The American vs. Europe view on vacations and time off is flabbergasting

Status
Not open for further replies.
Mine's not too bad about it. No stigma for taking PTO, get 3-4 weeks PTO per year as entry level hire, can overdraw one week (you just need to work your way back into the positive), plus work from home as needed. I took over 4 weeks off this year including one 3-week trip abroad. Still kinda want more though, lol.
 
As an American who appreciates the European social system, I wonder has anyone referred to the cost of these great benefits? Vacation pay doesn't just fall out of the sky, it's an employer liability that must be accounted for. There are reasons unemployment in the EU is 4-5% higher than the US and sky high labor costs are a part of that.

No, the reason for Europe's woes is austerity. It is based on a proven math error in some researchers Excel sheet.
 
As an American who appreciates the European social system, I wonder has anyone referred to the cost of these great benefits? Vacation pay doesn't just fall out of the sky, it's an employer liability that must be accounted for. There are reasons unemployment in the EU is 4-5% higher than the US and sky high labor costs are a part of that.

That's most definitely not the case. It's higher because of dumb policies and actions by the EU. Mainly giving up monetary sovereignty and then pushing austerity on the most vulnerable of the nations.


As an American I can't even imagine having 40 paid vacation days. That's basically two months once you factor in your normal off days. I mean, wow.

Yeah I can't even fathom that. It seems absolutely crazy to me. But I think it'd be so awesome. I'd get big breaks where I could work on some personal projects like my writing, then come back to work with a renewed vigor.
 
There are midwives, but lots of insurance plans won't approve them.

For good reason. Home births are risky as hell. Time is of the utmost importance, and if you don't have an OR on hand you could be in some deep shit. It is more common that you just book a room at a hospital and have the midwife come there.

I just started working for the government, and I don't accumulate much time off currently, but I get all holidays off, I can work from home, and if I ever have to work over 40 hours a week the time comes off of my shifts the following week. It's not so bad, but I'd definitely like to be getting more vacation time than my couple of weeks a year.
 
As a military member I earn 30 days of paid leave annually.

I think most of the United States could probably benefit from a similar model. Well-rested employees are happier employees.
 
US: hard working american patriots who love cheeseburgers and the finer things in life like cheap beer

Euros: slackers who whine about americans all day, probably sniff their fingers after scratching their armpits. eat mold on stale bread
 
This sounds like paradise. Do you live in heaven?

It´s the same here in Denmark. In May/June we got 2 wages. One your work wage and the other one your annual vacation pay. I got around 3000$ in vacation money in addition to my salary. And you get paid vacation, as in get salary while on vacation in a lot of places, but you have to work a year before you earn it. It´s so great.
 
I get 21 per year here in the caribbean. But i work so much I currently have ~60 days of vacation sigh.. roughly 3 months of vacation time.....

And I have no time to take those days :(...

Its sunday and I'm off island WORKING at a client RIGHT NOW. FML
 
Man people are just jealous of our #1 ranking in average worker wage.

Also #1 in getting shit done.
then they will complain why we run this world as the most powerful empire in human history while half of their continent is going bankrupt. lazy people and their moaning about US domination

but hey at least they get maternity leave, but I prefer my stock options
 
Used to work retail seven days a week with no vacation time that I could realistically used. Now I work as a teachers assistant and I get weekends and some holidays off which is nice. I get summers off from my main school but I do not get paid during the summer. It is expected that I work summer school and attend training in order to get paid over the summer. So outside of the weekends over the summer I got two days off. Honestly not "working" at night (still have to plan and grade), or on the weekends is a pretty sweet deal. I never really need to take a vacation. Those two days are all I need.
 
they they will complain why we run this world as the most powerful empire in human history while half of their continent is going bankrupt. lazy people and their moaning about US domination

but hey at least they get maternity leave, but I prefer my stock options
So much wrong in this post. I recommend reading some world history, also stock options are available in benefit plans here plus holidays and maternity/paternity.
 
Self-hatred helps. Of all the nasty things I have to say about myself, "not deserving of a vacation" is a pretty easy one to throw on the pile.
 
So much wrong in this post. I recommend reading some world history, also stock options are available in benefit plans here plus holidays and maternity/paternity.

you're currently posting from an computer running on an American OS, on an American run website, listening to American music, waiting to watch American movies, playing American games, watching the news to see what my country will do next to complain about America. Look around you, what are you using, something from Microsoft, Google or apple? are you worried about stocks in the Newyork stock exchange or are you concerned about the next American influenced media you will consume

those things don't get made during vacation time. we dominate this world because of our work ethic while some people prefer lying on the couch complaining. different cultures and perspectives on life and our one has served us well
 
you're currently posting from an computer running on an American OS, on an American run website, listening to American music, waiting to watch American movies, playing American games, watching the news to see what my country will do next to complain about America. Look around you, what are you using, something from Microsoft, Google or apple? are you worried about stocks in the Newyork stock exchange or are you concerned about the next American influenced media you will consume

those things don't get made during vacation time. we dominate this world because of our work ethic while some people prefer lying on the couch complaining. different cultures and perspectives on life and our one has served us well

and drive a German car, right?
 
then they will complain why we run this world as the most powerful empire in human history while half of their continent is going bankrupt. lazy people and their moaning about US domination

but hey at least they get maternity leave, but I prefer my stock options

I had stock options that were underwater for 5 years, pretty much only managers get options now. Can we really afford to be so generous with managers? Giving managers perks insulates them from the reat of society, take away all their insider benefits and they will start fixing what they broke when they are in the same sinking boat that everyone else is in.
 
