What Do You Have Written In Contract For Time Off?

[greenhouse]

Making the contract... I've lurked in here plenty to see that personal time is the most needed thing to prevent burn-out. I have decided to close- mem. day, labor day, thanksgiving, christmas and my son's b-day PLUS one full week in July. I won't expect pay for these days. What is in your contracts for personal days, holidays etc.? I'd like to take off the whole week of christmas too, but is that pushing it?

[Childminder]

I close paid holidays - New Years, Memorial, July 4th, Labor, Thanksgiving, Christmas. I know that a lot close the week after Christmas, Day after Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve early.

[DanceMom]

1.I take the following days off with pay: New Year’s Eve, New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King Day, Memorial day, July 4th, Labor Day, Thanksgiving & Friday, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
Without pay – Good Friday

2.I take 10 personal days each year. Parents are responsible for finding alternate caring during this time.

3. Anything beyond the above days will be without pay.

[SilverSabre25]

I get New Year's Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day,Labor Day, Thanksgiving and the day after, and Christmas. If the holiday falls on a Saturday, I get the prior Friday; if it's on Sunday, I get the following Monday.

I also get 10 personal days and 4 sick days per year, for a total of 14 days. 5 of these days are taken at one at the end of June--this is in my contract.

All these (the holidays and the others) are paid days off for me. I'm considering adding the day after Christmas next year...possibly unpaid, but definitely off. I'm playing with the idea.

Personally, I think that it would be too much to take off the week of Christmas. It's really, really hard for parents to get time off at that point (unless they're teachers or similar) and might be too stressful. BUT it would probably be quite fair to write in your contract that that week will be a laid-back one, with none of the usual curriculum, etc, so that you're off the hook for really "working" much.

[misol]

I have 12 paid holidays and 5 paid sick days. I can also take up to 3 weeks of unpaid vacation.