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And if you look at their overall studies, they still work less than Americans generally. Just because a portion of Japan works a lot (which they do) doesn't mean that the overall society works more. No American is going to dispute that if you work in a big law firm or are doing a medical residency or are in some medical fields, you are going to be working really long hours, but at the same time, no one is going to try to apply that across the whole culture as a whole.
LOL...well that's amazing, look at all the countries that work more hours than us. Greece and Mexico?
No, that tells us nothing as it's influenced by part time workers, seasonal workers, etc. Even the OECD uses this disclaimer: "The data are intended for comparisons of trends over time; they are unsuitable for comparisons of the level of average annual hours of work for a given year, because of differences in their sources and method of calculation."
I believe New York employers are particularly more stingy with regard to vacation and paid time off. I am leaving my job in New York at the end of July, and this is part of the reason. The company I work for has a particularly bizarre policy with regard to first-year employees: you are entitled to 2 weeks of paid vacation, but the manager decides which 2 weeks to give you. In my first year, I was given a week in April and a week in October. It was awful. Then, in your second year, you can pick one week and the management picks the other. Then, starting in your third year, you select the 2 weeks you desire (and no matter how many years you are employed by the company, you never get more than 2 weeks).
It's not confined to New York. My husband once worked for a company which eliminated paid vacation days--management got to keep some--and closed for nine days at Christmas and the week of July 4th.
"About 22% of Japanese employees work 50 hours or more each week on average, well above 11% in the U.S., and 6% in Spain, according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development."
They should change the name of this forum from "work employment" to "Hey Post Here and Complain About Your Job and THE MAN"...this and the threads titled "is it legal that I got fired for a.) stealing, b.) not showing up for work, c.) not doing my job". However visit this thread for a more balanced view of vacation time in the US when the thread is retitled to something other than a pity party thread:
Learn some serious skills and get a really good job. I know plenty of people who have great IT jobs and have several weeks of vacation. Also longevity is an issue. The longer you're with a company, the more vacation you'll earn. Oh and those IT jobs I'm talking about take years to achieve. They all had to learn things that aren't taught in college. Much of it is on the job training and actually working really hard.
My sister works for a consulting company and starting Jan 1, 2017, they are going to an 'unlimited time off' practice. In theory, as long as you are getting your work done and meeting your objectives, you can take any amount of time off.
My son's employer did that for about 6 months. The new policy ended abruptly when the CEO discovered that a full-time employee had used it to take every single Friday off when the policy went into effect. CEO blew his stack, fired the 4-day workweek employee and switched the company back to measured vacation, WITHOUT restoring the balances that were in place before it went away 6 months prior.
I've read articles since, stating that research shows those "unlimited PTO" policies usually lead to employees taking less time off than they do with a fixed bucket of PTO. It has made me wonder if that was the effect my son's CEO was hoping to achieve.
I've read articles since, stating that research shows those "unlimited PTO" policies usually lead to employees taking less time off than they do with a fixed bucket of PTO. It has made me wonder if that was the effect my son's CEO was hoping to achieve.
My son's employer did that for about 6 months. The new policy ended abruptly when the CEO discovered that a full-time employee had used it to take every single Friday off when the policy went into effect. CEO blew his stack, fired the 4-day workweek employee and switched the company back to measured vacation, WITHOUT restoring the balances that were in place before it went away 6 months prior.
I've read articles since, stating that research shows those "unlimited PTO" policies usually lead to employees taking less time off than they do with a fixed bucket of PTO. It has made me wonder if that was the effect my son's CEO was hoping to achieve.
There's always that one guy that ruins it for everyone else.
This has been discussed many times before in this and other forums - it's a cultural thing. It's not only the US but also Asia that has limited vacation. Japanese for instance put the US to shame in the number of hours they work a week and the personal sacrifices they put up with for there employer.(no, they get a minimum of 2 weeks vacation, something we don't even get)
It's also a measure of productivity, which keeps the US competitive. US employees get paid much more on average than any other country(no, we don't!), but with the global economy we have to stay competitive. One way is via increased productivity. One way to increase unemployment in the US is to lose our productivity edge.
That being said, many US companies have a liberal vacation policy. I have more than 6 weeks a year. How do I get that? I paid my dues and got experience and education(so have I, so why am I only getting paid $16/hr and 2 weeks vacation?). I personally compete to get the best job available. You can get that too - simply increase your value and then change jobs. Why don't you? Instead of looking for freebies, earn it.(how, if most companies do not even offer more than 2 weeks vacation?? math doesn't work out)
No, there should be no law regarding vacation in the US.(ok, so only people like you get 6 weeks vacation? how about the rest of us?)
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), but with the global economy we have to stay competitive. One way is via increased productivity. One way to increase unemployment in the US is to lose our productivity edge.
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