Enable me to change my latitude for 30 days, please!

April 18, 2011 7:45 AM

Please help me request a month off of work. I have a great opportunity coming up, but don't want to risk my job for it.

I have been accepted into a 30-day work exchange program in the Virgin Islands. It's due to start in July. I have been applying for this for years, and this is the first time I've been accepted. I would love to go, but I wouldn't want to risk the awesome job I have now.

I'm a little nervous about asking the boss. I'd like to ask, and let them know it would be ok to say "no." But i really think my absence for 30 days would not hurt them, and besides, if I am needed during that time, I can do all my responsibilities "in the cloud." I've already looked into the Wifi spots available in the area, and I'm confident I could work remotely. The work program only requires a couple hours of work a day. I'd have plenty of time to help out with projects that come at my office.

My job gives me 3 weeks vacation every year, but I don't think they intend for those to be taken all at once! What's the best way to approach this? I am willing to not get paid, or to get a reduced paycheck during the time I will be away. How can I present my case in a way that lets them understand that I love my job, wouldn't want to risk it, but would really love to pursue this brief opportunity.
Advice? Thanks in advance, folks!

posted by DizzyLeaf to Work & Money (8 answers total)

Check your employee handbook. Many companies have procedures in place for employees to go on unpaid leaves of absence. They're usually for things like illness or other emergency, but it's rare that there'd be a specific provision ruling out something like this. Whether or not you'd get approved is up to management, but the handbook should give you the procedure for how (and whom) to ask.

Odds are decent that they'll require you to use all your vacation time first, though that's totally company specific.
posted by valkyryn at 7:52 AM on April 18, 2011

There is actually nothing unusual about taking all 3 weeks of your allowed vacation at once; lots of people do this. In your case, you just need to extend it for another 9 more days. I personally do not advise that you use any kind of tricky or deceptive maneuver for this request, just explain your situation honestly to your boss. It really is not an unreasonable request and I expect that it would be granted.
posted by grizzled at 7:52 AM on April 18, 2011

Best answer: Don't tell the boss it would be okay to say no as it makes it easier for them to say no.

Present them with the pros you've detailed here, how you'd be available in an emergency. If they object, say that this would be a one-off occurrence and it would be far easier than training a replacement.
posted by inturnaround at 7:54 AM on April 18, 2011 [3 favorites]

Best answer: This is what I would say: "Hi, $boss, do you have a couple of minutes? I'd like to talk to you about something. Great, thanks. I have been accepted into this amazing 30-day exchange program in the Virgin Islands. This is a wonderful opportunity[, and I think it will improve my value to the company as well. --will it, even marginally? be sure to mention this. -fireoyster]

As you know, I have three weeks of vacation time provided by the company which I would like to use. My vacation time doesn't quite cover the entire program, so could the rest be filled in with unpaid leave? I will be available in the event of an emergency and have verified that there is viable Internet access I could use should that be necessary. I'd really appreciate your help in making this work well for both of us."
posted by fireoyster at 8:01 AM on April 18, 2011 [5 favorites]

Best answer: Be sure to make it clear what your expectations are regarding how much you'll work during your absence, especially if you're going to be using vacation and unpaid leave time for the entire stretch. Something like "I will be available for any company emergencies and have verified that I will have phone and internet access." If you're going to offer to do more than that (like work a few hours in the cloud every day), you might want to consider how that should affect your PTO/leave balance. Perhaps they would let you use your 3 weeks of vacation time and continue paying you for the final week, if you did X hours of work over the internet each day. But I don't think it would be fair for them to expect guaranteed work hours from you if you really are using vacation time and unpaid leave for the whole trip.
posted by vytae at 8:51 AM on April 18, 2011 [1 favorite]

Definitely slip in the term "great opportunity."
posted by Duffington at 4:53 PM on April 18, 2011

Best answer: Is it possible to run this by HR first?

If HR doesn't tell you that it's a bad idea, tell boss earlier rather than later.

We have no idea what your relationship with boss is, or if the month of July is a high-intensity or low-intensity month, or if anyone else at your job has taken all their vacation days all at once.

If you're able to be contacted reliable via internet, let that be known and commit to check email at least twice a day (and set times you'd check which would be compatible to the working hours of the office "back home.") Totally what vytae mentioned; if you're willing to put in hours during your "vacation" - see if those extra 9 days could be comped as "flex days."

Your profile says "mobile app designer." Sounds like a decent chunk of your work can be done off-site/telecommuting/teleconferencing. If I was your boss, you're a good worker, July isn't a crunch month, and you're totally stoked about this opportunity - letting you to this with blessings is a great way to increase your morale as a valued employee.

You won't know unless you ask.
posted by porpoise at 9:09 PM on April 18, 2011

At my previous jobs, working bits of days over a course of vacation was okay, and the way we did it was that I turned in a timesheet for the actual hours worked with the remaining hours counting as vacation. So I would have: Monday 3 billable and 5 vacation, for example. They didn't care if the vacation was in blocks of 8 hours.

You may be able to propose something like this to your boss, if you do need to provide coverage. You will work X hours per day/week and charge the rest to vacation, agreeing not to spend more vacation than you have accrued (which means you would need to work enough to cover those extra hours for the last week; just spread them out over the month).
posted by CathyG at 3:17 AM on April 21, 2011