I am a patent agent working in a patent law firm. When I am working, I am getting paid; when I'm not working, I'm not getting paid. They expect me to work 1800 billable hours per year, but I work more to earn more money.

Thus, any time I take off is time-off without pay. Christmas day -- I'm not working, and I'm not getting paid. But I don' have to work 40 hours per week, 52 weeks per year to meet my 1800 billable hours requirement. I work when I want, and I take off time when I want and as much time as I want. If I want to take 6 weeks of vacation per year and I can get free from my work to do it, no problem. I really like this freedom. Beats the heck out of having 3 weeks and 3 weeks only vacation per year, no matter what.