How To Make The Most Of Unlimited PTO

How can you make the most of your unlimited PTO without upsetting your co-workers? In this video I discuss how you can determine how much vacation time you should actually take with your companies unlimited vacation policy. So if you are feeling stressed, anxious, or just curious stay tuned! Also, in researching this I saw the term discretionary time off mentioned which is one I haven't seen mentioned in the past, does your company use this term when talking about their unlimited vacation policy?
--- Resources ---
www.glassdoor.com/blog/25-hig...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...
--- Follow Me ---
Discord - / discord
Twitter - / codyengeltweets
Medium - / codyengel
--- Camera Gear ---
Camera - amzn.to/2LM9Zt3
Microphone - amzn.to/2LLv0Eb
Lens - amzn.to/317tGPT
Main Lights - amzn.to/2K2yHDH
Back Lights - amzn.to/2Yw4HUI
External Monitor - amzn.to/2YoM2Kl
* Note: the above links are affiliate links.
--- Desk Gear ---
Monitor - amzn.to/2yjZPqR
Headphones - amzn.to/2YBuo68
Google Nest Hub - amzn.to/30Zuki7
MacBook Pro 2019 - amzn.to/30YyuXy
* Note: the above links are affiliate links.

[@Frissdas1207]

When I got unlimited pto I took 3 months off during Christmas my first year. It's all about setting the standard right out of the gate.

[@Raphaelogwu]

Starting with a bang!

[@thetruthsayer8347]

😂😂😂😂

[@MBG-ck9ou]

that is just ridiculous lol, why even work at that point

[@jsbillions]

🤣🤣🤣

[@mk061g9]

Update us in a few months or a year make sure you are still employed there

[@rogerl19]

Been watching dozens of videos on this topic. You’ve by far made the best articulation of how to approach unlimited vacation. I think it’s because you address the biggest criticism of it by helping set personal guidelines, thank you. I might be entering this situation soon so it was really helpful.

[@CodyEngelCodes]

Hey really happy this video was helpful for you! Set those personal guidelines, if you find you didn’t get a chance to take the time off in the quarter then roll it over and take off more time in the current one 😎

[@pterodactylptroll]

30 days. Padding those holiday weekends is a solid strategy I've used for years. That's about 10-15 days right there for staycations. The other 15-20 days will be used for real destination vacays.

[@CodyEngelCodes]

Don't forget to take off the week after New Years. No sense taking time off when 3/4 of the company is out of the office, that's prime working time.

[@MalcolmLeeKennedy]

Just got a new job with unlimited pto. I will strategically plan to take off 40 days a year.

[@CodyEngelCodes]

Living the dream lol

[@WillBrownAuthor]

Thanks for this. One of the few videos that isn’t bashing the policy and actually offering some advice I’m about to start a job with unlimited PTO and think I’ll shoot for taking 25-30 days per year.

[@leahmoon3356]

I'm doing research into unlimited PTO policies and found this really helpful! Thank you!

[@CodyEngelCodes]

Glad it helped Leah!

[@ryanmitchell7343]

Super helpful video, I've been self employed for over a decade, but an interesting opportunity land in my lap and I'm in a more traditional role with unlimited PTO. I'd usually take 20 days off a year, but that was with a schedule that I could flex as much as I wanted. Now that things are more rigid I feel like I'll need more time. The office is closed 10 days, 5 days between Christmas and new years, a day at Thanksgiving, then I'm planning a 2 week trip. That adds up to about 25ish. One benefit to the company is they don't have to administer all the accruals, tracking and roll overs. That all costs staff time (money) and infrastructure (money). It was very eye opening to hear Afghanistan gets a mandated 20 days, but America gets 0.

[@jfg617]

Thank you for this video, super helpful! I’m getting unlimited PTO at my next job and now I will be prepared to have that conversation with my manager

[@CodyEngelCodes]

Glad it was helpful!

[@business_central]

Hahaha loved the bonus footage !

[@CodyEngelCodes]

Glad you enjoyed!

[@ChrisAthanas]

Super helpful I’m gonna schedule 30 days this year

[@CodyEngelCodes]

Great plan! I've been targeting around 25 days this year myself.

