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Comment by ajb | Hacker News Reader

"unlimited PTO" is not a benefit. I want the clear right to an amount of PTO, not the opportunity to negotiate for it . As such, a company advertising "unlimited PTO" goes to the bottom of my list as having dishonest management.

Remote work is my #1

Health insurance didn't used to be important in the UK but it's looking like it might be in the future.

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Personally, I find unlimited PTO useful not for actual vacations but for instances like taking a Friday off to drive somewhere for the weekend or taking a half day to help a friend move. Basically it prevents my vacation time from getting nickel and dimed.

The ideal would be some sort of policy that specified a number of vacation days and provided flexibility for incidentally being out of the office.

> Health insurance didn't used to be important in the UK but it's looking like it might be in the future

Future? lol

Would take me month to get 'non-private' doctor appointment

My health insurance gets billed large sums for thr whole family. Uk is becoming like US, but with 1/3 the wages

This depends on culture. I've taken amounts of PTO that are unfathomable as an enumerated quantity of days. Think 35-45 days off in a year.

I have a contractual right to 37 days in the UK, so it's not unfathomable.

For most Americans, it is definitely out of reach.

Sure, but given the commenter you were replying to was in the UK, it's not an insane figure in the UK even if 45 is on the high-end.

I am in the US and have 35+ days in my package and cannot fathom a situation short of major illness where I will use them all in a calendar year.

I realize that it is cultural and probably due my generation’s reputation for work ethic and disregard for work/life balances. I also have been lucky in that I am rarely sick enough to miss work and being remote just means you power through it (I have lost only a half day to sick time in the last 15 years). I see sick days eating up a lot of my colleagues paid time off.

I think on average I probably take a total of 20 days off a year, broken out as 10 days around Christmas/new years, 5 mid/late summer, then 5 around other holidays to extend a weekend.

Under our enumerated policy, I have 23 days of PTO plus 9 company-chosen holidays plus 5 sick days per year plus a 4-week contiguous sabbatical every 5 years. I have also taken 45 days off in a year under this enumerated policy. It's not unfathomable to take 35-45 days off in a given year. (I'm in the US.)

That sounds impressive unless you work in Europe where its normal.

Absolutely agree with this! This is an underhanded way for companies to avoid paying out unused PTO on termination or the employee leaving

I always mentally autocorrect "unlimited PTO" to "there is a limit to PTO, but we won't tell you what it is!"

"Depends on how much the boss likes you, and what mood they are in when you ask."

It also guarantees you will not be compensated for the PTO you didn’t use when you resign.

Many places that accrue PTO will pay out for unused days at your departure.

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