Vacation Policy......what's not said - Anonymous employee Chamberlain Group Employee Review

3.0
Jan 25, 2016
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Good engineering people and department. Profitable company.

Cons

Corporate department leadership is weak and do not work together. Sales and marketing team needs strong professional leadership. FYI new vacation policy is intended to take away an accrued vacation benefit from current employees. Before 1/1/2016 if you left the company at any point in the year you were paid out vacation dollars for the following year's accrued vacation. For example, you left in June 2015 you were paid out for 2015 unused vacation AND an accrual from Jan - June 2016. That has been the practice for YEARS even though it is not written (there was no written vacation policy at all). past practice = policy from Dept of Labor perspective. Don't let HR tell you it's not an accrued benefit. it was and the language can be found in your offer letter and I'm sure in employees files who left the company where HR would write "pay out accrued vacation of x dollars on final pay". All termed employees received this payout until this year. Sure, the HR leadership increased vacation for SOME current employees with less tenure and new employees but took away $$ (accrued benefit) from all current employees. Duchossois wanted to change this policy for years but never did because they would be required to pay out all employees per DOL. Chamberlain decided to bite the bullet and change it because they didn't think anyone would know their rights. No where on the new vacation policy does it mention what happened to our accrued benefit??

avatar
Chamberlain Group Response
10y
Our vacation policy was one of the first things that I looked into upon arriving at Chamberlain Group, Inc.—I know that it's close to everyone's heart and an important ingredient of work/life balance and workforce productivity. I found that our vacation policy is one of the most generous that I've encountered in industry. While some companies require you to accrue or earn vacation as you progress through the calendar year, Chamberlain Group awards you the entire annual amount on January 1st. This means that you have your entire years' vacation available for use throughout the year, and if you depart the company, you will get paid for the entire years' worth of vacation when you leave (minus any that you've taken). Some companies only allow employees to take vacation as they earn it, and many have policies where departing employees are only paid for days they have accrued and not taken, or where employees must pay back "borrowed vacation" used. In this context, Chamberlain Group is not only competitive and fair in awarding employees their full vacation balance on January 1st, but generous to departing employees in its payout. Employees are a top value for us here at Chamberlain Group, Inc.—we believe that people make our organization. We value the skills, strengths and perspectives of our diverse team, and we strive to create an environment where motivated employees can flourish and succeed. For this very reason, we offer vacation benefits in a manner that is most beneficial to our employees and that is highly competitive in relation to our industry peers.—JoAnna Sohovich, CEO

Explore other reviews about Chamberlain Group

5.0
Mar 12, 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

People are helpful and work well together

Cons

Pay could be a little more competative

1
3.0
May 13, 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Chamberlain is a highly variable place to work. Everything depends on what team you are working on. Some teams will have managers who will fight for you and help build you up, others not so much. I have more or less grown up with the company and have seen it go from being owned by a private family to being owned by Blackstone and all between. Every year I ask myself, "is this the year I leave". My answer is usually no, as where else will be better when I am at least in a good position? Summer fridays are pretty great though.

Cons

Yearly reorgs are a constant drag. Some of the most CG-blooded people I have ever known are somehow always the first to get sent to the wood chipper. People flail around and react. There is no forward thought. Just constant reaction to whatever words the executive population utters. We have been 'transforming' for the near decade I have worked here. But what are we even transforming to? All I have seen is us transforming into yet another soulless company. Benefits have been getting crushed. My wonderful and amazing 401k service contribution was ripped away and replaced with a far less beneficial amount. If you aren't on a good team, or have a good manager, your chance for advancement will be near impossible. Constant 'do more with less'

See reviews by: Helpful|Rating|Date|All