should a college grad expect from a small company, specifically in civil engineering. My boss told me to check on the internet so I'd figure I'd hit up TWW first. One week the first year, two weeks after the 2nd? Any other input would be appreciated. Thanks!

6/12/2008 6:56:59 PM

isnt two weeks paid vaca, one week sick leave the norm. i could be wrong though.

6/12/2008 6:58:02 PM

2 weeks MINIMUM!

you may get screwed though like i did and not receive vacation time upon starting your job until Jan 1st of the following year.

6/12/2008 6:59:57 PM

i get 3.85 hours a week of paid time off, but that covers vacation, sick time, and holidays.

it's 5 weeks total, and you're allowed to take days off w/o pay if you so choose.

6/12/2008 7:13:53 PM

as a federal employee I get 12 annual days a year, 12 sick days a year, and the federal holidays. not great, but that becomes 18 days a year instead of 12 after 3 years of service

6/12/2008 7:19:15 PM

I remember at Cisco Systems you got some rediculous amount like 6.5 hours/paycheck (every two weeks) which equated to like just below 4 weeks per year; just in personal vacation. Then you had the standard 7 holidays w/ 3 floating holidays. With another 10 days in sick/beravement/personnal business etc.

6/12/2008 7:21:44 PM

I get 20 days vacation and pretty much whatever in sick days, but they make it a fucking bitch to use those sick days so I've only used them twice when I really really needed them.

6/12/2008 7:26:16 PM

i get 3 weeks of paid vacation (15 days) but the first few years i got 2 weeks paid vacation

just dont work there for like 2 weeks and be like "i would like to take some time off" cause then they'll know you're a lazy piece of shit

6/12/2008 7:33:46 PM

i got 2 weeks vaca. 1 week sick. i earn 4 hours a week of vacation.

6/12/2008 7:34:00 PM

I get 4 weeks of paid vacation (we usually start at 3, but i negotiated to 4 when i became full-time), 2 weeks of official sick leave

my company is very lenient for people who have legit medical issues keeping them from coming to work. we get to "work from home" if we're having surgery that is going to keep us out of the office for a while, etc.

6/12/2008 8:27:45 PM

Quote :

"just dont work there for like 2 weeks and be like "i would like to take some time off" cause then they'll know you're a lazy piece of shit"

I told him upfront that I would need about 2 days around the 4th of July because of family stuff and maybe a day in August or September.

6/12/2008 9:45:11 PM

We get 15 days, and we earn 1 day for every year we are there. We get 13 sick days and 4 floating holidays. We also have the option to buy an extra week. I'm not a civil engineer though.

[Edited on June 12, 2008 at 10:12 PM. Reason : asdf]

6/12/2008 10:11:11 PM

Madman, I just got my 3 in, it is nice, also, my Agency lets you collect 24 credit hours...you can't carry over more than that...so you use the and start collecting again. It is nice to get "paid" for staying late.

after 15 years you get 8 hrs annual every two weeks, after 3 you get 6 hrs and you sick leave always stays at 4 hrs.

[Edited on June 13, 2008 at 12:35 AM. Reason : w]

6/13/2008 12:34:42 AM

Tell them you'd like to start with a 30 hour work week, salaried, with 5 weeks vacation per year.

If they bitch about it just tell them you're from France and that's the norm.

6/13/2008 1:05:03 AM

I just started at a pharma company (engineering position). My total for a year is 3 weeks paid vacation, 13 paid holidays, and unlimited sick days as long as you don't abuse it. So right now I have that same vacation just prorated for the day that I started.

But I am working for a company based overseas. So I would say 2 weeks paid vacation, and that prorated for your start date this year.

6/13/2008 6:41:01 AM

Quote :

"I remember at Cisco Systems you got some rediculous amount like 6.5 hours/paycheck (every two weeks) which equated to like just below 4 weeks per year; just in personal vacation. Then you had the standard 7 holidays w/ 3 floating holidays. With another 10 days in sick/beravement/personnal business etc."

Close-- it's 6.16 hours per paycheck, which translates to 160 hours per year, but that time includes sick days, bereavement, etc.

The nice thing is that you get that from day one, even as an intern. You can also have up to 180 hours saved up at any time, carried over from year to year, and after 5 years, that bumps up to 280.

6/13/2008 6:41:13 AM

i get 6 hours per paycheck, and 4 hours of sick leave per paycheck (i get paid byweekly) so roughly 4 weeks of paid time off, and 3 of 2.6 weeks of sick/family time.

6/13/2008 6:58:47 AM

Quote :

"i get 3.85 hours a week of paid time off, but that covers vacation, sick time, and holidays. it's 5 weeks total, and you're allowed to take days off w/o pay if you so choose."

same, i love it.

