People who go on PTO and check work messages drive me insane.
I have a coworker who wishes for a 4 day week and brings her laptop with her on vacation “just in case” and responds to tickets.
Right!? Then when I take a vacation and don’t respond to tickets my boss has a ‘talk’ with me about how much Brenda is doing for the company and how she was on her laptop every night clearing tickets. So I’m on the job when I’m being paid, I’m on the job when I’m not being paid because if I let a ticket sit for an hour cause I’m cooking dinner I’m somehow not respecting the companies time and I’m on the job when I’m on vacation. I need to be ready to jump onto my laptop at a moment’s notice for the same reason.
Oh yeah and it’s good to hear from my manager that there are over 1000 resumes sitting on his computer for the ghost job my boss keeps up just so he can say how easy we all are to replace.
And I’m expected to treat that person with the utmost respect. I hate my job, but I’d hate being homeless more so.
I usually bring mine, but that’s only because I stay online for the travel days to/ from whatever destination unless it’s a short flight. I’m already stuck with nothing to do as a passenger in a plane or car, so I figure I might as well get paid to do it and save my PTO to extend the trip. I used to let people know that I have my cpu with me, but I will not be checking or responding to emails and IMs, and if there is an absolute emergency that needs my attention, they can call me, but I’m taking a day back of PTO. No one has ever called. Having said that, I feel like my new boss absolutely would, and for that reason, she doesn’t have my personal number, and I haven’t let her know I have my cpu w me on any vacations
“I had to return to work with my bad heart because my insurance provider denied me coverage for this lifesaving procedure so I have to raise more money to pay for the procedure myself … here is my gofundme page … please give anything you can … God Bless America!”
News article: Amazing 10 year old raises money selling his hotwheels car collection to highest bidders to help pay Dad’s open heart surgery.
Breaking News: Mattel Inc has issued a cease and desist order against 10 year old marketing the company’s Hotwheels toys without their permission - family ordered to pay for damages.
Too real.
“City shuts down auction as being unlicensed” or something.
that’s more like it. cannot have that bad publicity for our corporate overlords.
Heartwarming
I laughed way too much over that username … nice one
I hope it’s a Fast Show reference
Unfortunately I’ve not heard of that, so just a happy coincidence
I’ll get me coat…
5% fewer orphans crushed that day
I was joking about going to work during the Christmas break, so I could have some silence to prepare, and my new boss just looked at me sternly and said “don’t”. In Europe by the way.
Saying you are working during the Christmas break by not doing much is a good way to save days.
But also like, the end of the year is when you have to use up all the vacation days that you can’t take into the next year. At my work we get 30 vacation days per year but can only take 12 unused ones into the next year. I had to take Dec 30th-Jan 3rd off because I was still sitting on 15 unused days
This is why everyone is rooting for principled Italians.
What does plumbing do? Takes the shit to where it belongs.
In the ground
I’m in Italy on holiday at the moment and was speaking to some women who were amazed by the fact I could choose when to take my ~4 weeks off per year. They all pretty much have to take their leave during summer and Xmas regardless of field (obviously there are exceptions) so I guess the grass can always be greener!
Only fools take the whole summer off, it’s so expensive to go holiday during peak time.
Better is;
2 weeks in the spring
2 weeks in the summer
1 week in the autumn
1 week in the winter
1 week kept spare so you can have odd mid week days off or a Friday and a Monday.
The best jobs, absolutely cream of the crop jobs that Americans can hope for give you 2 weeks of paid vacation, and half of the time you don’t get to use it because they deny your shit or give you the run around. I have never met anyone who gets more than 3 weeks, and I have known/had family in high paying corporate jobs, government positions, the secret fucking service, and a cousin who was a fucking post master. The idea of 7 weeks of leave, to an American, especially one like me who’s never even had a job that offers paid leave at all, feels like so much it seems like you’d never actually be at work. 7 weeks? Out of 52? Even though I know it, I support, I advocate for it, have for years, every time it comes up, it’s fucking mind blowing how incredibly unlubricated the fucking of the american worker is
I get 30 days of PTO + 12 holidays at my job in the US. Of course I know it’s not normal, none of my friends get even close to that but most of them get 15-20 days of PTO + 10-15 holidays.
Edit: some typos and missing words (don’t drink and post…)
As a French this is crazy.
I have a colleague who has been at my company in the US for over thirty years. As a result, she was grandfathered in for many major benefit changes, like keeping her pension and the old PTO system. The old PTO system (90s) added days every other year or something with no cap. So she’s constantly on vacation with all her PTO. The most you can accrue for long service now is 4 weeks, and that takes decades in theory.
Federal job lets you accrue up to 240 hours of leave to carryover to the next year ( at rates of 4/6/8 hours per two weeks accrual, depending on years of service), in addition to a flat 4 hours per pay period of sick leave (which is uncapped). This is considered god-tier amounts of PTO in the US, and its still shit compared to Europe.
https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/leave-administration/fact-sheets/annual-leave/
Yep. Public sector is where it’s at, from an American point of view. Still shit compared to Europe, but for US? It’s fucking great.
