Tuesday, January 21, 2020

I Might Be Liking This Paid Time Off Thing

I have, like, ten total hours of paid time off right now.  My company gives me about 2 1/4 hours at the top of every Sunday.  That number is determined only by the time you have worked at the company, no matter how much overtime you may have pulled in the previous work.  So even though I worked, like, 60 hours once, I still get 2 1/4 hours beginning every Sunday.

I didn't like using it when I planned on working a whole day.  Therefore, the past holiday seasons, where work was so slight that I was "strongly encouraged" to use it, I did so through gritted teeth.  There will be times I want to flat-out take a friggin' vacation, and that's when I alone will decide when to take paid time off.  And I don't being told what to do, especially when it comes to a valuable, flexible item such as paid time off.  And on top of all that, there were several days when I was "strongly encouraged" to go.  I managed to hang on for eight hours a couple times, and the other times I had to take it.  And that's how I wound up with just eight hours this time of year.

With that being said ... today is the day after MLK Day.  Yesterday was a federal holiday.  We get a lot of work from federal agencies.  And the urine samples usually take a day to get here.  So, if all those agencies were closed yesterday, that means there is no work today.  And so, before afternoon break, one of my supervisors gave us the chance to use our paid time off and take off early.

Normally, I wouldn't take the bait.  Paid time off is my time to take.  But ... well, first of all, it looks as though the other two-plus hours today would be spent cleaning, and I don't do that at home.  Second, I realized this morning that I am technically filling in a shift for someone who starts her day at 6.  Combine that with me wanting to see Just Mercy and watching The Conners and Bless This Mess.  The only way to see all three things is to see the movie at 9:20, which would let out around midnight.  If I have start my day tomorrow at 6, I have to wake up at 5, which means I would get around five hours of sleep.  And normally I do only get five hours of sleep, but I'd rather not.  Finally, well, I haven't blogged yet today.

I had an inkling that we would be let out early today because of MLK.  So I researched and Just Mercy has a screening at 2:30.  So that's how I'm blogging this at home right now, and scooting over to the movie in a half-hour, and then having the entire evening to myself to rest up for an early shift tomorrow (which I will not do because I will probably just stay up instead).  And that's because I used my paid time off.

Hey, maybe using it may not be all that bad.

No comments:

Post a Comment