no vacation time

[watkjd]

Hey all, I just wanted to see how common it is to NOT be offered any vacation time or PTO. Recently started a new position in critical care (my background is neurosurgery and pulm/critical care) and was told PTO was not an option; this was not compensated by a higher wage either. Same went for the docs on our service, no vacation time. It was implied that this is due to our payment structure being shift work/hourly as opposed to salary. I'm trying to do some research and see in what situations PAs are not routinely offered some form of vacation time. I'm especially interested in those working in settings where they are paid hourly or by the shift.

Anyone out there that is hourly or shift work and also receiving vacation time? If so how much? Anyone not offered vacation (any specialty) and if so what reasons were given??

thanks so much

[south]

Most of the jobs that don't offer PTO are 10-13 shifts a month, or a comparable amount of hours per month to that (120 or so) , and usually shift work.  And usually in a 24/7 operation like EM or ICU.

Some people are critical of no PTO/CME time, but that's a lot of time off and it helps relieve a scheduling and paperwork nightmare so I sort of get both sides of that.  The typical setup is to let them know which of the days you want shifts and when you don't.

Any more shifts/hours than that, then no PTO is not a job you want, for sure.  I turned down a job like this, paying huge bucks as a new grad, because 38-40 hours/week and no PTO or CME time ever.  It was a slam dunk - no thanks.

Bottom line is it depends on how many hours they want per month with no PTO, and if they will schedule you what you request.  

[charlottew]

No PTO? I have heard of this in the ED, but not in critical care. I work 13 x 12hr shifts every 4 weeks (156hr), and earn about 160 hrs PTO per year, plus the hospital holidays (8 hrs each). 

It is nice to have the flexibility to have a bit more personal time (we are restricted, however, in when and how much vacation time we can request; sick days also come out of this pool).

We can pick up extra shifts if available, they're paid per shift.

PTO does work out to be extra salary, so I'd take that into consideration.

I hope that helps!