[VLM]

In theory. In practice people schedule vacation that week simply to avoid it. Some company roles literally can't be abandoned for health and safety reasons or business practice reasons so they get to skip. Many people will schedule 3rd party conflicts to avoid a meeting (well I could have met with the local power company rep/engineer any time this quarter to discuss a facility upgrade but it just happens that supposedly his only open time is during the "all hands", oh how convenient for me.) People will also schedule training and conferences to avoid it. Well I don't use PHP but there's a PHP meetup during the quarterly all hands so ... I know service techs who pad overtime jobs till 2am the night before just so that driving across the state for an all hands would be a felony violation of CDL/OSHA max time behind the wheel regulations, and do it every single time.

[throwanem]

Wow. I really had no idea of the potential range of dodges! Should I find myself again at a company that engages in this practice, I'll put your advice to good use. Thank you very kindly for sharing it here!