Take a LEAVE to LIVE

With the year coming to an end, my officemates and I recently discussed how many remaining leaves we had for the year. As usual, sagad na naman ako. If not, I had more absences than the leaves I actually have (bad! bad!). But above anything else, I know very well to take advantage of my leaves, which, as we all know, are mandated by law.

In our company, all accumulated leaves above 5 are converted to cash; the first to fifth leaves accumulated are carried over. For example, if you have 3 leaves left, these are carried over to the next year; if you have 8 leaves left, the first 5 are carried over, and the remaining 3 are converted to cash. Sounds enticing right? One might be inclined to “accumulate” his/her leaves to get cash at the start of the year.

I have an officemate who constantly says she’s stressed out by our job. I’m always left to wonder how she could say that when, at the end of the year, she hasn’t taken a single leave (not even a birthday leave), not to mention rendering OT almost everyday and every Saturday! If she had just taken the time to take a leave, she might have lower stress than she was having. I mean, our department does not keep us locked in rooms with industrial knobs that we can’t get out of. It’s very simple, if you are feeling burned out with your job, take the time off. Use your leaves.

Ialman of random ruminations offers some good excuses why many employees do not take leaves:

“ang hirap kasi makakuha ng leave sa office eh.” (it’s so hard to get leave credits from the office.)

“baka hindi ako payagan ng boss ko.” (my boss might not approve it.)

“ang dami kong trabaho. ang hirap mawala sa office.” (i have too much work. it’s hard to be absent from the office.)

“ipapa-monetize ko na lang yung mga leaves ko.” (i’ll just have my leave credits converted to cash.)

“pwede bang itapat na lang yan sa long weekend?” (can we schedule that during a long weekend?)

I’ve always believed that these reasons are crap (sorry for the term). I do not speak though for those who actually love and enjoy their jobs, but when you are constantly whining, there is no question whether you CAN take a leave (this is mandated by law…so sue your employer if they don’t allow you), the question is WOULD you? If you are not availing of your leaves, you have no right to complain about the stress.

Some of my officemates have bulks of cash the start of the year because of their leave commutation, and I sometimes envy them. Who wouldn’t? But I have never regretted using my leaves. You know why? I have a certain philosophy: Availing my leaves gives me something that my other officemates might have unknowingly let go when they chose not to avail of their leaves: TIME.

• TIME to travel (and relax), expanding my horizons and learning so much
• TIME to be with loved ones, enriching relationships in the process
• TIME to fulfil my duties as the “single” parent that I am, maintaing my status as best mama ever
• TIME to destress so that I am not burned or stressed out because of my job, making me actually excited to go to work after
• TIME for other aspects of my life, ensuring that I have a life outside the office

I am not suggesting we abandon or neglect our jobs. On the other hand, I am saying we should actually love our work and enjoy it. From experience, I believe taking the leave or the day off actually makes me want to work. True! That’s the reason I’m not stressed from work and there are times super ganado ako magwork! Ha!

I’ve always been an advocate of the work-life balance, and if using all of my leaves will do the trick, then so be it!

Postscript, it’s a good thing the weekend is coming, or else, after writing this post, I’ll be inclined to use another leave. Ha! Ha!

Happy weekend everyone!