Seems like we're a workaholic nation — although we're getting less PTO compared to other countries, we're also choosing to use less of them. The average worker gets about 18 days of PTO, but only took 14, according to a survey done last year by Expedia.com. Here's how much PTO the average person from other countries is getting and how the worker has been spending them: France: Received 37 PTO Read more

Want to take some days off, but aren't able to because you don't have any PTO days left? If you're working at companies like Netflix, IBM, or Morningstar, you won't ever need to worry about running out, because you'll have an endless amount of vacation days. They are companies with flexible vacation policies, which gives workers the freedom of figuring out how to ration their own PTO. Giving Read more

This question comes from Savvy Confessions, a community group which features anonymous postings of career and money secrets. Weigh in with your suggestions below! I've been thinking about asking my boss for more PTO days instead of or as part of my next raise.  I'm wondering if anyone has done this before?  Did it work out?  For me, I really want to travel a lot.  Since my family lives Read more

Reports of Apple CEO Steve Jobs going on a medical leave have been splashed across all media outlets, amid tons of speculations on how that would affect the firm. You may come upon a time when you need to prioritize your health and take a leave from your job, so be sure to learn more about your options. One that you can consider is the Family and Medical Leave Act, which requires some employers Read more

Thinking about going to Disneyland instead of clocking in your 9 to 5? Fuggedaboutit. You might be tracked down by a detective who specializes in sniffing out those skipping work to play, reports the San Francisco Chronicle. Interestingly, private investigator Rick Raymond says that 80 to 85 percent of his suspects are almost always faking illnesses. That's a lot of guilty truants! Some examples Read more

We're in the holiday season right now, which is a popular time for people to take their vacation days. A word of advice is to split your PTO into little chunks, rather than using them all in one go. The reason for doing this, according to a Netherlands study, is that the biggest factor of the happiness you get from your time off does not come from the actual vacation, but the planning of it. The Read more

We're thrilled to present this smart Learnvest story here on Savvy! The recession gets personal when it starts eating into our vacation time. A study performed on behalf of Westin Hotels found that 64% of employed professionals canceled vacations this year, 1/3 of them for work reasons. Similarly, a study by USA Today found that 51% of online respondents didn’t travel this summer. It’s not Read more