Whats normal for starting paid vacation leave?

[rezarxt]

So I am transitioning out of the Army and moving into corporate America (oh goodie!). I was offered a well paying job as a entry level manager within a factory in the aerospace industry. The downside is they only offer 10 days paid vacation leave starting out. I believe it jumps to 15 days after 3-5 years.

Now given the fact that I am not negotiating salary or bonus (they came in above my asking price), is it appropriate to negotiate for an extra week of leave? Coming out of the Army, we get 30 days per year paid leave (no sick leave). I was their top candidate out of 5, so they have other options behind me although obviously not as good.

Im looking for advice because I dont want to mess up this opportunity. At the same time, 10 days seems pretty crappy even for starting out. Please give me advice/experiences.

 

[MG0h3]

Hey man welcome to El Paso!!

I know some folks that dont get any leave for the first year at a new job!!

Im a federal employee and I started out getting about 96 hrs a year, so 12 days a year. I think it was like that for the first 10 yrs. All in all, I suspect thats the private sector norm.

 

[rezarxt]

Hey man welcome to El Paso!!

I know some folks that dont get any leave for the first year at a new job!!

Im a federal employee and I started out getting about 96 hrs a year, so 12 days a year. I think it was like that for the first 10 yrs. All in all, I suspect thats the private sector norm.

Ha, Thanks. Im actually leaving El Paso though after 2.5 years here. Back to ole Baltimore, MD where I'm from originally. And yeah my Wife is federal employee also, but she has option to work overtime and accumulate additional leave.

 

[MG0h3]

Oh ok cool man. Glad you are getting to go home. This town sure isnt mine!!

I think you are doing ok at starting with 10 days. Military compensates lower pay with better benefits, from what Ive seen/heard. I suspect you get some sick leave in there as well.

 

[CompOrange04GT]

Wait.. you get offered a job for more than what you asked for...

And you're complaining about them paying you to NOT work 10 days a year...

Im missing something

 

[rezarxt]

Wait.. you get offered a job for more than what you asked for...

And you're complaining about them paying you to NOT work 10 days a year...

Im missing something

Hey man, one of the benefits of education and experience. You get the good jobs. With that, they come along with good pay and benefits. No harm in trying to set myself up with more time to spend with the family who is ultimately my #1 priority (not work). Especially when Aerospace industry average is 3 weeks starting at many companies.

 

[TK Doom]

In CA, since they passed that sick leave law, we reduced starting vacation.

*shrug*

 

[ON D BIT]

10 days is 2 full weeks. That's pretty normal. Plus I'm sure you will get the other holidays(veterans, labor, 4th, thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, etc) paid that you did not in the military.
Edit: 2 weeks plus other holidays is just over 3 total weeks of paid days off for the year. Only a week short of your military time off.

I don't see you negotiating this as it's probably legalized and standard. If your not happy with it they could just up your pay.

When you say 30 days off in the military is that 30 days just over 4 weeks or 30 business days a full 6 weeks off?

 

[derklug]

Two weeks starting out is pretty normal. We start 1 week first year, 2 weeks second year, 3 weeks after 5 years, and 4 weeks after 10 years. Add in 8 holidays and 8 personal/sick days not great but good.

 

[oldmodman]

First year is commonly one day of vacation for every two months worked.

Years two thru five, two weeks vacation.

Years five thru ten, three weeks vacation.

After year ten it's generally one month of vacation with other perks for more years of work.

At least it is common here in California.

But we have other days off. Someone dies, three to 30 days.

Wife has a baby. depending on the number of employees in your company it could only be three days or up to six weeks.

Sick parent or child ( really sick requiring hospitalization) time off can be nearly unlimited.

TMI? Don't hurt none.

 

[verbal]

You will probably never see 30 days off again. Most private sector companies top out at 20-25 days after being at the company for a long period of time. 2-3 weeks starting is normal.

Earning vacation is one of the best ways that companies retain employees.

 

[RDJ]

10 days is about par for the course. They gave you more money than you asked for, take it and be glad for it. Asking them to bump the amount of leave you get may not cost you the job but the ingratitude shown by doing so will be remembered down the road.

 

[R.D.P.]

What about sick days or personal days or floating holidays? The company I work for is probably not a good example. Most people start with 3 weeks vacation, 2 weeks sick, 1 week combined floating holiday\personal days, so six weeks if you use all your sick. I can't even manage to use my vacation days.

If it were me I would probably raise it with the HR\recruitment person your working with. The odds of them giving you anything are probably low, but I think the odds of it costing you the job are almost zero and once you start and have been there a few months, you will be known\judged for your performance, not that you wanted more vacation time.

 

[tistan]

Most jobs demand you meet certain expectations. You may not have time to take more than two weeks vacation, or you will take too much vacation and stress out playing catch up on workloads.

 

[SHOdown220]

I work 60+ hours a week and get 1 week vacation per year. That vacation pay only equates to about 2.5 days work, so yeah I would say 10 days sounds fair.

 

[13COBRA]

What is this term, "vacation", that everyone is throwing around?

 

[Blk04L]

2 weeks is standard for starting off.

 

[sunburned]

My wife negotiated a slightly lower salary for more vacation days because that was more important to her. Of course she was already starting out at a ridiculously high salary...

I work for the DoD and we start earning leave at 4 hrs annual leave + 4 hrs sick leave per pay period (2 weeks). The sick leave always stays the same rate, but annual leave goes up to 6 hrs/PP after 5 years and 8 hrs/PP after 15 years. I'm at 11 years, can't wait to start getting 5 weeks paid leave per year.

Oh, and I'm up to 800+ hours of sick leave now, not including normal annual leave. Take this job, then look for a government job. There are plenty of them around the DC/Baltimore area. Check out Aberdeen Proving Grounds if you want something relatively in your area.

 

[WireEater]

Pretty much any job I've had you start with two weeks then you gain a week for every 5 years of service. I am about to hit my 5 years at my current job next month so I will have an extra week this year which makes me happy. I'd believe higher positions would have the ability to negotiate more paid time off for salary packages.

What I would not take is a job that requires you to use vacation time as sick leave. The last company I worked for did this and it suck. My current job, I get 40 sick days per year. They can be used for personal, family sickness, temp disability, etc.

 

[Russo]

We start off one week after the first year, then two weeks after the second.. After two years (being a small company) I'll give my employees off whenever, so long as their position is covered by someone else just as capable.. Now for me, I haven't had a full week off work in almost 10 years..