6/13/2008 8:03:20 AM

6.16 hours every two weeks is awesome


i am actually having trouble taking it all

6/13/2008 8:12:42 AM

I get 2 weeks (10 days) and I work for a pretty LARGE company in RTP.

I tried to negotiate for 3 weeks, but they wouldnt do it. So I asked for a LOT more money and they agreed to it

I get 3 "sick/mental health" days, as well as all major holidays off.

I also work in a really cool department and they dont really care if I need to take more time off. As long as we get our work done, they dont mind.

[Edited on June 13, 2008 at 8:34 AM. Reason : .]

6/13/2008 8:27:47 AM

I get one half day per month paid vacation which works out to just over a week per year. I also get the big holidays off and its pretty flexible around other stuff.

6/13/2008 9:33:39 AM

[Edited on June 13, 2008 at 9:45 AM. Reason : .]

6/13/2008 9:45:26 AM

20 vacation days
13 sick days
10 holidays

oh wait that doesn't have anything to do with what the OP asked for...

6/13/2008 9:58:04 AM

at my first/last job we started day 1 w/ 25 PTO days, but there were no holidays being a worldwide company. sick days were free.

6/13/2008 10:17:31 AM

15 days PTO + 12 holidays

6/13/2008 10:23:43 AM

i like our paid time off schedule, luckily this year 4th of july falls on our typical off friday, so i won't have to use 9 hours of paid time off to cover the holiday.

also, our time rolls over every year. and there was no mention of a maximum amount... i'm sure if there was a max, i'm nowhere near it

i don't think companies will mind if you need to take time off, it's not like other types of work (restaurant, retail, etc.. ) where someone will have to cover your ass for the day, or they'll need to get someone to cover your shift. as long as you get your work done while you're there, i don't see why there would be a problem..

of course, i guess some places are more strict than others.

6/13/2008 10:30:20 AM

Damn. I guess I'm really lucky and since this is my first real-world job I just never realized how much more leave time I get then most people.

8 hrs of leave per paycheck
4 hrs of sick leave per paycheck
None of these include federal holidays, which I have off and are paid.

Paychecks are bi-weekly.

As I get promotions (which are guaranteed based on time I spent here), the amount of leave hrs per paycheck increases.

6/13/2008 10:34:49 AM

hot damn! where do you work?

6/13/2008 10:39:00 AM

jess...i just realized you have to work at Fluor dont you? the 3.85 hours per week, the off friday on july 4th? Im guessing you work for Fluor out of charlotte at our power office? Ive worked for Fluor now in greenville, sc for a year (1 year 2 days exactly hehe).

[Edited on June 13, 2008 at 10:41 AM. Reason : ]

6/13/2008 10:40:41 AM

I get 7 hours every 2 weeks, if that means anything

6/13/2008 10:42:48 AM

i just started in january, we get 2 weeks vacation and 9 office holidays. after a few years you get 3 weeks, then 4 and 5. sick time is kind of a take it as you need to thing, don't bring your ass to the office with the flu and get us all sick. i guess if you were 'sick' every friday it'd raise some eyebrows though


thats the cool thing about where i work, as long as you get your shit done and your project runs well no one really tracks where you are all the time. i think if i came back from vacation and my HR girl told me i was out of PTO days, i'd laugh in her face.

6/13/2008 10:43:28 AM

I'm I software engineer and get 15 days PTO + 12 holidays and unlimited sick days but I'd expect less from a small company.
I also get 1/2 day extra pto for every week I'm on call

[Edited on June 13, 2008 at 10:47 AM. Reason : ]

6/13/2008 10:47:01 AM

Quote :

"jess...i just realized you have to work at Fluor dont you? "

omg! that's so crazy! i was wondering how you just happened to have the same exact towp plan i did. haha

my one year was june 4th did you get your pin?

6/13/2008 10:48:20 AM

nice. I was supposed to start June 4th last year but I pushed it back a year. And no I havent gotten my pin yet haha. I'll get it at our next department meeting.

6/13/2008 10:50:36 AM

the csa department has icecream parties for peoples' bdays, and i got mine then... i'm totally going to sametime you hahaha

6/13/2008 10:51:37 AM

Quote :

"hot damn! where do you work?"

NASA

I've been working at NASA exactly 1 yr and 2 days. The time of plans and stuff are active immediately, so if you really wanted to, you could take a day off after your first two weeks.

6/13/2008 10:52:19 AM

I get 15 PTO days per year. That includes sick days. Also, if I come in an hour late or leave early (either situation for doctor's appointments) they take it out of my PTO. I also have your usual amount of paid holidays but I feel like I'm being screwed.

6/13/2008 12:56:43 PM