Time or money?

There's a bit of a celebratory event at work so everyone was given an additional day off (for free).

I am ecstatic.

I love leave days.

I love free time.

When I got into the office today and discussed this "free leave day" with some of my colleagues, they weren't all that excited.

A previous company was mentioned by my one colleague who gifted each staff member with a R amount on a gift card every Christmas.

I told her, "this leave day is worth more than that". She looked at me a bit suspiciously and then I said, "just work out your daily rate".



At our last salary increase, I worked out my daily rate and it's a nice round number. This is rather useful when you feel like you've worked like a slave because, "at least I earned _______ today".

Well, that's how I think.

And so while I really just like any time off (seriously!), this gift is also actually worth a lot of money even if I'd received it on a gift card.

It's a useful exercise to do if you earn a salary. Divide your monthly net salary by 21.67 and there you go. When you know this information it changes the way you think about time at work.

Have I delivered output worth this R amount today?

Most days I feel like I've more than earned my salary and then there are days when it's a complete write-off due to useless meetings. But I like to believe they even out, and on the whole my employer gets from me what my actual salary deserves.

Back to you.

What would you prefer if you had the choice - an extra day's leave or the equivalent in cash (taxable)?