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Discussion

Vacation Schedule

Our operating room is looking for a new way to do our holidays. Currently we have a calender posted and its a first come first serve basis for vacations. Our problem has come because the same individuals will show up at midnight on the first day the request can be made to put in their request for the day after (black friday) or day before (new years eve and christmas eve). Other individuals do not feel they should have to show up at midnight to put in a request. I would like to know how other facilities prioritize their holiday vacations.

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    • Featured Replies

    You could do it by seniority. Those who have been there longest pick their first week vacation, then it travels down the line, and back to the start for their second week (or however many you get). It's a tough call on how this works for just holidays though. I'd say start a rotation so everyone takes turns working those days.

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    Have it be by seniority for a limited amount of time like for two weeks then first come first served. Also holidays should be split into two groups A and B. The A group works say new year day July 4 th and thanksgiving and B works Memorial Day Labor Day and Christmas . It rotates yearly.

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    • Admin

    How we do it:

    Prime time (Memorial Day through Labor Day, the weeks containing Christmas and New Years)- full weeks only

    Seniority based, staff divided into 4 groups.

    Group 1 gets the first week to select; within the group, it's first come, first served. Then groups 2-4 each get a week. Those who fail to submit their requests during the assigned week go to the end of the list and have to wait until everyone else has had their chance. If, at the end of everyone selecting their week (or stating they choose not to take a week), slots are opened for a second week based on first come, first served. 3 RNs and 3 STs allowed to take off per week.

    Everything else is first come, first served. Including Black Friday and single days during prime time. We are allowed to request up to 1 year in advance, and to provide written, definitive evidence of who requested first, we must submit an email to the scheduling committee. No signing up on a calendar, no verbal communication.

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    Have it be by seniority for a limited amount of time like for two weeks then first come first served. Also holidays should be split into two groups A and B. The A group works say new year day July 4 th and thanksgiving and B works Memorial Day Labor Day and Christmas . It rotates yearly.

    The group A/B thing is how my old company did it. For example, you either had to work Christmas Eve or Christmas and then whatever you worked the next year would be opposite of what you worked the previous year. Usually how it went was Easter, 4th of July, Thanksgiving, Christmas Day and New Year's Eve was A, and Memorial Day, Labor Day, Christmas Eve, and New Year's Day were group B. You could make a request to change your schedule, but usually if you wanted something off you'd have to find your own coverage. We had enough FT, PT, and Casual staff that it was rarely an issue. Plus, we had enough people who wanted/needed double time (yes, double) or were Jehovah's witnesses that it worked out. I think first come first serve is absolutely absurd and wrong.

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    We used to do it your way and our new manager now assigns it like this:

    First 15 with the most seniority pick.

    Then she she takes two days and everyone is assigned, by seniority, a time to call her and give her their weeks. She is able to tell people if the weeks are available or not. this stopped the last minute sign and bump crap.

    Everyone, except people with 30 years or more, can only take 2 weeks from Memorial Day to Labor Day week. 30+years get 3.

    Our holidays are done by seniority, but if you take vacation the week of a holiday that is your first choice holiday. We divide holidays into summer and winter. Christmas week can only be taken by 30+year people.

    Our ER and our OR took on this model also and it works pretty well.

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    One place I worked had a Holiday schedule that was started years ago. All 10 official hospital-paid Holidays were posted. By seniority (at the time) everyone picked the Holiday they wanted to work/take call. The next year everyone still there rotated forward one holiday. (Christmas Eve this year, Christmas Day the next year.) When someone quit/retired/transferred, that slot stayed open for the most senior new guy to fill. Of course, after the schedule came out, everyone was free to trade at will.

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    • Experts

    Last facility I was at broke everyone up into two teams. Each team had specific holidays for that year, and the following year they'd switch. You knew in advance what holidays you had to work that year, and it was on you to secure your own replacement if you were working a holiday that you wanted off. Seniority might come into play within a team if multiple people were requesting first cancel, but usually we were short-staffed that being cancelled almost never happened.

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