Know your vacation plan

Q How should practitioners calculate paid vacation and how can you solve a dispute about it?

Paid vacation can be a confusing subject to tackle, which is why Dr. Shawn Finch, an associate at Gentle Doctor Animal Hospitals in Omaha, Neb., sought out an answer for a reader who was disputing paid vacation with their boss.

"Paid vacation means actual paid time off, so if you had a 14-day vacation, you would be out of the office fourteen days that you otherwise would have worked and you would be paid for those days," Dr. Finch says.

Paid vacation means time you are away from the office, getting paid and not expected to make those days up during other months. Finch says the first step is to get a written contract if you don't already have one.

"I would start by sitting down with your boss and your contract and figuring out together what you are actually owed," Finch says. "If it's paid vacation, you still need to find a time that works for the hospital and is approved by the boss, but it should actually be time away that is still paid as if you were there."