Doing the math

I work for a company that is set up for associates to accumulate vacation time monthly. Depending on the years of service you have with the company determines how much time you accumulate each month. Your number of hours then goes into your bank on the first day of each month. You are allowed to accumulate so many hours (also depending on your years of service) into your bank with a maximum amount. If you go over the maximum amount at any first of the month you will not accumulate your monthly hours and will stay at the maximum allotted amount.

How’s that for a math problem? It’s my math problem. It just past the first of the month and I need to take a look at reducing my vacation bank. I am close to the maximum hours so I won’t accumulate my total allotted hours if I don’t take time off and reduce my vacation bank before the end of October. I don’t think I can explain this without using real numbers. I never liked math problems and this one is no different.

I am allowed a maximum of 322 vacation hours. I currently have 316.50 vacation hours in my bank. I will accumulate 15.20 hours on 11/1 giving me a total of 332.10 hours; only I won’t accumulate that since it will put me over my maximum. I will only have 322.00 hours on 11/1 if I don’t take 10.10 hours by 10/31 and reduce my bank from 316.50 to 306.40 so I can accumulate the full 15.20 and have a bank of 322 without losing 10.10 hours. Got it so far? (Or have I already made a math error—please let me know before 10/31).

Okay – if what I have said above is correct and I take a minimum of 10.10 hours off in October I will have 322.00 hours in my vacation bank on 11/1. Not good. No…not good to have the maximum 322.00 hours in my bank on 11/1! That means I won’t accumulate my 15.20 hours on 12/1 if I don’t take those 15.20 hours off before 11/30 and then the process starts all over again in December.

See what I mean! This is the never ending…if the train leaves the station at 1:20pm but the connecting train is in a different time zone and was going at a faster rate of speed – I hate those math problems!

I’m not going to mention the hours I have in my sick bank or how the company also gives you a bonus vacation bank for every 5 years of service with the company. (Okay – I have 80 hours in my bonus vacation bank). That would just complicate things further and doesn’t really affect the math problem.

But I think I might be missing a point somewhere here, aren’t I?

Math problems always get me so confused!

TT