Why. A typical five-day employer offers around two to three weeks of vacation plus a handful of holidays. Four-day weeks give you far more time off than that, every single week, without asking anyone. The trade is that there is no separate bank of vacation days on top.
Your four days
- You choose your four working days from the seven in the week, in any combination that works for you and the practice’s coverage needs. Monday through Thursday is the default.
- Your schedule is set with the practice manager and lives in PracticeOS. Change it with two weeks’ notice so clients get real notice.
- You never work more than four days in a calendar week (Monday through Sunday), except when you are banking days as described below.
- The session cap never moves: 8 sessions a day, 32 in a week. See Production bonus.
Longer breaks: banking days
If you want more than three days off in a row, you earn the extra days by working extra days first.- Bank in advance. Work a fifth day in a week and you have banked one day. Bank four days over four weeks, and you can take a full week off with full pay.
- Or take up to four days on credit. You can take up to four unbanked days off and work them back on your extra day over the next four available weeks.
- The cap still applies in a bank week. A fifth working day is an exception to the four-day rule, never to the session cap. A bank week still holds at most 32 sessions, so either spread sessions across the five days or use the extra day for notes, admin, supervision, or CE.
- Maximum at any time: four days banked, or four days on credit. Not both.
- Holidays cannot be bank days. See below.
- Banked days are not a wage. They are not paid out when you leave, and days on credit are settled by schedule adjustment in your final weeks, not by deduction. See Final pay.
Requesting a longer break
- A day or two: two weeks’ notice to the practice manager.
- A week or more: four weeks’ notice.
- Coverage decides. Once the team is larger, two clinicians out the same week may not work.
- Client sessions have to be moved before you are out. Coordinate with the front office as soon as the time off is approved. See Scheduling, cancellations, and no-shows.
Unpaid time
If you need time off that you have not banked and do not want on credit, you can request it unpaid in full-week blocks. Requests go to Helen through the practice manager.Important. For salaried (exempt) staff, federal law allows unpaid time only in full-week increments. If you work any part of a week, you are paid your full salary for that week. Partial weeks are never docked. Hourly staff (interns) are paid for hours worked.
Sick days
There is no separate sick bank and no makeup. If you are sick on a working day, you are paid and you rest. See Sick time.Holidays
There are no paid holidays as a separate benefit. When a holiday falls on one of your working days, the holiday becomes your day off that week and your usual day off becomes a working day. Holidays are always off. See Holidays.Unplanned absence
If you have an emergency, tell the front office and the practice manager before your first session that day, or as soon as you can. The front office reaches your clients. Do not reach them from a personal phone.Client care before a break
Before any planned absence of more than a few days, make sure:- Every client with a scheduled session has been rescheduled or informed.
- Any client at elevated risk has a plan and knows who to contact. See Emergency and after-hours coverage.
- Your notes are current.
Interns and part-time staff
MSW practicum interns are hourly and are paid for hours worked; they do not bank days. Part-time employees follow the schedule in their offer letter.Why. Real time off, every week, is the point of this practice. Taking your day off is not a favor to ask. It is how the model works. Plan longer breaks early so clients are not surprised.