A vacation, also called holiday, is simply a period of time when one leaves his/her normal work routine behind, or is away from it permanently. Normally people take a vacation either during a holiday season, or on certain holiday dates, for the purpose of leisure or recreation. Usually vacations are mostly spent by family members or friends. The term vacation is often used to describe a short break from normal work schedules. So what exactly is meant by a vacation?
When an employee has agreed to a vacation leave, this agreement is legally drawn up by an employer and signed by the employee. Both the employee and the employer should both be very clear about what is actually meant by a vacation. Normally, the employee would agree that he/she will spend some time off from work, perhaps for two weeks, for a holiday. The amount of vacation days taken depends largely on the employee’s gross salary, but the number of vacation days may also depend on rules and regulations of his/her employer.
Under normal circumstances, most employees taking a vacation will actually return to their workplace within the same time period, as soon as they reach their destinations. But sometimes, people choose to take more than a single vacation, and so end up spending a longer period of time away from their home. In such cases, their entitlement to a paid vacation may end up being less than that of a person who has not spent any vacation at all.
Vacation means different things to different people. For some, a vacation is something that takes place in a country, state or city for a few days. Some people consider a one-week vacation to be a great holiday, where as others consider a two weeks vacation to be far too little time away from work and family. While a lot of employees would prefer to have a long vacation, the number of days they are willing to take off work usually depends on their salary and the number of days they can reasonably think of without having to do overtime.
Vacation pay is usually paid once an employee has completed his/her vacation. However, some employers pay it out even if an employee is not able to return for a few days or weeks after his/her vacation has ended. Such employers need to be sure that the employee will return to work before the end of the vacation period, otherwise they may be liable for medical expenses incurred while the employee was not present at work. The majority of companies offer vacation payouts in addition to other forms of sick leave compensation.
Sometimes an employee may also be entitled to receive unpaid vacation leave in certain instances. If an employee works for an employer for a period of at least two or more years, he/she may be eligible to a paid vacation. Under these circumstances, the employer pays all or part of the employee’s unreturned wages and penalties for missing work during vacation. However, this option may not be available to all employers and must be discussed with an human resource manager to be considered.