November 21, 2009
UTNE READER

Breaking It to Your Boss: How to Ask for More Vacation

January-February 2009
by John de Graaf 
Article Tools
Print
Comments
RSS
Bookmark and Share

This article is one of several on reclaiming rest in all aspects of our lives. For more, read Get Radical. Get Some Rest., Give Us a Break, Want to Get Away, Stay Home, Sleep Tips: Age Matters, and The No Wake Zone.

RELATED CONTENT

Ensuring adequate vacation time for Americans would require policy change at the national level. Until that happens, here are ways to persuade your employer to grant you and your coworkers more time off.

Negotiating a new job contract? Consider asking for additional paid vacation time. No go? Suggest trading some pay for extra time off. If necessary, request unpaid time. Make it clear that having some time to live your life is important to you.

Work with your employer to ensure that employees are cross-trained so they can fill in when coworkers are on vacation. Ask that vacations be scheduled in advance and that those schedules be honored. If you work for a small business, you might suggest that the business shut down for a couple of weeks in summer.

Talk with your employer about why vacations matter and why you’ll be even more productive when you return to work. Refer to studies that indicate employees will be healthier, potentially reducing health care costs. Suggest that a good vacation policy also produces less turnover.

Excerpted from Experience Life (Nov. 2008), “your guide to a healthy way of life”; www.experiencelifemag.com  
Bookmark and Share
RSS | Comments | E-mail | Print

Comments

Add Your Comment

We’d like to know what you think. To comment, please use this form. E-mail addresses are never displayed on comments, but they are required to confirm your comments. First time registrants: You will receive an email confirming your email address. Once you confirm, your comment will be posted. Questions about our comments policy? Click here.

Line breaks and paragraphs are automatically converted — no need to use <p> or <br> tags.

New to Utne Reader?
Sign up to share comments.
Asterisks(*) indicate required fields.
Name*
Your name appears next to your comment.

E-mail Address*
This will be your login ID.

City State Zip Code

Password*


Confirm Password*

Comments
1500 character limit (Offensive materials and/or spam will be removed, no HTML allowed)
Please Note: Your sign-up must be verified via e-mail before your comment is published.
FEATURED ARTICLES
MOST POPULAR


Pay Now & Save $6!
First Name: *
 Last Name: *
Address: *
 City: *
State/Province: *
 Zip/Postal Code:*
Country:
 Email:*
(* indicates a required item)
Canadian subs: 1 year, (includes postage & GST). Foreign subs: 1 year, . U.S. funds.
Canadian Subscribers - Click Here
Non US and Canadian Subscribers - Click Here
Want to gain a fresh perspective? Read stories that matter? Feel optimistic about the future? It's all here! Utne Reader offers provocative writing from diverse perspectives, insightful analysis of art and media, down-to-earth news and in-depth coverage of eye-opening issues that affect your life.

Save Even More Money By Paying NOW!

Pay now with a credit card and take advantage of our Earth-Friendly automatic renewal savings plan. You save an additional $6 and get 6 issues of Utne Reader for only $29.95 (USA only).

Or Bill Me Later and pay just $36 for 6 issues of Utne Reader!