RE: time off- christmas

[Faye Jones]

Our facility allows anyone based on seniority to take vacation anytime as long as staffing quotas are met. The only restriction is from Memorial to Labor Day when everyone regardless of seniority is granted up to 2 weeks at their request before the rest can be taken by anyone.  This restriction is new in the past 5 years.  I graduated in 1967 and this is my first long term care experience.  It is also the only place I have worked with this liberal of a vacation policy.  Most hospitals limited vacation for everyone from Memorial to Labor Day to 2 weeks with a limit of how many could be off at a time.  Vacations over Xmas and New Years were also not allowed but using vacation days, scheduled days off etc most people could garner up approx 5 days off.  Most facilities holidays are every other responsibility except for Christmas and New Years which alternate every year.    -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Theresa A Lang Sent: Saturday, January 24, 2004 11:34 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: RE: time off- christmas   Depends on the industry you are in, this is not only a healthcare issue and would challenge Nathan on that statement. My examples are below:   The US Postal services allows NO VACATIONS from Thanksgiving until Christmas. The division my husband worked in (Mail recovery- formally dead letters) did not allow vacations from Thanksgiving through the first part of the Janaury.   I have considered employment with CPA firms that have a policy no vacations from 2/15 to 5/15 and in some state later, even if you are not doing tax preparation.   Ask anybody who works at Wal-Mart about their hour policy in November or December or for that matter anyone who has ever worked retail- they will tell you horror stories about the mandatory hours during December.   I was raised with blue collar workers- our vacations where set by the companies my parents worked for- in a small town it was not always the same week- therefore many years we did not have family vacations until the 2 companies agreed to shut down the same week. There are many mandatory plant shut-downs and everyone has vacation then and only then. Many line type industries - especially car manufacturers have mandated vacation.  Try staffing a NH when most of your employees spouses or significant others are employed at the truck plant- they all want the week of the 4th of July off.   In many NH's where I have worked it is part of the union contract.   THIS IS NOT UNIQUE TO HEALTHCARE- it is common in many industries.     Theresa Lang Specialized Medical Services, Inc.     -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]On Behalf Of Nathan Hotmail Sent: Saturday, January 24, 2004 10:16 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: time off- christmas They way you are dealing with vacation around Xmas is fairly common in healthcare, but let me say this. In any other industry, it would not be tolerated by the workers. This is just another symptom of the serious trouble that exists in our business. We have been doing it this way for so long it seems normal to us, but it is not.   As for a better way to deal with this and still keep bodies in the building...You can make vacation available during the holidays based on seniority and advanced scheduling.   Consider giving rewards for not taking time during the holidays. That way you keep your senior people happy by letting them take some time off, but some of them will choose to work in order to get the extra time. For example, Anyone choosing not to take vacation during specific time periods will receive an additional holiday or two they can take later.   Nathan ----- Original Message ----- From: Eva Scott To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Saturday, January 24, 2004 6:32 AM Subject: time off- christmas   Hi, all- I know this is not mds, but I was to check with other facilities about this:   We are re-doing our employee handbook.  At present we do not allow vacation time to be taken from 12/20-1/2. We allow 2 christmas holidays and New years holiday to be used during this time and regular days off. This is so we have enough staff and the same longevity staff don't always take the 2 weeks of christmas off. We are trying to be fair to staff and cover resident needs.   However, some are now grumbling and want to change.   How do you all handle the Christmas holiday and vacations etc.??