Personal Days

AliGirl11

What is the process for taking a personal day at your job? Do you usually tell your boss why you are taking a personal day? 

danieliza1127

I just say "I'm using a personal day today/tomorrow" and give no explanation.  Same with sick time, I don't offer an explanation.  It's my time, I earned it, I can use it. 

baystateapple

My boss and I are close, so I have no problem telling him why I need a personal day.  But I realize that's not usually the norm.

mgietler76

Yeah I am also really close with my boss and I tell her everything anyways so I have a different situation. At my old position though I never felt the need to explain why I needed the personal day, as PP said it's your day that you earned so use it as you see fit.

AliGirl11

The reason I'm asking is that I haven't been at my current job that long.  I took my first day yesterday, and they were all like, "Oh, I hope everything's ok...(huge dramatic pause in which I apparently was supposed to reveal my reason for taking a personal day)....but it's perfectly fine for you to be off that day."

I found it odd. 

waltzingmatilda13

It's the government, so I fill out a form and hand it to my boss.

My boss is pretty nosy too though, I just ignore it. They legally can't ask and can really only bring it up if they think you're abusing your time for whatever reason.

Wrkn925

We don't get paid personal days.

But I had to take one day because my sister's BF went all cookoo and I had to help move his stuff.  I told the HR/other receptionist, and she passed along a watered down less personal version to the boss when he asked where I was.

danieliza1127

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_personal-days?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:4b7abf04-2f8c-4f74-a11b-ee825bd1c9d0Post:75508e2d-c26a-40eb-b422-2e1ea36c35c6">Re: Personal Days</a>:
[QUOTE]The reason I'm asking is that I haven't been at my current job that long.  I took my first day yesterday, and they were all like, "Oh, I hope everything's ok...(huge dramatic pause in which I apparently was supposed to reveal my reason for taking a personal day)....but it's perfectly fine for you to be off that day." I found it odd. 
Posted by AliGirl11[/QUOTE]

Well I'm sure they were being sincere, conversational.  If you wanted to talk about it, go for it, but if you don't then just say "oh yeah, everything is fine thanks" and move along.

SarahPLiz

I just tell her I need a day, but I'm pretty open with her so I usually tell her why. In fact, I just sent her an outlook calendar item that said "Sarah taking a personal day" with an explanation that its the day of all my final trials and fittings. 

angiebear11

That is a little strange.

I work at a law firm and I have to report to two people when I take a personal/sick day.  The lawyer I work for and the office manager.  I tell the lawyer I work for that I need the day off and why, and he never really has a problem with it, but I just tell the office manager that I'm taking a personal day.  No explanation.

LuluP82

The only time I ever say why is if I have to take, say an entire week of sick days (I had a medical issue earlier this year, so I explained just to my boss).

Otherwise, nope. Unless it's something I don't mind sharing. It's kind of like when people say they're going on vacation-- yeah usually they just want to let me know they aren't going to be around (I manage people), but I just ask if they're going somewhere fun to be friendly. I also ask when my team takes personal days, not bc I'm going to be mad/judge them, but because I want to make sure they're okay.

heartxsongs

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_personal-days?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:9Discussion:4b7abf04-2f8c-4f74-a11b-ee825bd1c9d0Post:0e3a4ce6-ee2c-4bd9-8dd5-6f7a3df99d3c">Re: Personal Days</a>:
[QUOTE]It's the government, so I fill out a form and hand it to my boss. My boss is pretty nosy too though, I just ignore it. They legally can't ask and can really only bring it up if they think you're abusing your time for whatever reason.
Posted by waltzingmatilda13[/QUOTE]

Ditto.  I also work for the government, so I need to fill out a form to take time off.

kd.joseph

I usually tell my boss I need a personal day and that's the end of it. But I hate calling in sick, as soon as I get back all the women in the office are all: Are you ok? What was wrong? Have you gone to the doctor?

I work with people that get an appt at the doctor as soon as they sneeze. It drives me insane. But as far as personal, if they ask it's only to see if I'm doing something fun. And I have to clear that the only other person in my office who can do my job will be here to cover me.

FutureMrsTR

I used to share a lot more of my personal life at work before it got so shady and sucky around here.

Now I just say if/when I'm taking a personal day or vacation and leave it at that.  It's none of their business.

AliGirl11

It's not a big deal or anything, I was just wondering what the norm is.  We have to fill out a form, too, and get it initialed and everything. 

Birdie1483

I usually just email my boss and say "hey i'm peacing out for the day" or "i'm going to be off on wednesday". If it's not too personal I usually just tell him why so he doesn't freak out and think I'm going on a job interview or something. And he's no one to judge since he's been "sick" all of this week.

I complain about my job a lot, but that is one thing they're great about. They don't ask questions unless you give them a reason to.

When FI's grandmother died in May they gave me the time off without using sick or vacation days but his company made him use a vacation day. I wasn't even legally family yet to his grandmother, but they understand things like that.

karmellah

i managed to take 3 of my 17 days so far. i dont know what im going to do since only a week rolls over. i have to fill out a form and pass it in a month or more ahead of time. for sick time, i can use it if i get coverage and a doctors note.

waltzingmatilda13

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_personal-days?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:4b7abf04-2f8c-4f74-a11b-ee825bd1c9d0Post:083d2695-fbc0-424f-9141-9fae9d4feb2c">Re: Personal Days</a>:
[QUOTE]i managed to take 3 of my 17 days so far. i dont know what im going to do since only a week rolls over. i have to fill out a form and pass it in a month or more ahead of time. for sick time, i can use it if i get coverage and a doctors note.
Posted by karmellah[/QUOTE]

Take some vacation time! A guy at my work just turned in time off for 2 1/2 weeks in December. A little time away from work does help you be more productive when you're there. Even if you just hang out at home, it helps to be "away".

FutureMrsTR

I've never understood people who have vacation time left over at the end of the year.  Then again, I've never had a job where I either a) liked it so much it didn't make me want to get the hell away or b) was so important and busy that I couldn't take time off.

scpalmtree06

I'm a teacher, so I definitely have to submit a form as far in advance as possible in order to arrange for a sub.  I'm taking my whopping 2 personal days off the week of Thanksgiving for our honeymoon.  I'm more than happy to share that with anyone who asks.  If it was more personal, then I guess I'd refrain from sharing too many details.  I've never had that come up *knock on wood*.