Life is not all about work. There will be times when you need to step back and do something else in your life. But can you actually do that with your budget hanging on the line?
Well, most companies provide “Paid Leaves” for you to enjoy.
What are Paid Leaves?
A paid leave is a benefit that you can use to get compensated while not clocking into work. It’s like a free half-day or whole day pass. You get to take a day off, and your expected cash flow is not affected. Nifty, right?
How to Get Paid Leaves
So how do you get paid leaves? Policies differ for every company. Some companies give it at the onset. Some offer it as an incentive after a year of service.
Usually, there are 2 main types: vacation leaves and sick leaves. Some companies don’t distinguish between the two and just give a set of leaves that you can use for whatever purpose.
But if your paid leaves are classified for a specific purpose, you use your vacation leave for any reason you want and sick leaves to give you time to recover from a sickness.
How to Use It
But regardless, if you have a set of leaves, you should inform your superior ahead of time (if possible) when you need to use it, especially for vacation leaves. Your superiors have the right to reject your leave request.
So to give it time, the ideal filing is around 2 weeks. But some companies are flexible with the time as long as it’s reasonable enough.
For example, you want to take a leave of absence tomorrow only to be passed today. But you have a big marketing launch. Your supervisor needs to approve your leave beforehand to make sure that your team is not understaffed.
After all, the company values your work-life balance as long as it doesn’t interfere with operations. With that, here are some tips on how to maximize your paid leaves for a better work-life balance.
Schedule It with Legal Holidays and Long Weekends
Have you ever wished that your holidays would be longer? Well, now you can.
With your paid leaves, you can add an additional free day or two when you schedule it before long weekends and legal holidays. By scheduling beforehand, your long weekends will be extended by around one to three days.
You can check this cheat sheet if you’re in the Philippines. By taking advantage of this, you can rest and enjoy the holidays more without decreasing your pay. Sweet!
Special Occasions with Your Family
Most of us work for our family’s future. But what’s the use if you don’t have time for them while working.
Yes, with remote work, you have time flexibility. But, it’s pretty nice to spend the whole day with them without your job in mind.
You can use your paid leaves for that.
Think about birthday celebrations, wedding anniversaries, or just spending a simple getaway with your folks. In this way, you can strengthen your bond with the most important people in your life.
For Personal Errands
We all have lives outside our work. Maybe, we handle a side hustle, a business, or a hobby. But sometimes, weekends are not enough. You might need to fix some errands during the weekdays.
If you have a business in the Philippines, registration and government requirements will probably take you the whole day to fix. For hobbies, you might be attending a seminar or a tourney for your category. Or better yet, you might be the one speaking or competing in the event yourself.
Which do you choose: Work or your passion projects? After all, your one-day salary might mean a lot for your budget.
Save your paid leaves for this reason.
With this, you can balance your passion projects with your work. And when you return, you’ll feel more motivated to do your best in your job — of course, with the same expected take-home pay for the month.
Save Some For Emergencies
We don’t know what the future holds. God forbid; emergencies might happen to our family. Paid leaves are here to help us with it.
You can use your sick leaves for any medical attention needed for yourself. On the other hand, you can use your vacation leaves to take care of emergencies with family members.
With paid leaves, you certainly have the time for the things that matter most.
Encash Your Leaves
What if you don’t have any intention to have a vacation? And you’re healthy enough to avoid sickness? You can encash your leaves!
Depending on the company policy, know how many leaves you can convert to cash at the end of the year. In this way, you can get more money as a reward for your almost perfect attendance.
Remember, though, that there’s a limit to this. You can’t encash everything. So keep your leaves in check.
Use Up Most of Your Remaining Paid Leaves on the Christmas Season
What if you still have plenty of paid leaves that you can’t encash? Well, it’s a good problem! You have an excuse to enjoy it all during the Christmas season.
The last two weeks of the yuletide season are relatively light for most companies. That’s why you can afford to use all your leaves down during this time without disrupting operations.
Count your remaining leaves as early as November. And schedule it for the Christmas holidays!
Don’t Hesitate to Use Your Paid Leaves
Last note! A lot of people are hesitant to maximize their leaves.
Don’t worry! The reason companies have this is for you to have a better quality of life while working with them.
They want you to have a work-life balance. After all, if you’re happy with your personal life, it will trickle down to a better performance in your job.
With that, enjoy your paid leaves! Cheers!
