How often do you take personal days?

[Inspired by Reggio]

....So...personal days...is that like wanting a day off? Or sick/emergency days. In my min they are different things....

Ya -good point .... when I worked in HR in an employment contract the term 'family/emergency day' is a day that can either be booked in advance for appointments for family members or last minute in an emergency unplanned illness - and an employer has the right to ask for 'proof' of illness when calling in sick 'last minute'. Where as a 'personal day' usually means 'the reason is none of the employers business' and they can only be booked 'X days in advance and upon approval based on availability of staffing' .... so for example if you have 10 sick days and 5 personal days - as long as you booked it in 'advance' your boss has no need to know WHY you are wanting it and can 'deny' a day if there are already too many staff booked off that day however if you have used up all your sick days and are trying to use a personal day last minute cause you are claiming to be 'sick' they can require a NOTE or refuse to allow you to use it as a paid personal day and force you to take it 'unpaid leave'.

In your own personal contracts with clients YOU get to define them ... for me my 10 personal/emergency days are combined definition .... if I am sick or just needing a pre-booked day off up to 10 per year are paid .... any more than that are unpaid ... I have never used more than the 20 days off in the course of a year between vacation, illness and appointments or professional development days.