Tips for negotiating time off in the era of 24/7connectivity.

The definition of vacation has changed. Time away doesn’t always translate into time off. Driven by 24/7 productivity expectations and ubiquitous mobile technology, most hard working professionals do some type of work while on vacation. Whether it’s checking email, using their Blackberry, being available to clients or colleagues by cell phone, catching up on paper work or reading trade journals, fewer Americans feel able to put their work aside and completely relax or unwind on vacation.

“The change in the way vacation is perceived brings with it newfound opportunities for job-hunters to negotiate vacation time as part of their overall compensation package,” says Richard Bayer, Chief Operating Officer of the Five. “With the tethered vacation becoming the rule rather than the exception, job-hunters need to determine a company’s unwritten vacation policy and individual managers’ expectations before negotiating time off.”

Here are a few guidelines that Bayer and the experts at the Five O’Clock Club suggest job-hunters take into account before negotiating for vacation.

Get the Offer First. Ask about vacation last – Vacation is the last thing you want to talk about when interviewing for a job. It comes after salary. First get the offer, and convince the hiring manager you will hit the ground running before you discuss vacation. Hiring managers are turned off by candidates who seem more interested in benefits than in the job itself.

Consult the employee handbook – in large companies vacation time is based on level and is often accrued for each month worked. But these policies are old and based on the expectation that employees would stay a long time. If you are at a certain level, you can make a case for getting the same vacation as others at your level.

Never demand time off. Be willing to make trade-offs. Decide what you’re willing to give up in order to get more vacation time. This may mean sacrificing some of your salary, bonus or agreeing to work overtime for a period of time.

Give as much advance notice as possible for special events and travel abroad. Everyone has weddings, graduations or pre-planned vacations they don’t want to miss. Giving your manager as much advance warning as possible will make it easer for you to take time off on these special dates.

Find out what’s expected — Does your manager expect you to call in once a day, check emails regularly and be available for conference calls? If that’s the case, you might be able to negotiate for extra days or more frequent vacations.

Make a case for extended vacation time. You can say, “I expect to work long hours” or “I plan to put in a significant amount of overtime in the first six months to get the project up and running and will need time off to decompress and recharge.” You might even offer to take a week off without pay.

Too much vacation has a downside. When you’re away from the office, you can’t defend yourself against colleagues who want to undermine your position on a new initiative or steal the credit for a lucrative deal you put together. And when you are gone many organizations default to the “out of sight, out of mind” posture which limit your ability to get new plum assignments.

Have a spotter. It’s always a good idea to select one point person you can go to for regular updates; someone trustworthy who will keep you apprised of any developments you should know about so you’re not blindsided when you return to work.

“Vacations are critical but tricky,” Dr. Bayer observed. “The pace of business requires intense investments of time, attention, skills and emotion. But humans need to decompress and recharge our batteries to continuously meet the demands of the workplace. Each person and each workplace defines the balance. Understanding what you need and what the job needs and finding the nexus between them are key components of professional success. That’s why ‘tethered vacations’ are becoming the compromise of choice for millions of professionals.”