How many of you have blackout periods at work?

[kcochrane]

Just wondering if we are the only ones that have a blackout period at Christmas. For about two weeks we cannot take vacation or holiday days. We can only take our days off. I was told that this was because the same people were getting Christmas off (senority) and it saved having to deal with that. But rumor is that is was done because the DON have to come in when a whole unit called in sick?

Anyone else like that?

[kcochrane]

I like the idea of every other holiday off. Some units do that at my facility, but it isn't universal. I have yet to figure out how my NM figures out who gets what.

[Plagueis]

Just wondering if we are the only ones that have a blackout period at Christmas. For about two weeks we cannot take vacation or holiday days.

I also thought that "blackout" was referring to passing out drunk. Anyhow, where I work, we have the same policy; no vacations or holidays during Christmas time, which is usually the week before and the week after Christmas. I think that management figures that many people would want to take that time off, since it's usually when kids get their Christmas vacation from school.

[YellowFinchFan]

At my former hospital, we were blacked out from Thanksgiving until 1/10. Forever. As someone whose entire family was 1200 miles away, it meant I could never under any circumstances* get away during the holidays. Not even once every 10 years. It really bothered me, enough to change specialties. I now work community health and take all the time I want off over the holidays.

*The exception was pregnancy. The predictable outcome was that our birth rate around the holidays was legendary.

That made me laugh~ I'd do that myself (have a baby around the black out holiday time)....hahaha....

Working the holidays is so horrible for me (and my family) that I probl will go perdiem so I'm not forced to work them.....

[pfongk]

we are allowed to take holidays around christmas and new year so long as we aren't rostered on to work the public holidays for christmas, boxing day and new years day. We also can't take the exact time off each year otherwise we had people wanting to take the same time off each year.