71–80 of 424 posts
How many Americans can only afford health coverage via their workplace plan? How many Americans live in right-to-work states and can be dismissed without a reason? Add that together and you have a lot of fear.
What I've found works better for me is to take extended vacations every couple of years (a year here, 3 months there). This recharges my batteries for years at a time.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
What really grinds my gears is when federal holidays count towards my "vacation time". Those alone eat up seven days! I request four weeks of vacation in my contract, but am afraid to use them. That's America.
Oh wow, that's the first I've ever heard of that. That would not be acceptable for me. I think I'll be asking for more vacation time in future contracts, too. I managed to secure extra in the first year of my current contract because I had a need (planned trip) but in the future, I'm just going to require more. Of course, benefits and pay are interchangeable, so I might just request the ability to take unpaid vacatio…
At least that is how I see it. I will work to keep me busy doing (hopefully) interesting things and to keep food on the table but in the end I work because I have to. We all do.
Wouldn't you rather work 6 months of the year and travel or do whatever you want the rest? I know I would.
America doesn't do vacation because of a mistaken understanding of the meaning of the word "productivity". As long as you have management consultants who specialize in the single metric of productivity (i.e. number of dollars of profit vs. number of dollars spent on people making the profit), you will have miserable people.
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When I complained to an employer that it was too hard to request my vacation time (it's in my contract, they made it very hard to pick dates by always having an emergency deadline, etc) they replied "It's like that everywhere", as if it was a legit answer. Many employers also lump in sick time with vacation time, as if that's a replacement since you didn't come into work. That would probably be okay, if you had an op…