The layoff thread got me wondering. Who are good employers in the area? Stuff like good work life balance, fair compensation, treated well by management, low stress, maybe even unlimited PTO.
Best employers in Central Iowa
- Thread starter ClonerJams
- Start date
Unlimited PTO is not a positive
Is unlimited PTO even a thing anywhere?
And treated well by management depends on the person. I have been treated well by most but had a couple bad ones.
If you work for Albaugh do you get to use the course?
Where I work.I went from 8 hours every two weeks to unlimited. I still keep track of the hours so I don't screw myself. It does kind of suck that a person with a year under their belt takes as much as me after 20+ years. It saves the company a lot of money when they do layoffs.
It usually is coupled with heavy handed guilting of people taking it. Pretty sure studies show it results in less time taken.
Yeah, my wife has unlimited PTO. I think it’s popular at startups so they don’t have to pay cash when they go under or someone leaves.
I’ve worked at two places that had “unlimited” PTO or they just didn’t track it. All that meant was that people didn’t take it.
Help me understand. If it's unlimited, then why would you be screwed by using it?
Is it really more like a really lenient flex scheduling? Like if you are still required to meet your commitments, but you don't have a set amount of PTO? If someone is abusing it, management would just make sure they have more responsibilities?
Unlimited PTO only means they don’t have to pay you when they fire you or you quit. It’s not a benefit. In the long haul most people don’t use it and the company saves money.
"Unlimited PTO" is not a thing. The places I've worked that have had it (two, including my current employer), it's "flexible time off" (FTO).
I very much prefer it, but it highly depends on the culture of the company and your team/department.
I could easily see it creating a situation at certain companies where you never take time off because you feel peer pressured not to. Nobody else takes it, and you no longer have a bucket of time you're allowed to take, "guilt-free", so you take way less time off. I've worked at companies where this would have absolutely been the case if they had FTO (consulting being the obvious example).
However, that has very much not been my experience. I'm not sure that I take any more or less time off than I did when I had a bucket of PTO, but not having a bucket to manage allows me to have a lot healthier work/life balance. I work hard and I get my job done, so if I need to take time off I'm gonna do it and not think twice about it. Our company culture is very supportive of it and it isn't an issue.
I've gone back and forth between PTO/FTO in my last few job moves multiple and I hope I never have to go back to PTO again.
While the payout part is true, you can always factor this amount in to your total compensation when negotiating an offer.
In my personal opinion, unless you're an outgoing person that needs and finds a company that has a frat-like, start-up culture (i.e. somewhere like Businessolver), there are companies that don't suck and companies that do suck - not much else.
Finding a "great company" is all going to be determined by your work style and the company culture. If you value work/life balance, your options are going to be further defined by your job. I'm in IT for instance and work/life balance has always had the work side of the scale bottomed out.
Once a company gets to a stable size, it's hard to be anything beyond "ok". Companies that don't suck are ones that allow for a healthy work/life balance, have competitive benefits, and hopefully have some sort of annual bonus. Beyond those things, most companies can't or won't provide anything else these days. Very few even have bonuses anymore.
Finding a "great company" is all going to be determined by your work style and the company culture. If you value work/life balance, your options are going to be further defined by your job. I'm in IT for instance and work/life balance has always had the work side of the scale bottomed out.
Once a company gets to a stable size, it's hard to be anything beyond "ok". Companies that don't suck are ones that allow for a healthy work/life balance, have competitive benefits, and hopefully have some sort of annual bonus. Beyond those things, most companies can't or won't provide anything else these days. Very few even have bonuses anymore.
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With 20+ years, I feel I've earned it. In the old days, I would use it so I didn't lose it. With unlimited that is no longer an option and I find myself using less per year. Part of that though is because of Covid.
On the other hand, I was out on STD last year but in reality I wonder how long I could have just stayed on vacation....
With all of this said, I work for a good company that allows me to work at home, took great care of me while I was sick, and is cool about having a good work/life balance. I'm at the corporate level and it's different depending on department. Before I got sick I got a couple of job offers that would have added $30k+ to my bottom line. The way they treated me last year will probably mean I will stay until retirement.
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Thanks for all the information from everyone. I can see benefits to it. If I had the choice I am not sure what way I would go.
The rumor is that he originally had the course as a perk for his employees but the IRS told him he couldn’t use it as a tax write off so he made it a “private course” where only certain people could join and he was able to write it off. I don’t know how true it is but I believe employees can still use the course.
My last place cut us without a package. If I didn't have 10 weeks of PTO banked I would've gotten nothing.
Unlimited PTO is 100% a scam
It also means during layoffs or other separations, they don't pay anything out for the leftover time.