I earn 180 hours/year (four and a half weeks/year) in vacation, can carry 250 hours of vacation (6 weeks and 1 day) over to the next year, and I get 3 weeks paid sick leave/year with infinite carryover. Finally, 11 holidays.
I’ve also never had a vacation or sick leave day denied, but that’s more because of the people I work with, not the company policy.
Wait, they can deny you to be sick?
Theoretically, yes. Realistically, if anyone tried, there would be a long line of people wanting to talk with that person that tried to deny sick leave, and the first ones in line would be HR.
Vacation is more likely to be denied, but I’ve never had it happen and have never denied any myself.
Yes. Plus if you work somewhere like, say, the post office you can work most of the holidays and get another two weeks paid leave. Nine weeks paid leave after three years service. Leaves private sector people very jealous of what is otherwise a relatively atrocious job.
If it makes you feel better the company I work for it was 6 weeks when I first joined it only went up to 7 once I’d been with them for 3 years (as a loyalty perk). Though, that’s because I joined at the lowest level of employee, managers get 7 weeks from day one.
They’re also really crap with sick pay, only giving ten days at full pay then it drops down to my country’s statutory rate.
I live in the US and get 7 weeks now, and that doesn’t include my sick days and floating holidays they give us. No I am not some high up person or C suite exec. My company just values work life balance. Helps that we are small and not some mega corp.
Wow. I’m in a desk jockey job and will get another 2 days holiday in January, bringing me to 37. Plus public holidays and the option to ‘buy’ an extra week, which I absolutely do every year.
At my company, this is the same situation for the lowest paid full time job to upper management.
Where do you get 35 vacation days? I only get 30 from my public service contract.
I’m not American.
Very few Americans get 30 days.
10 days is kinda standard, with some jobs giving more bar on longevity (e.g… every 2 years you get 1 more day per year, up to a maximum on 15 days).
I’ve got it way better than most Americans with my public sector job. I get 10 days vacation 1 “personal holiday” (like vacation, but can be used towards overtime his like a business closure day), 15 days sick leave, and we’re closed every federal holiday except for June Juneteenth.
I also attend a lot of night meetings, and get 1.5:1 comp time when I go over 40 hours in a week instead of OT wages, so that is my main source of vacation. I probably get another 2-3 weeks just from that.
I just took a week off for Christmas and have another 3 weeks saved up and I’ve only been with the city for about 14 months.
Me neither.
Lidl UK. It’s 30 days when you join and goes up after 3 years to 35.
Well in Europe there is a peak holiday week every season. Since the schools have at least one week off every season outside of summer.
The worst part is all the paperwork you have to fill out to get your residence changed after you had to sell your house to pay for the surgery, too.
Silly europeans and their higher life expectancy.
Because you know, anesthesia is not covered by health insurance, so you might as well keep on that grind 😤💯🔥💅💪
Looks at Europe: That’s, that’s … that’s
socialismcommunism !!!/s
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_average_annual_labor_hours
US is at 39 with 1,765.00 hours.
Above it, with more… Poland, Czech Republic, Croatia, Romania., Estonia, Hungary, and Malta. There’s Greece too, but you know, Grexit.
They make the same structural error as everyone:
They list “Average labor hours per worker per year”
while it should be “Average labor hours per 1000 citizens per year”.
This way, if more people are employed (for example younger/older people working additional part-time), the average doesn’t go down, but up.
Also, it makes it easier to compare to historical data.
For example, in 1970, workers might have worked just as many hours as today, but actual workload per citizens has roughly doubled because the number of workers per citizen has roughly doubled (women going to work). So in total, while in 1970, one partner would have stayed home to do householding stuff, now both partners go to work and then have to split the housekeeping stuff between them, which makes their stress levels go up.
Should add that this is not a complete list. Some really significant absences from the African and Asian continents.
But 9 of the lowest 10 are EU countries
Almost as if Europe is a wide collection of different countries with varying socio-economic conditions, political systems, histories and cultures and not just the other United States.
Yeah, don’t copy anything from Poland, Hungary, and similar countries. Instead copy from the Nordics, and northern central Europe.
Basically avoid east Europe if you are looking for ways to improve the USA.
Nationalise wine and invest heavily in fossil fuels (Norway)…
They have managed to make their electricity grid very renewable though.
I don’t get it. I’m American, but I’ll wake up tomorrow, in 2025, with 6 fresh weeks of vacation/personal time, in addition to the 2+ weeks I roll over.
Nearly 30% of Europeans took more than 25 vacation days, while only 6% of Americans took that much time off according to a survey of 1,228 employees.
While the U.S. federal government doesn’t require companies to provide paid vacation to employees, they typically offer between 5 and 15 days of PTO per year.
In Portugal, workers receive at least 22 days, while those in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden get, at minimum, 25. And those living in Estonia get a whopping 28. “Employees in full-time employment on a 40-hour week are entitled to 192 hours of vacation leave per year,”
What don’t you “get”?