[@sohailhines]

One important aspect for comparison omitted by many of these comparison videos is that you don't accrue any PTO with "unlimited PTO" so when you quit so get nothing (limit = zero). Whereas with PTO you at least get paid out for the time you have accumulated.

[@CodyEngelCodes]

Agreed, that's one reason I wanted to bring it up in this video ☺️

[@c0d3_m0nk3y]

Excellent video. Thank you! I applied at a company which has this kind of policy and I was wondering whether I should ask for unpaid vacation so that I don't have to feel guilty for taking it. However, it eased my mind that you mentioned that the employer also benefits from it (use it or loose it) and that there is a good way to reason about it.

[@CodyEngelCodes]

Thanks for the comment and I’m really happy this helped ease your mind that it’s okay to take some time off 🙂

[@stephanbranczyk8306]

When you interview with your future coworkers, you should ask them how many days of vacation (on top of normal holidays) they've taken this past year, or the very first year they started working at this company. This will give you an idea of how likely your future manager is to approve your vacation requests. The same goes for educational and training opportunities. The company may have a good budget for sending its employees to seminars and conferences, but if none of your future coworkers are taking advantage of that, it probably means that management does not make it easy for them to actually take time off.

[@CodyEngelCodes]

That is an awesome tip Stephan!

[@minnesotajack1]

Two years later, how do you like unlimited PTO? Let me guess: you take less time off and feel guilty when you do….

[@shesfabulouz]

2 weeks for Christmas, 1 for thanksgiving, 2 in the summer and 1 me day per month lol

[@reyalexandro]

Thank u. I just started and they have this. The culture is very heavy on salary people working the most hours they can soo well see

[@CodyEngelCodes]

Yeah you’re welcome. It can vary from place to place and manager to manager. I think this model is a pretty fair one though, but as with anything I’d build up a good working relationship with your manager and then discuss PTO.

[@Dom-xi8je]

I take 30 days a year in various iterations but always at least one 2 week straight period. I don’t live to work in fact, I’m the top performer on my team because when I’m off I’m off and when I’m on I’m on.

[@CodyEngelCodes]

When you're taking vacation, actually take vacation. When you're working, actually work. It doesn't seem like it's that simple, but it is!

[@sinkinpat]

After 23 years with my company, we just learned they are going to unlimited. It really upsets me. As my strategy has been to bank my PTO. When workload runs light, I pad my Timesheet. When I need a long 2 week or 4 week vacation, I save up for it. But then we learn that our accrued PTO is going to vaporize. Then I learn I may not be eligible as I am hourly. So everyone gets unlimited except me? So working with the same firm for over 20 years to get to the 5 weeks PTO is now worth nothing? As the new kid with 2 years experience also can also take take 5 weeks maybe 6 or 8. But I am locked at 5.

[@seandavis2520]

Thank you very much!!!

[@CodyEngelCodes]

You're welcome!

[@phil7121]

If it's an unlimited PTO policy, I'm very upfront that I will be taking 25 days off as that is industry standard and takes into account that I get no payout if I leave 5 floating days that I'll take spontaneously 5 days in july 5 days in november 10 days in december/start of january

[@AtomLabX]

It is insane how the U.S. have 0 days. Like I love being an American and all, but holy cow we are so behind... Thank you for that, this is great to know, because if I didn't know, I would take mostly one week, if not anything at all... Just because (oh, look, Adam is taking too much days off) aka the lazy co-worker. Thanks again!

[@CodyEngelCodes]

Yeah you're welcome!

[@Gotfish]

I've got a question on those Unlimited PTOs though. If as an employee I qualify for Unlimited PTO, can I just declare that I will just work 4 days a week instead of 5 days and say like request every Friday off every year? Who's to say that I can or cannot do that? Have you seen a situation like this?

[@CodyEngelCodes]

In theory you should be able to. In practice it probably wouldn't work, but the main people that would say no are your boss (or their bosses) or HR.

[@brandonc3032]

I worked for a company that offered unlimited PTO. They made sure you never took it by setting metrics that were impossible to meet. Unlimited PTO = No PTO.

[@CodyEngelCodes]

Ack, those are the worst. During interviews I always ask about time off, not so much how much time I could take off but how much time others have taken off or how they are making use of unlimited PTO.