so your American things actually are made during vacation time then? and by others no less
im guessing you dont know the different roles of economies. low cost labor is not available in the US. so of course they will be "made" in other countries. Your ceo and cfo is not cleaning the toilets in your office. Wearing "Made in USA" is not a pride for us. Using our money to buy Made in italy and Swiss mades is power
 
you're saying two different things

the first thing is that you import things from other countries, well...a lot of countries do that, it's trade

the second thing is that you outsource manufacturing to other countries, again, a lot of countries do that too since it makes good (exploitative) sense

are you saying both of these are a source of pride, or neither, or one of them?

because any of these being a source of pride is hilarious, and has really little to do with the topic of work ethic
 
im guessing you dont know the different roles of economies. low cost labor is not available in the US. so of course they will be "made" in other countries. Your ceo and cfo is not cleaning the toilets in your office. Wearing "Made in USA" is not a pride for us. Using our money to buy Made in italy and Swiss mades is power


So both not using American products and using American products "is power" for the USA. How convenient.
 
you're currently posting from an computer running on an American OS, on an American run website, listening to American music, waiting to watch American movies, playing American games, watching the news to see what my country will do next to complain about America. Look around you, what are you using, something from Microsoft, Google or apple? are you worried about stocks in the Newyork stock exchange or are you concerned about the next American influenced media you will consume

those things don't get made during vacation time. we dominate this world because of our work ethic while some people prefer lying on the couch complaining. different cultures and perspectives on life and our one has served us well

This is true. I'm glad i can enjoy these things right now on my long vacation. Keep on working hard. My small country is not dominating anything, but it does not seem to matter at all in reality. Things are really well here all things considered.
 
because any of these being a source of pride is hilarious, and has really little to do with the topic of work ethic
nothing in the last 2/3 posts are on topic, it was a jab from you at my bmw being german. and as you said, having low cost exploitative manufacturing lines in your country is nothing to be a proud of. we have our products made in other countries since low cost labor isnt available here, they are American products, but not made in USA. profits from those products come to our corporations
 
This is true. I'm glad i can enjoy these things right now on my long vacation. Keep on working hard.


Don't be sarcastic, he's enriching his life working in his 98$ lacoste polo a lot more than you vacationing in some cheap-ass t-shirt. No seriously, what are you wearing right now? Is it more expensive than his 170$ raybans?
 
nothing in the last 2/3 posts are on topic, it was a jab from you at my bmw being german. and as you said, having low cost exploitative manufacturing lines in your country is nothing to be a proud of. we have our products made in other countries since low cost labor isnt available here, they are American products, but not made in USA. profits from those products come to our corporations

But Germany doesn't have low labor costs and it's not designed in America. Frankly i feel youre being really unpatriotic by driving a BMW.
 
For me it's different since it's family owned so I get more payed days than our employees, but I never take them. I don't like extended vacations, and the only time I do is when I go to Italy to visit my family, but it's been like 5 years since I've been. What I do like is taking off a Friday and Monday for when I go to Las Vegas a couple times a year, and or "mini" vacations with a group of my friends.
 
Lunchbox, you're still no way near robertsan, and being Swedish he also has a couple of hot twins to hang out with on his (minimum of) 5 week vacation. :P
 
This topic really amazes me. I guess I should really consider myself lucky with 40 paid days of vacation per year. By law, the minimum number of vacation days for everyone here is 4 times the number of days they work per week. So if you work 5 days per week, you get 20 days. And that's only what's required by law. A lot of employers give you more. And, also by law, we all get vacation money on top of the normal salary every year around May. This is 8% of your annual salary.

It didn't even occur to me that others may not get vacation money. What a scary thought.
 
What the fuck? If they would treat employees better they would probably make more money just due to lower staff turnover. Those are the sort of small business owners that can just fuck off.

If you live in the US, and are paid hourly, I'm pretty sure this is illegal.

It's not a "come in or else" situation, they just say that they really need help cleaning everything and ask if we're available. They're good people (aside from the homophobia) and I have a reputation of being a hard worker, so I feel obligated to help out. My work ethic keeps me from outright saying no.

And we run through people so much because it's mostly college age kids that didn't understand the hours and assumed they can just take off any day they want, people that find out working in a small restaurant is actual work, or people that just suck at doing the simplest things.

It didn't even occur to me that others may not get vacation money. What a scary thought.

What type of jobs do get paid vacation time? Is it mostly large places that run 24/7 with multiple people to fill in for others? I'm imagining corporate business type jobs.
 
It's not a "come in or else" situation, they just say that they really need help cleaning everything and ask if we're available. They're good people (aside from the homophobia) and I have a reputation of being a hard worker, so I feel obligated to help out. My work ethic keeps me from outright saying no.

Well as long as you are happy. And as long as you are getting paid to come in.
But from here it honestly sounds like exploitation. They are commending you on being such a hard worker, and as a reward they are guilting you into working even harder on what should be your vacation.

What type of jobs do get paid vacation time? Is it mostly large places that run 24/7 with multiple people to fill in for others? I'm imagining corporate business type jobs.

Everyone. As long as it's a legit job, you get vacation money. In Sweden it's only about 12% on top of your normal pay, but it's better than nothing i guess.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom