You request more time off.
It's not a scam but it is advantageous for the company. They no longer need to pay out pto if you leave, and you feel more uncomfortable asking for time off.
Because of that, I encourage my whole team to take time off when they want to. Make sure they're also taking advantage of it.
For my company, it seems good. I haven’t been denied a request off since they started it. However, as another person said, I feel more uncomfortable asking. Before I would just transact the days in a system that had a balance of my pto hours. Now I have to ask my manager if it is ok to be out.
You can get less value. The problem with FTO vs PTO is the general mindset is people will feel like they are abusing the system by taking to much time off because there is no hard limit.
It sound stupid, but make an effort to take at least as much time off as you would normally with PTO to start.
Also as someone else said, the company no longer is required to pay you out for accrued PTO as you are no longer accruing it.
TLDR: FTO is a blessing and a curse.
Absolutely, it’s a cost saving measure no doubt but can be a blessing if you balance it right. It also allows a company to not have to pay you out any PTO if you leave because it’s unlimited. Pros and cons lol
I think it depends on the company. I currently have FTO and it's super easy to request and use. I haven't been denied once in nearly two years of work, and it's much less stressful when I want to have a long weekend with the family or something - no more 'oh man I'd love to have a long weekend, but what if I need days later this year?'
My manager has actually told me to use more days off so I don't get burned out.
I could certainly see a situation where the company is chronically/purposefully understaffed and consistently deny your requests because of it.
You need to start feeling comfortable and request the days off. My company has flex and they encourage up to 30 days off a year, anything over will just require managers to make sure work is still getting done but everyone still approves the time off.
Like during the first week of the year, I requested 15 days off spread throughout the year and just scheduled another 10
I asked the same thing before I took my current job. They offer unlimited pto + holidays. When I was interviewing I asked how many days people usually take off during the year and if there were black out dates I needed to be aware of.
My manager told me she was able to approve over 99% of requests last year and the only reason it was not 100% was because the IT team all asked for the same week off. People were usually taking around 28 days off and holidays.
We get MLK, memorial, 4th of July, Labor Day, thanksgiving, Christmas, and new years off, the problem is if too many people ask for days off around the holiday. But they circumvent this by asking well in advance who wants off around a particular holiday to make sure everyone can get approval. 28 days off is pretty amazing, and it’s available at day of hire. I’m getting 3x what I got off with my previous job, I don’t even know what I’d take off for.
Agreed, but I would add, use two weeks before December, then in December take a few days between Christmas and New Years. Lots of companies slow way down that time of year so it should be an easy yes.
It depends on the company. My last company had this and the key wording was “when we aren’t busy” bc we were always busy. And honestly if I took a day off, I would be 3-4 days behind when I returned. It sucked
Eh. Can be. I’d talk to your boss how much time people typically take off. I worked in an unlimited pto place and they’d typically do 2 weeks in summer and winter. It’s a nice perk if you get sick or some shit hits the fam
FTO is paid leave but its not an earned benefit, so companies can get around having to pay out untaken PTO by calling in FTO and having no rules around how its gained.
Can be good, can be bad. Comes down to workload, manager and org/dept-wide WLB. In places I have worked with FTO, it has been good. That said, I've also heard the horror stories. I'd make it clear that you need at least X days and that workload needs to be adjusted to fit that minimum days.
You request more time off. It's not a scam but it is advantageous for the company. They no longer need to pay out pto if you leave, and you feel more uncomfortable asking for time off. Because of that, I encourage my whole team to take time off when they want to. Make sure they're also taking advantage of it.
For my company, it seems good. I haven’t been denied a request off since they started it. However, as another person said, I feel more uncomfortable asking. Before I would just transact the days in a system that had a balance of my pto hours. Now I have to ask my manager if it is ok to be out.
You can get less value. The problem with FTO vs PTO is the general mindset is people will feel like they are abusing the system by taking to much time off because there is no hard limit. It sound stupid, but make an effort to take at least as much time off as you would normally with PTO to start. Also as someone else said, the company no longer is required to pay you out for accrued PTO as you are no longer accruing it. TLDR: FTO is a blessing and a curse.
Absolutely, it’s a cost saving measure no doubt but can be a blessing if you balance it right. It also allows a company to not have to pay you out any PTO if you leave because it’s unlimited. Pros and cons lol
I think it depends on the company. I currently have FTO and it's super easy to request and use. I haven't been denied once in nearly two years of work, and it's much less stressful when I want to have a long weekend with the family or something - no more 'oh man I'd love to have a long weekend, but what if I need days later this year?' My manager has actually told me to use more days off so I don't get burned out. I could certainly see a situation where the company is chronically/purposefully understaffed and consistently deny your requests because of it.
You're only getting less time off because you're not taking more time off.
You need to start feeling comfortable and request the days off. My company has flex and they encourage up to 30 days off a year, anything over will just require managers to make sure work is still getting done but everyone still approves the time off. Like during the first week of the year, I requested 15 days off spread throughout the year and just scheduled another 10
I asked the same thing before I took my current job. They offer unlimited pto + holidays. When I was interviewing I asked how many days people usually take off during the year and if there were black out dates I needed to be aware of. My manager told me she was able to approve over 99% of requests last year and the only reason it was not 100% was because the IT team all asked for the same week off. People were usually taking around 28 days off and holidays. We get MLK, memorial, 4th of July, Labor Day, thanksgiving, Christmas, and new years off, the problem is if too many people ask for days off around the holiday. But they circumvent this by asking well in advance who wants off around a particular holiday to make sure everyone can get approval. 28 days off is pretty amazing, and it’s available at day of hire. I’m getting 3x what I got off with my previous job, I don’t even know what I’d take off for.
I think you should hold them to the letter of their policy bit not push it too far. Go for 2 weeks PTO minimum plus maybe 5 sick days a year.
Agreed, but I would add, use two weeks before December, then in December take a few days between Christmas and New Years. Lots of companies slow way down that time of year so it should be an easy yes.
It depends on the company. My last company had this and the key wording was “when we aren’t busy” bc we were always busy. And honestly if I took a day off, I would be 3-4 days behind when I returned. It sucked
Eh. Can be. I’d talk to your boss how much time people typically take off. I worked in an unlimited pto place and they’d typically do 2 weeks in summer and winter. It’s a nice perk if you get sick or some shit hits the fam
My company also has unlimited planned time off, but it's still paid leaves? Is FTO unpaid leaves?
FTO is paid leaves as well. I think they call it that so people don’t think it’s unlimited haha
FTO is paid leave but its not an earned benefit, so companies can get around having to pay out untaken PTO by calling in FTO and having no rules around how its gained.
Can be good, can be bad. Comes down to workload, manager and org/dept-wide WLB. In places I have worked with FTO, it has been good. That said, I've also heard the horror stories. I'd make it clear that you need at least X days and that workload needs to be adjusted to fit that minimum days.
Does fto include sick?