Paid Vacation

Dear Dave
The firm I work for offers one week of vacation per year for the first four years of employment and goes to two weeks during the fifth year. It’s possible to get three weeks of vacation, but you either need to be a shareholder or have been with the firm for fifteen years. A number of us feel this is out of line. What’s your experience?
WA NY

Dear WA
Sounds a wee bit miserly to me based on my first-person knowledge of numerous firms’ policies around the country. It would be more typical to find one week earned during the first year, moving to two weeks in year two. The timing of going to three weeks is a little more inconsistent from firm to firm and harder to give you a specific answer on. A few firms I’m familiar with allow three weeks as early as the fifth year, but I’d venture the majority require between ten and fifteen years of service before granting a third week of vacation time.