Downside of a new job

[AZ8]

Late 2020 and after almost 20 years on the job, I needed to make a change. Stress was killing me, restless nights, bad diet....etc. Pay was awesome, but it came at a price. So I "cold-turkeyed" and resigned. Stunned everyone!

After 30+ years away, I moved back home to work. No complaints. landed a great job with less pay and less stress! I lost all my personal time off from previous job and have had to start over. I took a month off on my last elk hunt....I had that much vacation and could make my own schedule. haha

Its been a great transition, but now that August had rolled around, the reality that I'll be on the sidelines sucks azz!!! lmao

But I'm happy and healthy! Slowly I'll build up my vacation time and be back in the woods. But for now, it'll be day hunts for me.

Good luck to all this Fall. I'll be living vicariously through you all. Happy Hunting!

 

[roadrunner]

That's too bad that companies think you have to "earn" time off rather than it being part of your compensation package just like a wage is and you have some time off on day one.

Been there, done that (not by choice), and will likely do it again, soon...

 

[Wags]

The investment in your health will be worth the one season lost.

 

[JRMiller]

I hear you, just quite my job of 21 years.
But i resigned specifically so my last day was July 31rst so i could take a month off between jobs for fall hunt(s)

 

[thinhorn_AK]

Work sucks, even good jobs take time away from life.

 

[rooster440]

Congratulations for taking care of yourself. Whenever I hire on for a new project I tell the hiring manager about my passions and let them know that I’ll be missing work in the fall to prevent them from having issues about me living my life.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[bozeman]

Good on you, small price to pay.....Hunting isnt everything and we were created with work in mind. My grandfather used to say, 'A man needs a job to do and a place to go....if he doesn't have that, he will regress quickly'. I see it all too often. I enjoy the company I work for and see myself being self employed in the next 5-7 years, but I will NEVER base my career decisions on hunting. Its good to see you chose the proper priority in your decision.....

 

[Rich M]

That's too bad that companies think you have to "earn" time off rather than it being part of your compensation package just like a wage is and you have some time iff on day one.

Been there, done that (not by choice), and will likely do it again, soon...

You can negotiate vacation, profit sharing, etc. if the position warrants it.

 

[MidwestElkHutner]

Just went through a similar thing...left a company that I had been at for 14 years, to take a chance on an opportunity from a smaller company that would allow for a more flexible work/family environment. The initial job offer included half of the vacation time that I had built up at my previous job. I told the new company that would not work. They asked me how important the time off was, and I told them it would be a deal breaker. Well...they gave me the additional time. Salaries and benefits are always negotiable...you won't get something that you don't ask for. While I agree that career decisions shouldn't be solely based off of amount of time to hunt, time off of work to do things that make you, you....are just as important.

 

[ODB]

That's too bad that companies think you have to "earn" time off rather than it being part of your compensation package just like a wage is and you have some time iff on day one.

Been there, done that (not by choice), and will likely do it again, soon...

Current companies can also suck. Such as when, in the middle of the year, after working there over 5 years they tell you they will no longer allow you to roll over time off to the next year; it all must be exhausted by the end of the year and you start over with 0 every January.

im all for companies, capitalism, the whole bit, but damn man, you get one life and when it feels like you can only live it on their terms you start to feel rather coggish.

 

[Glockster26]

I don’t understand the policy of not allowing employee’s to roll over vacation time or simply paying out unused vacation time. Where I work we can only carry over three days. I work for a small employer so if I takeoff someone is getting called in for extra time. So I get paid for the vacation day and then someone else to work extra instead of just paying me for unused days at the end of the year. Makes zero sense.

 

[ODB]

I don’t understand the policy of not allowing employee’s to roll over vacation time or simply paying out unused vacation time. Where I work we can only carry over three days. I work for a small employer so if I takeoff someone is getting called in for extra time. So I get paid for the vacation day and then someone else to work extra instead of just paying me for unused days at the end of the year. Makes zero sense.

its because a company has to keep cash reserves equal to the amount of unused time off. So the more time off people hold, the more cash the need to have. Forcing workers to “use it or lose it” allows them to control their cash reserves.

this is a way companies are dealing with low cash flow. It is also part of the reason why I’ve seen half a dozen very good, critical employees go elsewhere.

 

[nettereo16]

Current companies can also suck. Such as when, in the middle of the year, after working there over 5 years they tell you they will no longer allow you to roll over time off to the next year; it all must be exhausted by the end of the year and you start over with 0 every January.

im all for companies, capitalism, the whole bit, but damn man, you get one life and when it feels like you can only live it on their terms you start to feel rather coggish.

My company sent out a revised midyear policy change for 2020 and 2021 where we have to take half our PTO by Sept 1. Sept 1 is the beginning of hunting seasons and when I save ALL my PTO for.

Talk about frustrating. Due to staffing shortages, I was able to exemptions but crazy they just change their policy due to "covid"

 

[ODB]

My company sent out a revised midyear policy change for 2020 and 2021 where we have to take half our PTO by Sept 1. Sept 1 is the beginning of hunting seasons and when I save ALL my PTO for.

Talk about frustrating. Due to staffing shortages, I was able to exemptions but crazy they just change their policy due to "covid"

Yup. I’d be willing to bet they spun the change by saying something like “we encourage employees to take regular days off to recharge, blah blah blah”. That’s what mine did.

But like you, when you plan your year a certain way that does not comport with their policy, the added stress of figuring things out casts a pall on the whole damn thing.

It’s not just “days off” that are good for a person’s mental health, but the ability of a person to life their life to their liking that is important.

 

[Poser]

Like others said, everything is negotiable and you should always negotiate any and all leverage you have in any employment situation.
The senior-titled employees at my company have been pushing hard for a shift to a 4 day work week (ain’t talking 4 10s, I’m talking 32 hours) and unlimited PTO. This offers a great solution to the employee shortage without increasing pay. Most of us barley do any work on Fridays anyway, why not make it official? PTO? Our managers have always told us we’ll never get denied PTO requests, eliminate the accumulation process and keeping track of it and we could probably eliminate a HR job. Just ask for time off and take it.

 

[bozeman]

I would say based on the comments:
1- some have never owned their own business with more than 15 employees.
2- keep in mind that working for a company is YOUR choice......you can and do control your own destiny.

 

[SWOHTR]

Sounds like you’re in the navy to me.

 

[ODB]

I would say based on the comments:
1- some have never owned their own business with more than 15 employees.
2- keep in mind that working for a company is YOUR choice......you can and do control your own destiny.

true to an extent. I did not, nor did others I know, choose to have a company fail, be laid off, or furloughed over the last year.

the collective we were perfectly willing to “work for the company” but “the company” had other plans.

no one, not even companies are in 100% control of their destinies. External factors are always at play and we are often subject to their whim.

 

[CorbLand]

Starting new jobs are always difficult for many reasons. My wife was with a company for 6 months, then they closed up shop so she just started a new job. Its never fun.

Good on you for recognizing what was happening and making a change though.

 

[jlh42581]

I left a job of 10 years last year, went up in pay, lost five days of vacation but I gained also...

1: The ability to walk out the door 8 hours after I walked in. I leave most days at 315
2: A cell phone no longer tying me to a place that I need to be available at a moments notice (on call)

When i left they acted shocked. All i could think was seriously, I quite literally pointed out every flaw in the system here for the last ten years and watched you never promote me to level 3 or level 4 even though I was expected to perform like one. My bosses were raking in massive quarterly bonuses while I was up at 1am pissing my house off to fix a website no one was looking at.