I love my time off and since when you take time off you are getting 100% pay (I assume) TAKE THE TIME OFF!!!!! No headstone ever read "I wish I would have spent more time at work"

[G G]

I have sold back 100 hours last year, because for the last couple years I haven't been taking a lot of time off. I get up to 100 at 100%.

[14holestogie]

By the same token, if you're not going to use it all and it's going to affect you accruing more hours, then 90% beats 0%.

You know there's plenty of major league herfs you could "waste" those hours on. :2

[Ogre]

We are allowed 56 each year. I have done it, but it 100%

[jonumberone]

I never sell my time.
Some guys at my job do.
I've gone to my boss to see if I can buy the time they're trying to sell back.
He never goes for it. :(

[Remo]

By the same token, if you're not going to use it all and it's going to affect you accruing more hours, then 90% beats 0%.

You know there's plenty of major league herfs you could "waste" those hours on. :2

That's true, we hit "use or lose" can't buy them back so just use them up and get paid....fishing time :tu

[14holestogie]

That's true, we hit "use or lose" can't buy them back so just use them up and get paid....fishing time :tu

Being in the supervisory field, we've been "use or lose" forever.
Haven't lost a second yet in 25 years. :D

[Remo]

Being in the supervisory field, we've been "use or lose" forever.
Haven't lost a second yet in 25 years. :D

Yup, never give them back a cent :tu

[Blak Smyth]

I have traded mine in at the end of the year, supervisors used to loose it but now you just get a check back. I typically use all mine. I like to take random Fridays off and it adds up by the end of the year so don't ever have any left.

[E.J.]

I am in the "use it" camp, assuming that you don't "NEED" the cash....



We are allowed 56 each year. I have done it, but it 100%

Does that include sick and/or holidays.....:jd If just "vacation" that is a sweet benefit package...:tu

[Remo]

I can carry 220 hrs. vacation a year, anything over that is use or lose, can carry 12 holidays again use or lose over that, 80 hrs sick , any over that rolls into a 509c account that I can have for medical expenses when I retire :tu

[OLS]

I can't imagine a job where an employee wouldn't HAVE TO TAKE every minute of every hour of paid time off
JUST to keep them from putting a gun in their mouth. I swear, I dug in my heels last year to get a third week
of vacation here, but I told them I wanted the time or I was going to have to have 365 days a year off.

You work like a dog your whole life and congressmen and women who will never have to worry about anything
later in life, steal from your social security, they jump up the retirement age, they try to take away your rights
to have an insurance company pay out when you get sick after a lifetime of paying in. It's ****ographic.

I'll TAKE my vaca, thanks.

[Remo]

I can't imagine a job where an employee wouldn't HAVE TO TAKE every minute of every hour of paid time off
JUST to keep them from putting a gun in their mouth. I swear, I dug in my heels last year to get a third week
of vacation here, but I told them I wanted the time or I was going to have to have 365 days a year off.

THIS!!! Getting paid not to be at work.......:tu

[kaisersozei]

We don't have a PTO pay-out, but every year I get to make my United Way charitable donations by converting PTO hours to cash. I figure I won't miss the vacation time, so I usually convert 3-5 days or so.

[mosesbotbol]

It sounds illegal for them to pay you back your PTO at less than 100%. Those hours are compensation. I really don't think that is legal in MA, but YMMV in your state.


I would contact your attorney general before saying yes or no.

[jluck]

I sold back a week once. I just thought it was a good idea at the time I was building the new house, I thought the extra money would be good and I couldn't really get the time off I wanted as other people had the time scheduled up already. After taxes stole most of the money and the feeling of lost week off it was one of the stupidest things I have done.
Take the time off and enjoy it.:2

[shilala]

Take your vacation. Life is too short. The money doesn't mean dick if you're dead next week.
Spend time with family and friends. Go fishing. Work on the house. Clean your car. Come stay with me for a week and we'll build something. Go read or learn something you've always wanted to learn.
Honestly, work will always be there. The people you love won't.

[CigarNut]

I always use my vacation. Sometimes I borrow time (from the next year) just to get enough vacation. I always want more vacation.

I love my job -- I do, but I love my vacation time more.

Take the time off and go somewhere or do some projects around your home, go see movies, take day trips, or just fart around.

[Jasonw560]

We have (had) the same thing. PTO pay out at 90%. I used it once, it helped pay for some bills. With that said, if you don't have to, don't do it. Spend time away from work.

[357]

In a word, no. Use your time off. The value it brings is more than the pay. Think cigars. Why by something you're going to burn? Because the value it provides is worth more than the financial hit. Same is true of vacation time. I asked for more at my last annual review in lieu of a raise. Got the raise instead but I would have prefered more time off I could spend with my wife, kids, and extended family.

[Apoco]

In the last company I worked for - we were required to use our PTO. It was an internal control - force someone else to do the person's job for a few days just to make sure they weren't doing anything shady.

That being said - I'd want to use it anyway. My current company is use it or lose it - but I've already got all of my PTO for the year planned :D. No problems with using it all up here!
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[cobra03]

I sold all of my time back at my last job but that was because i got 100% for it and i was leaving so i would have lost it otherwise. If i wasnt leaving i would have never sold any off it. The time off is far more important to me.:2

[oooo35980]

It doesn't sound like you've had a vacation in a while. If it were me I'd probably sell enough back to finance a trip somewhere and take a week off. That is provided you can do that of course.

[icehog3]

I used to sell back 80 hours a year, I pick my own days off so I could make vacations work with holiday time, days off, and the remaining vacation time.

The last couple years I carry over what I don't use (I can carry over up to 200 hours a year), and try to increase my time off available each year. This yesr between vacation, holiday and personal time, I can take up to 58 extra days off.

[markem]

IMO, time off is worth about 1.5 my pay rate. I get relaxed, get non-work things done, get recharged, all that.

Dunno about your situation, but here are some things that I would consider:

1. Is there a limit after which I am unable to accrue more PTO?
2. If there is no limit, if I am fired, quit, or retire, do I get it back paid?
3. If there is no limit, can I use it in large chunks in case myself or someone in my family has a serious medical emergency/condition/life altering event?
4. Even if there is a limit, might I want to have a large chuck some day?
5. Do I have short-term disability insurance. PTO can be used to cover the gap until long-term disability kicks in (you have it, don't you?).

In 1988, when I left the Boeing Company, I lost about 250 hours of sick time that I never used (back then, there was a strict separation between sick and vacation time). Nothing that I could have done about that, but if I stayed until retirement, the hours would have been rolled in to my retirement calculation - at least at that time.

It's a bit tricky to recommend in your case, but if you need the money, go for it. If you aren't going to lose anything by hanging on to it, then I say save it since the 90% of your hourly will hopefully be higher in the future.

[JenksAnejo]

Take your vacation. Life is too short. The money doesn't mean dick if you're dead next week.
Spend time with family and friends. Go fishing. Work on the house. Clean your car. Come stay with me for a week and we'll build something. Go read or learn something you've always wanted to learn.
Honestly, work will always be there. The people you love won't.


This X 42347938495837693

[Chainsaw13]

Going off Jluck's comment, do you know what tax rate you'd pay on the time if you sell it back? I believe it might be taxed at OT rates, so you'd end up losing even more value. My vote is us it.

[timj219]

Thanks for the advice everybody.
I'm going to find a way to use the time. The more I think about it the more it seems crazy not to get away more. Of course with all this time off I'm going to need more cigars. I'd better stock up. :)