PTO?

[MelMcT2009]

Hello! I’m in the process of interviewing for post fellowship jobs. Is it typical to be offered no PTO at all? I have a place telling me that they don’t offer PTO to any shift workers because “you get 2 weeks off a month already”.

This particular place pays hourly - it seems kind of concerning to have no PTO in this case, but maybe not?

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[The kitchen sink]

Ive heard this for a lot of shift work 7on 7off jobs.

Having 2 weeks off is nice but I often hear most of it is spent recovering.

Also, just because they don’t offer PTO, doesn’t mean it can’t be negotiated. However, if all the other people at that job haven’t asked for it or gotten it, then good luck.

 

[MelMcT2009]

Ive heard this for a lot of shift work 7on 7off jobs.

Having 2 weeks off is nice but I often hear most of it is spent recovering.

Also, just because they don’t offer PTO, doesn’t mean it can’t be negotiated. However, if all the other people at that job haven’t asked for it or gotten it, then good luck.

Yeah they told me no when I asked about it. I guess my thought is, it would suck not to get paid if you have to take a few days off because someone dies or something. Also, I’d imagine it makes it difficult to take vacations that are longer than a week.

 

[grt398]

It's common in the 7 on/off model to not have any official PTO. I suspect it can be part of what leads to burnout in the field. It depends on what your contract says in terms of required shifts per year as some will specify you have to do 24 weeks per year, rather than strict 7 on/off, or something like 168 shifts/year gets you a similar 2 week break. You could also ask (1) if it's possible to be scheduled in blocks of 10 on/10 off once or twice a year so you could take an actual vacation somewhere, or (2) just ask your contract to specify 24 weeks per year and that you understand you won't be paid for 26 weeks.

 

[Tipsy McStagger]

That's how my job is as well. As a group we tried to negotiate 1 week paid vacation into the next years contract and the hospital shut it down.

 

[Siggy]

My contract is no PTO and minimum of 14 shifts a month. It's not a strict 7 on/7 off system, so in general we just don't schedule people for when they want time off. You can unofficially borrow days from future months since any shift over 14 is paid at the same hourly rate. So, for example, if you work 10 shifts in June, but 18 shifts in July you just won't get bonus shift pay in July.

 

[Drägerman]

What @chocomorsel said in posts 59 and 66 really changed how I looked at ICU jobs.

Hospitalist vs Anes

You consider being triple boarded in IM, CC, and pulm pigeonholed? I’m confused. To be fair, none of those docs are practicing IM once they become Pulm/CC staff. So it’s much like anesthesia or whatever-CCM alternating between the unit and pulm clinic/consults/procedures.

forums.studentdoctor.net

 

[MelMcT2009]

What @chocomorsel said in posts 59 and 66 really changed how I looked at ICU jobs.

Hospitalist vs Anes

You consider being triple boarded in IM, CC, and pulm pigeonholed? I’m confused. To be fair, none of those docs are practicing IM once they become Pulm/CC staff. So it’s much like anesthesia or whatever-CCM alternating between the unit and pulm clinic/consults/procedures.

forums.studentdoctor.net

59 and 66?? Where do I find these?

 

[MelMcT2009]

My contract is no PTO and minimum of 14 shifts a month. It's not a strict 7 on/7 off system, so in general we just don't schedule people for when they want time off. You can unofficially borrow days from future months since any shift over 14 is paid at the same hourly rate. So, for example, if you work 10 shifts in June, but 18 shifts in July you just won't get bonus shift pay in July.

That seems like good flexibility!

 

[chocomorsel]

Hello! I’m in the process of interviewing for post fellowship jobs. Is it typical to be offered no PTO at all? I have a place telling me that they don’t offer PTO to any shift workers because “you get 2 weeks off a month already”.

This particular place pays hourly - it seems kind of concerning to have no PTO in this case, but maybe not?

Don’t fall for that crap. Do an average per week and see what you are working. It’s BS.

 

[sylvanthus]

How many weeks per year? 26? My current gig is 20 weeks per year, so its pretty easy to have 2-3 weeks off at a time. But im guessing this is pretty abnormal.

 

[psychbender]

Remember, 7on/7off, with no additional vacation means effectively working 42 hours per week for 52 weeks a year.

 

[Drägerman]

59 and 66?? Where do I find these?

So many doctors are stupid and accept the whole “I am off the 26 weeks out of the year” that admin sells them. Such bull****. I would have kept doing locums instead and take off when I wanted Instead of tie myself down for 26 weeks out of the year at $450k with no actual vacay.

Because I am working 12 hours a day 7 days a week. The equivalent of 42 a hours a week if you average the two weeks together.
No, I have absolutely no desire to take on a full time job where I work 42 hours every single week for 52 weeks out of the year without ever getting any kind of vacation. And it's really more like 44 hours a week really.
I don't see how this is complicated.

Remember, 7on/7off, with no additional vacation means effectively working 42 hours per week for 52 weeks a year.