<p>Or he could fly to Europe on Wed, arrive early Thursday morning, spend the rest of Thursday plus Friday and Saturday with his friend, then fly home Sunday. I know is seems that if you are going to go all that way, you should stay a while to get your money’s worth, but perhaps a short visit is better than no visit at all. </p>
<p>H had been with his employer for 20 years when I was pregnant and expecting our first child. He asked about taking some of the extensive vacation time he had off to spend with me and our newborn. He was told that despite his years of loyalty, if he took longer than 6 weeks (of the months or years off he had saved), he’d be considered “non-essential.”</p>
<p>Fortunately, we were able to work out a compromise. I took 3 months of maternity. He took 6 weeks where he stayed home all day and worked for 4 hours every evening, M, Tu, Th, F and all day on Wednesday. He was with the baby during the day (when I had returned to work, and my mom watched baby on Wednesdays). It was an interesting time and H was exhausted and happy to go back to his regular schedule after I resigned to stay home with baby.</p>
<p>Sorry, I don’t know enough about the dynamics and company to give a good opinion. At our law firm, no one could plan a vacation if there was a pending trial. If the case unexpectedly settled or resolved earlier than planned, everyone could take a brief vacation. Planning was very tough.</p>
<p>The grocery chain that I used to work for gave no paid time off until the employee had been with the company for a year and a week. Drove me crazy because as a pastor, I get four weeks a year from day one. Then again, I only have those 4 weekends off in a year, so the generous vacation time is warranted. </p>
<p>The factory where my husband now works gives a week after one year.</p>