vacation

January 11, 2023January 11, 2023

This Person’s Boss Sent Them To HR Because They Didn’t Answer Texts On Vacation, And Hustle Culture Has Gone Too Far

Whether I’m on vacation or using a sick day, I like to think of my PTO as time when I’m being explicitly paid to NOT work. Like, on those days, relaxing is my job.

A dog on a pool float — *(Actual footage of me enjoying my vacation time to the very fullest.)*

Jena Ardell / Getty Images

But unfortunately, too many bosses out there treat employees’ vacation time like any other work day. Even worse, some bosses take it as a personal offense if workers aren’t available at their beck and call — no matter how many months in advance their PTO was requested.

Recently, vacation&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.reddit.com%2Fuser%2FDogmom200%2F&xcust=6910972%7CBF-VERIZON&xs=1″ data-ylk=”slk:u/dogmom200″ class=”link “u/dogmom200 shared a story in r/Antiwork about their boss’s reaction after work texts during vacation time went unanswered, and their experience stirred up a lot of conversation.

woman on the phone saying I'm on vacation we need to have bounaries — woman on the phone saying I’m on vacation we need to have bounaries

Fox / Via giphy.com

They wrote, “Over the holidays, I was on vacation time for two weeks. I ignored the calls, texts, and emails from my boss. Now, I’m back and have a meeting with HR. I don’t even know what to say!”

an employee speaking with HR — Courtneyk / Getty Images

After meeting with HR, they added an update to answer some questions and share what happened next. They wrote, “*UPDATE: I’m a junior employee with no company phone. HR says my boss feels ignored and was ‘worried about me’ since I didn’t respond while on vacation. He claims a third party had a question for me on December 22 (something that could have waited).”

a man yelling at his phone — Moon Safari / Getty Images/iStockphoto

Finally, they said, “They gave me a ‘verbal warning’ because my egomaniac boss feels this is not the first time I’ve been ‘insubordinate’ to him 🤦‍♀️. I’m already applying to new places as we speak.”

Starz

Experts share tips on how to protect your home while on vacation

December 23, 2022

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — With millions of people traveling for the holidays, many will not be back until the new year. 8 News Now has shared tips from experts to prepare your house and make sure you are not the next target for thieves.

Mary Rendina with Camco, a homeowners association management company, said there are several ways to protect your home while you are gone.

“Talk to your neighbors, let them know you are going to be out of town,” Rendina said.

She also said to secure all doors and windows and to have sensor lights that can motion detect to throw potential burglars off.

“If you can, leave a car in the driveway, put some light on inside on a timer that helps as well,” Rendina said.

However, private investigator, Scot Martin, said to make sure not to leave any valuables in the car either.

“Make sure you put your garage door openers in your house, secure your house. So if somebody does get into your car they don’t have access to your house,” Martin said.

If you are not going on vacation, make sure to cut up all holiday box packaging and put them inside your trash bin so no one knows what you got for the holidays.

Experts also remind you to stop your mail until you get back from vacation. During this time of year, there could be checks, gift cards, and sometimes cash that could easily be taken for mailboxes.

December 17, 2022December 17, 2022

Lake County Council decries request for $136K in vacation pay

A request from the Lake County prosecutor’s office to pay deputy prosecutors approximately $136,000 for banked vacation time was met with opposition from much of the Lake County Council.

Bob Neumair, administrative supervisor for the Lake County prosecutor’s office, appeared during the Thursday council workshop to request funds be transferred to make the payment on the employee’s last paycheck of the year.

The department has the money to pay the employees.

“There is a surplus of funds We are not asking for any new money,” he said.

Neumair said the amount is so high because a number of employees have built up unused vacation time over a long period of years. Many deputy prosecutors are not able to take vacation time because of their court schedules. It is difficult for an attorney to leave in the middle of a case.

One employee alone had more than 1,600 hours of vacation time accrued, Neumair said. That employee agreed to receive payment for half the amount, 860 hours.

Councilwoman Christine Cid, D-East Chicago, said paying those employees for years of accrued vacation time would violate county ordinance which says if vacation time is not used by a certain time it is forfeited.

Council Attorney Thomas O’Donnell confirmed there is a county ordinance that prohibits banking vacation time. According to the ordinance the vacation time must be used by the end of the year. Only one week of unused vacation time may be rolled into the next year. That week then must be used by April 1 or it will be lost. The ordinance has been on the books for at least a decade.

“You have to use it or lose it,” O’Donnell said.

