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vacation time at a new job.


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Hello all,

 

I recently was hired at a legal firm that has a 6 month probationary period. It’s a salaried position with a couple weeks of paid vacation per year.

 

Before I was hired I had booked flights for a cruise out in Seattle in June which will be a little shy of 4 months into my 6 month probation.

 

I don’t start the job for another couple weeks and I’m going to let my manager know my first day, but does anyone foresee any issues with this? I’m just not sure I could get the ticket changed to someone else’s name and I’d be out a pretty large sum of money should it be a problem.

 

Thanks in advance! It might not be a big deal and I’m just overthinking this but I’d love to get others opinions on it!

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Hum,

 

I had a similar situation once. Had a 10 day trip booked and paid for when I accepted a new job offer.

 

When discussing the start day, I informed them of the planned trip and was assured it would not be a problem.

 

At the time of the trip I had not yet accrued sufficient vacation time, but was allowed to take the vacation time paid - and was left with a negative vacation balance - which went away once I accrued enough vacation time.

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In my last position we had a team lead hired and she took 2 weeks off right of the bat so it is not uncommon. Normally this is something that to be discussed in negotiations for the position ahead of time.

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Normally this is something that to be discussed in negotiations for the position ahead of time.

 

Agreed. Jsos91, is there some reason you didn't bring this up during the acceptance portion of the interview process?

 

Mr. Lucky

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Eternal Sunshine

I don’t think it’s a problem. I took a week off during my 6 months probation in my current new job. The trip wasn’t even planned until the last minute and I had to take negative leave because I didn’t accumulate enough time. I did take my laptop though and was contactable the entire time if anything urgent came up (there were couple of issues that I resolved).

 

My manager didn’t seem to mind and I passed probationary period with only positive comments.

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Agreed. Jsos91, is there some reason you didn't bring this up during the acceptance portion of the interview process?

 

Mr. Lucky

 

To be honest, we were discussing my start date because I had a couple days unavailable this month and it slipped my mind.

 

I understand that the time may be unpaid, I just don't want to be a major inconvenience during my probation since I have a performance/salary review at the end of it and this is my first real job out of school.

 

Would it be worthwhile to give him a call to discuss it? or should I just wait to talk to him face to face on my first day?

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Would it be worthwhile to give him a call to discuss it? or should I just wait to talk to him face to face on my first day?

 

Were it me, I'd want to get out in front of it so I'd call him. You just want to make sure the time off doesn't fall on the dates of some huge annual project or other unique "all hands on deck" event. Better safe than sorry...

 

Mr. Lucky

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major_merrick

This is something to be up front with immediately. As in, "I am available to start this position immediately, but I want you to be aware that I have a pre-booked vacation from March 19th to March 25th." That should not be a surprise to your boss your first day on the job.....really bad form. If it is just a couple of days, a decent boss is not likely to have a problem with it and will give you the go-ahead to do what you need to do. But if you hide it and wait on, it, that boss will remember it in a negative way.

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I’ve done this several times over the years; it happens, it’s life.

 

If I were in your position, I’d probably email your manager before you start as a heads up, that way they don’t wonder if you were sitting on that knowledge and waiting to start to mention it.

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It should have been talked about the day they gave you the job offer. I would imagine that they would understand, and let you take the time since it was already planned... but you should not expect to be paid for that time since their rule is 6 mo first. AND... I would expect that your time gone would push the probational period longer.

 

 

With that said... you did take the job knowing their rules. If you have said "OK" already, and didn't include your plans... they may see that as a HUGE negative to you... and they may have reason to just dissolve the position before you start. (especially if it's at a busy point for the company)

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I always negotiate it in when I accept a new position. I only had a problem with it at a temp job because the agency failed to tell the employer about it. The team lead wanted to fire me but the manager was fine with the vacation.

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You need to let them know that at the time of interview. It certainly could be a problem, or not. Really depends if by letting you go, a lot of other people there would feel shafted.

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