I “don’t get” the USA-bad generalization. There’s still good jobs with good benefits here. It may not be mandatory, but some employers actually treat their employees well.
I have worked my entire life and I have always given it my all. I have never got benefits close to most in modern Europe even though I work longer hours and I am more productive.
So sure, there are some good employers but we can’t all be making 400k a year working at Valve. For every good employer there are thousands of shitty ones.
Without the laws and protection from the government employers will always take advantage of their workers. The system is flawed because of the inherent power imbalance and everyone seems to see it but you. Once again. What don’t you “get”?
To rephrase, I “dislike” these kind of over-dramatic generalizations that are clearly written to entice an inflammatory response. And sure, 400k per year would definitely be nice.
Without the laws and protection from the government employers will always take advantage of their workers.
Always?
I appreciate you don’t like shitting on things pointlessly. I am not sure your unique personal experience (that every US employer you have had has given you six weeks paid) should discount the reality the majority of US workers face
Without laws to protect workers their rights will always be violated. What you are trying to get at is what if some benevolent entity chooses to actually care for their workers like Gabe does.
This does happen but it doesn’t stop the fact that another employer purposely underpays their employee by giving them a salary but expecting them to work additional overtime without compensation.
I bring up this example because recently the US made a rule that employers did have to pay overtime to a salaried employee which was then struck down by a judge.
Ultimately the struggle is real. US workers are some of the most productive in the world but we are not getting compensated fairly for it.
We cannot rely on goodwill at this point. Looking back on history we can see we have struggled to get the rights we already have. We must demand better to lift our fellow citizens up.
So while you don’t like shitting on things for no reason others see the reason. They aren’t getting 6 weeks and 400k. Hell they aren’t even getting 12 days and their pay makes them eligible for public assistance.
Meanwhile their company makes record profits and I pay for their food stamps through taxes. I am subsidizing employers who choose not to pay their workers what they are worth because they don’t have to.
I appreciate the civil discourse, but please don’t put words in my mouth. I never said that every US employer I’ve ever had has given me six weeks paid leave. If I remember correctly, it took me eight years at this specific employer to max out vacation time within their company. I’ve been there 11 years now. The time-off increases are all laid out in the employee handbook and applicable to everyone, from office staff to machine operators. So clearly, everyone with this amount of time isn’t making $400k, or even six-figures. In reality, I acknowledge that I make less in raw salary than peers in comparable jobs at other employers, but the benefits and company culture are nice here. If I started job hopping, I could definitely find better pay, but I’d start over on benefit accumulation and probably won’t be as happy with the job/employer in general.
Yes, I definitely used your words against you unfairly to prove how silly your original premise is. You have struggled like anyone else to get where you are although, let’s be frank, you are clearly privileged.
I don’t mean that in a rude way either, just that you probably have marketable skills with a good job history and perhaps even an education to boot.
Think about it this way. If the government guaranteed us all a good amount of vacation time you would be free to seek other better compensating employers without fear of losing that benefit.
I know healthcare in the US is also a big factor. I personally know many people who chose not to leave their job for fear of losing their coverage. I know people who had cancer but would not stop working because they could not afford to lose their coverage.
There are problems and they are very bad. So I guess I agree with you now. We shouldn’t be shitting on things pointlessly. We should be having real conversations about the issues we face.
The averages tell a more complete story than the few jobs with good benefits. More broadly, understanding statistics allows you view a larger picture than your own personal experiences.
Of course; however, the OP here had no interest in discussing averages. They chose an above average European vacation time and the interest in tanning on the beach and compared it to a way below average American vacation time, who coincidentally needed to spend all of it recovering from heart surgery. Surely, this was an accurate “complete story.”
They’re just a troll.
Cool for you, but that’s not the norm. Most people do not get vacation time, and even if they do, it’s usually not paid time. And when people are living paycheck to paycheck, you can see how most people can’t afford a vacation.
Most people do get vacation time. Perhaps not most people you know, but on average.
Are we talking US or the entire world?
Everyone I know pretty much gets a small amount of unpaid vacation time, which only works out because most of the people I know still live with their parents (not judging, I’d do the same if I could). Other people are not as fortunate to be able to save on paying bills, which makes unpaid vacation time extremely hard to use.
I’m talking about the United States. As of 2023, approximately 79% of private-sector employees in the United States have access to paid vacation. You said most people you know still live with their parents, so I’m guessing you’re young. Vacation benefits start popping up as you get more established in your career. They are not usually available to part-time workers at menial jobs, although that is starting to change, and many businesses are now offering PTO to part-time workers.
that’s cool. I got 4 weeks in 2024.
in 2025 I’ll be getting 3 weeks maximum because “new owners”.
jokes on them though, I’m taking my fourth week. they just don’t know it yet.
US federal labor law doesn’t even require a lunch break much less paid time off
That is unfortunate. I would have expected to at least have a federal minimum on lunch breaks. Unless, perhaps, the employee would rather work through lunch or eat at their desk to go home sooner (but that should be entirely optional).
