Job's strict PTO policy means new employee has to work September through June with no days off: 'Turns out PTO can be theoretical'

What would you do if you had PTO that you couldn't take?

Would that even count as PTO? The whole point of paid time off is that you get to use it as you please. Maybe you need to get it cleared a little while in advance, but you get to use it. It doesn't do you any good just sitting in the bank. You need to be able to take the time off and go on vacation or simply sit at home and decompress. Work can really burn us out. It can pile up until there's nothing left, and all we can do is crumble under the pressure. We need regular breaks for this reason (and weekends do not count). It's the anticipation of the break, too, that keeps us in the game. If we're just plugging away with no end in sight, then it can be easy to get discouraged.

That's why most salaried jobs offer some sort of paid time off. Every company does it a little bit differently, but they all try to do it in a way that shows they value their employees. Nobody should work nonstop for months on end if they don't expressly want to. But sometimes PTO packages can be a lot more confusing than they need to be. Sometimes they seem like a good thing on paper, but in practice, it's a whole other rigamarole. They can have you wishing you just worked hourly instead, that way they don't have anything over you.