O’Donnell said the total amount of vacation time the prosecutors are seeking to pay totals $136,000. The employee with

December 15, 2022December 15, 2022

‘Ship has sailed’ on vacation pay for prosecutor’s office

Prosecutor’s office employees expecting a payout for years of unused vacation time will be getting the pay in their Monday checks.

The Lake County Council Tuesday made no public mention of the payouts, which had not been on the agenda but came up Thursday during a study session. At the time council members balked that county ordinance prohibits the rollover of more than one week of vacation time into the next year once they learned the prosecutor’s office intended to pay out about $136,000 in unused time to 13 employees.

One employee, who had more than 1,700 hours in banked vacation time, agreed to take a pay out for 860 of those hours and is slated to receive $44,000, according to officials.

According to the ordinance, any vacation time not used by the end of the year is forfeited. Employees may roll over one week of time, but must use it by April 1 or lose it.

Council Attorney Thomas O’Donnell Tuesday after the regular council meeting said by the time the council and attorneys became aware of the payments Thursday during the workshop, “the ship had sailed.”

“You would have had to stop payroll for 2,000 employees,” O’Donnell said. The ACHs for direct deposit already were transmitted to the bank. There was no way to cancel just the 13 employees, so all payroll would had to have been canceled, he said. Due to the time of year, the cancellation also would have impacted employee W-2s. He said the auditor made an executive decision to move the checks through the system.

“The detriment to the 2,000 didn’t justify the $136,000,” O’Donnell said.

O’Donnell said Prosecutor Bernie Carter wanted to withdraw the payments after the council raised concerns Thursday, but it was already too late.

Council President Ted Bilski, D-Hobart,

November 28, 2022November 28, 2022

‘The White Lotus’ Season 2 Understands the Emptiness of the Instagram Vacation

the white lotus — Yes, ‘White Lotus’ Is Dragging Your Insta VacationFabio Lovino/HBO

A few months ago, I instagram” data-ylk=”slk:read a Vox story about” class=”link rapid-noclick-resp”read a Vox story about traveling to the “Instagram capital of the world,” Positano, that has haunted me ever since. After the writer Rebecca Jennings’ week-long trip to the Italian city, she wrote that the whole vacation left her feeling suckered, in part because she took basically the same vacation as everyone she follows on Instagram. Watching this season of The White Lotus, it’s clear the show not only understands the idea of the “Instagram vacation”—complete with recommendations from friends, Resy reservations, and Google review-based activities—but it also wants to call me out for it. And frankly, I deserve it.

Towards the beginning of season 2, episode 3, Portia (Haley Lu Richardson) is having a conversation with Albie (Adam DiMarco) about how boring life seems. “I’ve been feeling so depressed at home, and I just thought I’d come here and feel something…. And now you come somewhere like this and it’s beautiful and you take a picture and then realize that everyone’s taken that same picture from that exact same spot. You just made some redundant content for stupid Instagram.” And Albie responds with a half-hearted idea that even he doesn’t buy into: “Throw away your phone. Throw it in the ocean.” Notably, Portia continues to sit there and text on said phone, doing the literal opposite of throwing it in the ocean.

Later in the episode, there’s a scene with Daphne (Meghann Fahy) and Harper (Aubrey Plaza) that gets at this same idea in a different way. Daphne asks Harper to go on a day trip with her to a palazzo in Noto, but when they get there, Harper discovers they’re actually spending the

November 3, 2022November 3, 2022

The genius way Utahns are buying luxury vacation rentals

Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes

As the weather is beginning to cool, you’re probably considering your next warm climate getaway to sunny Southern Utah. Many Utahns make frequent trips to the St. George area but are increasingly weary of paying expensive nightly rental prices every time you take the family down. No doubt you’ve thought to yourself, “wouldn’t it be great if we just owned our own vacation home here”? But who has the time or money to own an entire second home all to yourself? Very few.

If there were a way to just own a portion of the home and use it for part of the time, that would be ideal. Then your ownership could match your availability and your budget. It would be even better if you could rent out the house when you can’t use your time.

Ember, a new startup based in Lehi, Utah, is solving this problem through vacation home co-ownership.

⅛ of the home, 100% of the experience

Historically, not everyone could afford a vacation home—especially in top destinations like St. George, or Bear Lake. And even for families that could commit to a vacation property, research shows that they are only using the home for two to six weeks out of the year.

With Ember’s co-ownership model, you can choose to buy a portion of a luxury vacation home, instead of the whole thing—and only pay a fraction of the cost. The ownership of each Ember home is divided into eight equal parts. Co-owners get 6+ weeks for each 1/8th share they purchase. Owners looking for maximum time can buy even more of the home. Ember features properties for as low as $103k per 1/8th ownership.

