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Can you use the vacation days whenever you want, like three weeks in a row in August?
In my company, regular employees like myself certainly can do that.
I have taken 3 weeks in a row when I needed to go abroad.
When I'm not actually traveling very far I usually take shorter blocks of time.
My job isn't very time sensitive and it's usually possible to reschedule tasks around within a month.
For upper management it's different.
From what I've seen, they can theoretically take 3 weeks off but it's assumed that they won't because they have departments to run so they can't leave for that long.
Taking off for 2 weeks though is perfectly acceptable for most of the upper managers here.
It's really a question of company culture and work culture at large in the country.
Most people here find vacation time important and bosses would be ressented *a lot* if they tried
to keep people from taking their time off.
You won't find too many people here who are proud that they've never taken vacation in 10 years or some absurd brag like that.
Why is it that the average employee in the USA gets only a weeks paid leave
?
Does it boil down to some US employees being less efficient and therefore not worth taking care of them by making sure they get a decent break from the grind ?
Or is it that US employers are a touch mean with the time they are prepared to pay for a worker not to be doing his/her job.
The average in my country would be four weeks holiday pay with my own lads on six weeks leave.
Or do American employees prefer not to have paid leave ?
Because in the USA we don't have laws to protect workers like they do in Europe.
We should having these laws. We should have mandated holiday time that is consistent with the rest of the industrialized world.
I guess if you wanted one word for why we don't have these laws the word would be, Republicans.
Because in the USA we don't have laws to protect workers like they do in Europe.
We should having these laws. We should have mandated holiday time that is consistent with the rest of the industrialized world.
I guess if you wanted one word for why we don't have these laws the word would be, Republicans.
It's been a very long time since Republicans have been in the driver's seat.
As to the overall question comparing the USA and Europe... almost without question it is still much harder to be self employed/business owner in Europe.
Most jobs of any significance require years of study... for a trades, a person must first become a master of the trade and and this can include even opening a florist shop..
I would suggest, because the barrier to entry are generally much higher in Europe... Europe has more rules favoring employees.
Last edited by Ultrarunner; 01-14-2014 at 12:06 AM..
I work for a city municipality. Most all full time positions went away mid 2013 in my department. We no longer receive health insurance, vacation or sick/pto time. A coworker of,mine needed a day off for her medical appointment. She requested it, was approved and then at the last minute, our supervisor denied it. When she told the supervisor that she needed to go because of her diabetes, the supervisor told her that if you don't like my decision, quit. And that he will replace her with another warm body that is willing to do the job.
It seems this is the way a lot of companies are going. Those that think government jobs pay a lot and give benefits that exceeds those in the private sector need to open their eyes and realize that it is a typical stereo type.
It's been a very long time since Repulicans have been in the driver's seat.
As to the overall question comparing the USA and Europe... almost without question it is still much harder to be self employed/business owner in Europe.
Most jobs of any significance require years of study... for a trades, a person must first become a master of the trade and and this can include even opening a florist shop..
I would suggest, because the barrier to entry are generally much higher in Europe... Europe has more rules favoring employees.
You don't have to be in the drivers seat. You can obstruct policy just fine in the back seat. It's not a parliamentary system where the ruling party gets to implement their agenda.
I have worked in the UK and the U.S. You're right that more credentials are required. . At least, I found that to be the case in the UK. But I'm not sure what that has to do with the fact that in America we get very little vacation time.
I work at the exact same job in the U.S that I did in the UK (accounting). In the UK I had by law 30 days of vacation + bank holidays. In the US our company doesn't even have a vacation policy. I was working here for over a year before I asked around and no one seemed to know. It just occurred to me one day that no one was ever talking about where they had gone on vacation. In England, this is all anyone talked about. Eventually I found out that you could ask for time off but the most you could get was a week. They also gave all employees a few days off between Christmas and New years.
So, for those that asked for it, the most you could get was a week and half. And even that was discouraged. The feeling around the office was that if you took your vacation and your replacement while you were gone did your job just as well or better than you, then you were replaceable. A lot of people didn't take vacation time for this reason. In the UK this would be illegal. In fact, in the UK businesses want their employees to take all of their holiday time. The belief is that well rested employees come back energized and are better employees. It also keeps company morale up.
I get no paid vacation and no -guarranteed- unpaid vacation for that matter. However, in practice, I can request time off and have over the last several years taken about four unpaid weeks off per year.
I say it depends as far as productive workers, Germany has more competitive economy and higher skilled workers. France has only 40% participation rate and low producing no growth now. If not for German economy the Euro zone would start falling like dominoes from no ECB monies to save those collapsing.
You don't have to be in the drivers seat. You can obstruct policy just fine in the back seat. It's not a parliamentary system where the ruling party gets to implement their agenda.
I have worked in the UK and the U.S. You're right that more credentials are required. . At least, I found that to be the case in the UK. But I'm not sure what that has to do with the fact that in America we get very little vacation time.
I work at the exact same job in the U.S that I did in the UK (accounting). In the UK I had by law 30 days of vacation + bank holidays. In the US our company doesn't even have a vacation policy. I was working here for over a year before I asked around and no one seemed to know. It just occurred to me one day that no one was ever talking about where they had gone on vacation. In England, this is all anyone talked about. Eventually I found out that you could ask for time off but the most you could get was a week. They also gave all employees a few days off between Christmas and New years.
So, for those that asked for it, the most you could get was a week and half. And even that was discouraged. The feeling around the office was that if you took your vacation and your replacement while you were gone did your job just as well or better than you, then you were replaceable. A lot of people didn't take vacation time for this reason. In the UK this would be illegal. In fact, in the UK businesses want their employees to take all of their holiday time. The belief is that well rested employees come back energized and are better employees. It also keeps company morale up.
When I was on assignment in Germany and Austria... the lowest apprentice had nearly 6 weeks of time off... they also got 14 months pay... an extra paycheck for August and one for December.
The biggest water cooler talk is to what far off palm covered Island were they heading off to... heck, everything was closed on the weekends except hospitality and things like Hospitals.
Funny thing is there are still many from these countries on wait lists trying to get into the USA.
As for vacation... lots of changes at my job... I have tried to use mine and was told the needs of the company come first... downsizing means fewer people doing what needs to be done.
I may just go back to self-employment... then it means I will always be working..
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