….you have to work at least one day into the new year.
I know a driver that worked the first week of January and then took his 7 weeks vac/opt time. His last day, I think, was Feb 28.
The benefit of doing this is:
-health insurance for those 7 weeks;
-you accrue even more paid time (extra paycheck) for those 7 weeks as an "active" employee and;
-management never knows if you're gonna change your mind.
It seemed to work well for him.