Make memories while you’re there, rent it out when you’re not

October 30, 2022October 30, 2022

Friends on group vacation decides last minute to not to split trip costs evenly: ‘Not acceptable’

October 28, 2022October 28, 2022

A woman is upset that the friends she and her husband usually vacation with don’t want to pay their fair share.

She asked Reddit’s “Am I the A******? (AITA)” forum for advice. They usually vacation with two other couples and leave their kids at home. This year, one couple wanted to bring their 12-year-old daughter along. Everyone agreed that was fine.

The issue was the housing arrangement. The three couples usually split the housing three ways. So they found a home with three rooms. However, the couple with the 12-year-old said it was “not acceptable” because they wanted privacy.

So they found a home with four rooms. However, the couple with the child still expected that things would be split three ways. The Reddit poster thinks the couple should subsidize the difference.

Watch this bland Brooklyn bedroom become a mid-century modern escape in just one day:

“Now they are upset with us for burdening them financially because they want to give their daughter an experience,” she wrote.

Redditors thought the poster was in the right here.

“Stick to your guns. If they want to split it evenly they can stick with one room,” someone wrote.

“They need more space they have to pay more,” another commented.

“Asking them to pay for an extra room is reasonable,” a person said.

See this tiny New York apartment get an impressive redesign in one day with a $1,000 budget:

In The Know is now available on Apple News — follow us here!

The post Friends on group vacation decides last minute to not to split trip costs evenly: ‘Not acceptable’ appeared first on In The Know.

It’s Okay to Just Hang Out at the Hotel and Do Absolutely Nothing on Vacation

“Get Out There” is a column for itchy footed humans written by Paste contributor Blake Snow. Although different now, travel is still worthwhile—especially to these open borders.

I recently read a quote that said, “I don’t want to leave vacation without knowing anything about the destination.” The implication was that travelers have some sort of moral responsibility to learn about the places they visit.

This rubbed me the wrong way. I say that as a lifelong student who usually devours foreign customs, culture, and ways of life while traveling. But sometimes you don’t want to do anything on vacation, and that’s totally okay. Sometimes you just want a break from daily routines, schedules, tasking, and commitments, and that’s wholly appropriate.

Whether you travel a lot or not, sometimes it’s refreshing to do absolutely nothing on vacation. No sightseeing. No local cooking classes. Just rest and relaxation. After a year of travel at nearly pre-pandemic levels, that’s exactly how I felt on a recent family holiday to Newport Beach, California.

While staying at a massive Marriott, beachside timeshare, I had no intention of even leaving the property beyond the beach in front of it or nearby restaurant. Sand, sun, pool, eat, rinse, repeat. That’s what I wanted to do every day. No emails. No calls. No taking notes or making observations as I often do as a “working” travel columnist.

For this vacation, I wanted a literal and figurative getaway with little to no movement. And that’s precisely what I got. It wasn’t the first time I’ve done this. Years ago my wife and I visited and never left a wonderful resort in Orlando. “You can’t come all this way and not leave the resort,” our shuttle driver pleaded. We ignored him. I regret nothing.

But in

September 26, 2022September 26, 2022

Should a worker be fired after travelling on sick leave?

“It wasn’t the case of some serious financial loss or a major inconvenience,” he says. “And there doesn’t seem to have been any impact on the city resulting from her not being available for the time that she was in Quebec – I’m not sure how serious the misconduct was when there’s no impact on the employer, which would normally be a factor to be considered.”

Given the worker’s long period of service with no prior discipline, the arbitrator found that a suspension for the balance of the 2020 and 2021 seasons was appropriate. The city was ordered to reinstate the worker with compensation for loss of salary and benefits from the date she would have been recalled in 2022 to the date of her reinstatement.

Disconnect, confusion over policies

There was a disconnect between the city and the worker that likely stemmed from the city’s failure to clarify policies in three areas – vacation booking for seasonal employees, sick leave, and layoff dates, according to Snowdon.

“[Seasonal employees] were encouraged to take their vacation in the off season, but the off season wasn’t defined,” he says. “To me, that’s a failure on the city’s part – I don’t think it’s fair to put employees in a position where they have no way of knowing when they’re allowed to book their vacation.”

The evidence indicated that in the worker’s 21 years with the city, only once was she extended past Oct. 27 and the rescission of layoff notices added more confusion, says Snowdon.