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Negotiating vacations etc

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Watermark

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I was wondering if negotiating for vacation is possible in government when being hired?

And, or what other possibilities are there with negotiating?

Curious because my last job I negotiated to a higher step, but then after the second year I wasn't able to get any raises for the next 8 years.

What can I negotiate as a city or county planner when being hired? And what are the downsides.

I know in non-government there is more wiggle room with negotiating salary and benefits.

TIA
 
We allow for pre-planned vacations within the first 6 months. or are you asking if you have have more earned vacation time? If the latter, these are usually set by any existing employment or bargaining group agreements.
 
I was given (did not ask) for 40 hours in the bank when I was hired as a director. Likely, this was not a benefit to all. You can certainly ask for a hours, especially if you have a vacation already planned.
 
I've always been upfront about having vacation plans if they fall within the first 6 months. All cities have accommodated the need, but some do it differently.

One city was like "whatever, make sure you let everyone know when you'll be out". A different one was like "you can take the time, but if you don't have enough vacation time built up, it will be time off without pay". Another tried to make me move my 10-year anniversary plans. I refused unless they reimbursed me for all costs prior to me starting the job. I took the vacation during my 3rd month.

Pay is harder to negotiate, simply because cities tend to be on stricter budgets and pay scales. Getting extra vacation or the opportunity to work a more flexible schedule is worth a shot, as some places allow both.
 
Definitely ask. On the scale of things you can give a new hire, the ability to use vacation in probationary period or possibly the ability to start with more "time in the bank" costs almost nothing (as long as it doesn't cause a kerfuffle with existing unionized staff).
 
Faust_Motel said:
Definitely ask. On the scale of things you can give a new hire, the ability to use vacation in probationary period or possibly the ability to start with more "time in the bank" costs almost nothing (as long as it doesn't cause a kerfuffle with existing unionized staff).
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^^This - just ask for it. The worst thing tat can happen is they say no to the request.
 
I've always found vacation harder to negotiate than pay. My current let me take some time before it was built up without taking vacation, but wouldn't put it on the books as pre-banked vacation. During my last two negotiations I tried to push for more vacation time or a higher accrual and was told "we dont due that." I later found out that both would if they really wanted to attract the right person, but it was a pain for them to get HR to sign off on it.

In my experience, government is about like anywhere else. If they really want an employee, especially for higher/harder to fill positions they'll be willing to negotiate.
 
Like others, we will happily work around pre-planned vacations, but everybody starts out with 40 hours in the bank so that really helps out too but if that's not enough hours we'll let you take unpaid time off or flex your schedule around to make things work.

Other than our appointed positions, we don't allow much in terms of negotiating different pay scales or anything really but you can negotiate to come in at a different "step" in the existing payscale and those increased steps count as years of service and bring with them faster accrual of additional hours
 
Watermark said:
I know in non-government there is more wiggle room with negotiating salary and benefits.

TIA
Click to expand...

FWIW a good friend of mine is on the hunt for a new job (senior industrial engineering type position) and it amazes me what he can negotiate over: starting bonus, annual bonus multiplier, 401k contribution rate, lump sum buy-in to retirement plan, vacation days in the bank, vehicle allowance, etc.
 
Watermark said:
I was wondering if negotiating for vacation is possible in government when being hired?

And, or what other possibilities are there with negotiating?

Curious because my last job I negotiated to a higher step, but then after the second year I wasn't able to get any raises for the next 8 years.

What can I negotiate as a city or county planner when being hired? And what are the downsides.

I know in non-government there is more wiggle room with negotiating salary and benefits.

TIA
Click to expand...
8 years without an increase? That is not a place I'd be working at very long. Once you're offered a job you need to ask how they deal with salary increase. Do they offer a COLA, merit increases, both? If they don't have a solid plan I wouldn't be interested in working there.

As others have said, ask for what you want. I've been in the public sector for almost all my career and except for my first entry level job I've been able to negotiate for something, whether it be more starting pay, vacation in the bank, relocation expenses or a combination of some of those.
 
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