[@showspotter]

is unlimited pto the same as open pto....? either way, i can see taking off more than 20 work days/yr. got 15 at my last one (12hr shifts)

[@CodyEngelCodes]

Honestly, I'm not sure if unlimited pto is the same as open pto. Unlimited basically means it's not capped at any specific limit and ideally it is also not tracked in any meaningful way.

[@carvedwood1953]

I would 100% never come down from a reasonable number of days off if offered an "unlimited" pto policy. My manager would have to eat shit.

[@CodyEngelCodes]

Wow those are some strong words.

[@carvedwood1953]

@@CodyEngelCodes Well yeah. If I had 20 days off per year and my manager told me I was only allowed to take 10 of them, I would tell him to eat shit. If a company has an unlimited pto policy and tells you you are only allowed to take 10 days off, its not really unlimited, its not even up to low "normal" policy, and they should be told to eat shit as well.

[@sirtipsalot7320]

Good. Any PTO under an unlimited PTO policy that ends up being less than 20 days is pretty bad. If the unspoken rule is like 10-15 days in such environment, that's terrible I would argue. We will all 100% die one day, I don't think we're going to look back on our death beds and wished we worked more.

[@minnesotajack1]

The biggest advocates for unlimited PTO are the people who don’t have it.

[@CodyEngelCodes]

I've enjoyed it at most companies I've worked at.

[@ThePeterDislikeShow]

What do you do if you're the only employee who is single in a mostly married team? I'm single (and autosexual but that's another story). Unlimited PTO has been a curse to me, because it means I fill in for my coworkers' unlimited desires. It's a reverse unlimited PTO policy for me.

[@Patriot1790]

My current Employer offers unlimited PTO. My manager told me to take three weeks for "vacation", and that would increase over time. I have a toddler and she gets sick often, and I don't have to worry about calling in if I need to stay home.

[@CodyEngelCodes]

I definitely think of unlimited PTO in two buckets, one is sick time and one is vacation time. If I'm sick, I don't count it against my vacation time or days taken. After-all, being sick is no vacation. In the past I'd bucket them together and get stressed out if I took too many sick days.

[@DanielVazquez]

I think is bs to have to explain you boss what do you need time off. Also, having to check email/slack in your vacation should be prohibited.

[@Apatxi1022]

You have to check your email during pto? Dang

[@efransophoto]

Why would anyone feel guilty about taking an amount of time off that's allowed to everyone else? Why is that even a factor? I'm curious to see how a company can truly be practical about allowing all employees to take "unlimited" paid time off?

[@xGerrrr]

I would probably take no more than 30-35 days.

[@dank_sxc]

How many hours do you actually work during the day? I code almost 6 hours a day, every day.. lol. Pair programming every day smh

[@CodyEngelCodes]

It depends on the company. When I made this video I was working about 8 hours every day. The job I just left I was working maybe 5 hours a day. The job I'm starting next week I'm anticipating working at least 8 hours a day. The two where I was working more hours are tech startups, the one where I wasn't working much was a big tech company.

[@bobsagget9212]

So I can just not go to work anymore?

[@CodyEngelCodes]

Yeah, no one is forcing you to go to work. Can't promise you'll receive a pay check long term though.

[@lingu3047]

You didn't mention what team environment it is. Toxic, semi toxic or healthy.

[@CodyEngelCodes]

My own team environment? I don't recall exactly what I said in this video, it was several years ago 😅

[@potatoh3203]

365 days

[@CodyEngelCodes]

I like that idea.

[@davidmills2900]

@@CodyEngelCodes hey unlimited is unlimited. work a couple weeks, then take rest of year vacay!

[@oventi_]

If you are constantly trying to not look lazy, you are not at the right company.

[@yushi911]

So now it’s all up to your manager … hmm i know some abusive manger who will never let people go on vacation until all milestones are met.

[@paulamontanez9575]

Do You get paid for unlimited PTO ?

[@CodyEngelCodes]

You are paid while you take it. Since it doesn't accrue though you won't be paid out when you leave the company.

[@Pauli650]

massive con

[@CodyEngelCodes]

Agreed