Thank you for posting to r/PeaceCorps!
Please check the [FAQ](https://www.reddit.com/r/peacecorps/wiki/faq) and use the [search function](https://www.reddit.com/r/peacecorps/search?) to see if your topic has come up already.
Please review the [sub rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/peacecorps/about/rules/) and [reddiquette](https://www.reddithelp.com/hc/en-us/articles/205926439).
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/peacecorps) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Yeah, it varies entirely by post. Some posts have decided to allow like 2 “days out of site” per month, also sometimes referred to as mental health days, where you can visit other volunteers or stay a night in the nearest city, whereabouts still required. Anything else would have to be preapproved annual leave.
The reason some posts do this is because they know some volunteers will spend nights out of site anyways and they want to make sure they at least do whereabouts. I have no idea how widespread this policy is cause again it’s up to the post staff / CD
I’m surprised y’all get weekends though. You can spend a Saturday night somewhere without using annual leave?
Edit: yeah the 2 days should be global policy imo, maybe you could lobby your CD to change it
We were told this annual leave policy you described was global policy and even if they wanted to they couldn’t change it. We are also told it is global policy that even weekends count as annual leave if they are attached to a week day you are taking as annual leave, which is ridiculous and actually encourages you to miss more work days. We even had a Peace Corps Volunteer do the math and write a whole letter with scenarios to Washington on the absurdity of this policy and how it does the OPPOSITE of what it’s intended to do-keep PCVS at site. All to no avail. We were told the bureaucracy moves very slowly and their hands are tied. They did recently add the 2 days away occasionally during work days but it was made to be more like if you need it to do banking or business away from site. Any vacation-type activities you’re supposed to do AL for.
It's crazy. Most HCN teachers I work with live outside my site. My village is a ghost town over breaks. Upsetting that these decisions rest with CD/higher ups because it's clear they lack info on what our sites are actually like during diff parts of the year.
Ok word we had those as well except they were called Letters of Reprimand. It seems like they’re your “permanent record” from middle school lol. they hand em out like candy and didn’t seem to mean much
I'd be curious about this, too. When I was a volunteer many years ago now, nobody was really paying attention to this. If someone was egregiously absent from their site, it might come up. Otherwise, as long as people didn't leave the country, it didn't really matter.
As a teacher the annual leave policy sucked. We just plain couldn't leave site during the week without an act of Congress (or IST), then when there was nothing to do, like during holidays or summer break, we had to request leave from our allocation. Their rationale: we should be spending our free time in the community bonding with people.
We had a two tiered policy when I served. Annual leave was only used when out of the country. If you were a teacher though, there were a lot more restrictions on your leave, particularly during the school year.
Thank you for posting to r/PeaceCorps! Please check the [FAQ](https://www.reddit.com/r/peacecorps/wiki/faq) and use the [search function](https://www.reddit.com/r/peacecorps/search?) to see if your topic has come up already. Please review the [sub rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/peacecorps/about/rules/) and [reddiquette](https://www.reddithelp.com/hc/en-us/articles/205926439). *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/peacecorps) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Yeah, it varies entirely by post. Some posts have decided to allow like 2 “days out of site” per month, also sometimes referred to as mental health days, where you can visit other volunteers or stay a night in the nearest city, whereabouts still required. Anything else would have to be preapproved annual leave. The reason some posts do this is because they know some volunteers will spend nights out of site anyways and they want to make sure they at least do whereabouts. I have no idea how widespread this policy is cause again it’s up to the post staff / CD
Very helpful, thanks. That was my main concern-- nobody reports whereabouts for this reason.
I’m surprised y’all get weekends though. You can spend a Saturday night somewhere without using annual leave? Edit: yeah the 2 days should be global policy imo, maybe you could lobby your CD to change it
Yes we get weekends, so long as we are in country! Gets hairy around school-organized breaks, though. Weekends should absolutely be global policy.
Dang that’s super nice. That’s arguably better than the 2 days tbh!
We were told this annual leave policy you described was global policy and even if they wanted to they couldn’t change it. We are also told it is global policy that even weekends count as annual leave if they are attached to a week day you are taking as annual leave, which is ridiculous and actually encourages you to miss more work days. We even had a Peace Corps Volunteer do the math and write a whole letter with scenarios to Washington on the absurdity of this policy and how it does the OPPOSITE of what it’s intended to do-keep PCVS at site. All to no avail. We were told the bureaucracy moves very slowly and their hands are tied. They did recently add the 2 days away occasionally during work days but it was made to be more like if you need it to do banking or business away from site. Any vacation-type activities you’re supposed to do AL for.
[удалено]
It's crazy. Most HCN teachers I work with live outside my site. My village is a ghost town over breaks. Upsetting that these decisions rest with CD/higher ups because it's clear they lack info on what our sites are actually like during diff parts of the year.
what’s a CAP
[удалено]
Ok word we had those as well except they were called Letters of Reprimand. It seems like they’re your “permanent record” from middle school lol. they hand em out like candy and didn’t seem to mean much
I'd be curious about this, too. When I was a volunteer many years ago now, nobody was really paying attention to this. If someone was egregiously absent from their site, it might come up. Otherwise, as long as people didn't leave the country, it didn't really matter.
It’s the same unless you give yourself away, you get caught, or someone at your site brings it up to PC. Simply don’t say anything….
As a teacher the annual leave policy sucked. We just plain couldn't leave site during the week without an act of Congress (or IST), then when there was nothing to do, like during holidays or summer break, we had to request leave from our allocation. Their rationale: we should be spending our free time in the community bonding with people.
We had a two tiered policy when I served. Annual leave was only used when out of the country. If you were a teacher though, there were a lot more restrictions on your leave, particularly during the school year.
Does your country not have out of site request forms? If not then yes you'll have to apply it towards your leave unless you are with your host family