Taking Time Off When You Are The Only Admin?

iso9k asks: "Yesterday I was called into my boss's office and told that I have maxed out my PTO. This means that I can no longer accrue time off for hours worked. I am the sole Network/Unix admin (no backup admin) at my company. I don't have time to take a week or two off. If I were to do so my return would involve two weeks of 60+ hours a week to make up for lost time with projects. My company will not 'cash me out.' The reason being 'you need to take some time off to recuperate.' The execs don't seem to understand that my being gone will not bode well for an Internet company where uptime is critical. This leaves me in a strange position. Do I take a week off and just let the network or Unix machines fail if they fail? Or do I stay here at the office and ignore my vacation accruement? Has anybody else run into this issue? What did you do?" For those of you in this situation: not having a backup administrator on staff is not a good sign. Instead of worrying about vacation, why not see about getting a back-up administrator hired so that you can take the much-needed time off?

Comments

I agree...

[paRcat]

...with Cliff.

Get a backup. Or at the very least, train someone who has *some* skill in IT to fix the things that normally go wrong. We have a few systems that can't be fixed without spending a horrible amount of time figuring them out. It's easier to teach someone "clear int bri0" than to volley messages with the phone company. Anyway, figure those situations out, and teach someone how to do them.

Ask for a laptop with wireless access. While this may be a big request, you would be able to take vacation and still fix things without coming into the office. Definitely get compensated though. And hopefully you're using an OS with true remote access. :)

But in the end.. what do you owe this company? Don't waste your life just so they won't wither. If they refuse to believe things will go to pot.. take some vacation. Then document how many calls you get while you aren't there. That will be very good evidence that they need to give you some backup.

just take a vacation

[po_boy]

Sometimes people forget that they are working to make money to buy things they want and need. Sometimes that's food; sometimes that is a trip to the islands. You have worked enough that they want you to go enjoy yourself. Well, turn off your pager and cell phone and go drink a daqueri on the beach. When you come back all this crap will still be there. You will still have work to do so that you can make more money so that you can buy the things you need and want.

If the company goes bankrupt or fires you while you were gone, then you get another job to earn money to buy the things you need and want. The job is there to support you, not the other way around.

pretty soon, you will have enough money to buy the things you need and want for the rest of your life. That's when you retire. Don't forget to do that.

Let it Burn

[ThreeFingerSalute]

I say let it burn. Take your vacation, and leave the pager at the office.

It is NOT your responsibility to make the staffing decisions, nor is it your responsibility to kill yourself with overwork so that the Management can A) Get richer off of your sacrifice and B) Continue in ignorance of thier staffing needs.

Moreover, if you are gone (quit, fired, leave, whatever) they will need to train a replacement, who *will* cost more than you, both in training time and salary. Plus even after they've paid for your replacement, they still have to spend for a reserve sysadmin. So it's in thier best interest to keep you around. It's in your best interest to use that leverage in negotiating with them.

So take a vacation! You may be surprised to find that everything is still standing when you get back. If so, great. If it burned to the ground in your absence, well, that's Management's problem. They pay you for 40 hours of your life every week. Don't give them more than what they pay for! Maybe you've heard the of the Technique of the Thousand Marbles? Depending on your age, you statistically have about 2000 weekends left to enjoy. Go buy 2000 marbles (BBs, whatever) and store them in a big jar. Every Saturday, take one marble out of the jar and discard it. Watch as the level diminishes over time. You never get your life back - and nobody ever said as thier dying words "I wish I had spent more time at the office."

I presume that you are in a salaried or hourly position, and that you don't have any significant equity/investment in the corporation. If they won't "cash you out" and you can't take time away, for god's sake, negotiate for a percentage ownership in the corporation! Not stock options, but actual stock. You need to own a piece of it. That way all your sacrifice to the benefit of the corporation comes back to benefit you in the long run. Any time that you put in above and beyond your contractual obligation is an investment in the company, same as cash. You ought to stand to benefit from that investment - in fact, you should benefit *more* from an investment of time, because money comes and goes, but like I said, you only get one life. Your life is more valuable than your money.

I know it may sound a bit crazy to march into the boss' office and demand a piece of the company - but look at it from thier perspective: It's free money. Giving you equity doesn't interfere with the cash flow. It's just a piece of paper that says you own n percent of the assets of Foo, inc. It doesn't come out of any budget, and it doesn't cost them anything in lost time or productivity. Why do you think the dot-com startups throw stock options around? It's CHEAP! There's no cash outlay in giving away bits of the company. And cash flow is what companies care most about managing.

So help them manage thier cash flow. Save them the expense of finding and training your replacement. Take some time off, and don't check in. If you absolutly can't or won't get your reward in the most valuable form (free time) then arrange to take it in the form of equity.

My $0.02, after having been the lone sysadmin for 4 years...