Who linked this piece of crap and why is at the top? Utter nonsense! Whoever shared this, please consider opra winfrey websites or others of those sort.
Why is America the 'no-vacation nation'?
111–120 of 424 posts
Re: Why is America the 'no-vacation nation'?
#112[deleted]
I honestly don't understand how a group of people who so often invoke the phrase "the plural of anecdote is not data" can be voting this comment up. It's prattle -- pure American Exceptionalism and John Wayne Work Ethic -- designed to make people feel guilty for not working like dogs. So, your grandparents worked very hard. Well, so did mine -- on the other side of the management/labor divide. My grandfather did long…
[deleted]
Re: Why is America the 'no-vacation nation'?
#113I'm a Swedish developer. This year I have 7 weeks of vacation, and I plan to use it all. I normally get the 5 weeks required by law. Last year, I only used 4 of those 5 weeks, so one spilled over to this year. I also got a bonus week of vacation for working a lot of overtime last summer. So that makes 7 weeks.
Hur kan man hitta ett jobb i Sverige? ;) Måste man talar svenska?
Re: Why is America the 'no-vacation nation'?
#114Earlier quoted context omitted.
I started a new job last year with 10 days of vacation. It wasn't until December that I learned that five of those days were mandatory for the week between Christmas and New Year's. If you had no vacation days left, it was unpaid time off.
Since this is HN, there's a pretty good chance you're an Engineer of some kind. Where are you (or what do you do?) that companies can get away with this?
This is the norm in the UK, companies close over the holidays and there are mandatory holidays that go with that.
Being clear about this with new (and especially young) employees is a good idea as to people straight out of college, it's not obvious.
But there's certainly nothing dodgy about it.
Re: Why is America the 'no-vacation nation'?
#115I hear that people take substantially less vacation in East Asia.
Re: Why is America the 'no-vacation nation'?
#116I get 23 days holiday entitlement plus UK bank holidays which this year thanks to Prince William adds on another 9 days.
Like some others however, I have dreamt about travelling long term so have handed my notice in, managed to secure some small freelance gigs and leave next wednesday for Bangkok, my holiday entitlement just wasn't enough ;)
Re: Why is America the 'no-vacation nation'?
#117There is a good article from another software developer around here who told his boss he was taking a 3 month vacation. He made the point the business needed him more than he needed it; he was a competent developer and could easily get work, didn't have any living/large financial dependencies. At first I thought it was absurd, but the more I thought about it, he was absolutely correct. Take a long vacation some time.…
Wow, somebody remembers something that I wrote four years ago. Cool!
And it looks like somebody below has saved me the trouble of pointing you to it.
Re: Why is America the 'no-vacation nation'?
#118Earlier 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.
I started a new job last year with 10 days of vacation. It wasn't until December that I learned that five of those days were mandatory for the week between Christmas and New Year's. If you had no vacation days left, it was unpaid time off.
Sounds like a perfect way to game the system and get three weeks off each year. Just take a full two weeks off during the year and then you magically get an extra week each Christmas ;-) If you know you're doing it ahead of time then you can easily factor in the reduction in salary.
Re: Why is America the 'no-vacation nation'?
#119[deleted]
It's not the input (= work) that counts, but the output (results) that you get.
A year has 52 weeks. If I take 5 weeks of vacation per year that's 10% of the time that I have. So I will be 10% less productive (if I ignore increased productivity after vacations).
For me that's a reasonable trade-off. I don't live to work, but I work to live.
In addition, I suggest that you look at the per capita GDP of different countries (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(nomin...). If hard work would increase your output, you would expect the US to be at the top of the list. Instead, for example at the IMF 2010 data Sweden (which gives you 5 weeks of holiday per year) is listed above the US.
Re: Why is America the 'no-vacation nation'?
#120When 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…
Think about your choice of words up there, and you might just come up with your solution. Force. As in, my employer is forcing me to take shorter vacations. My employer is forcing me to work my vacations around their schedule. That's not what he's doing. He's coercing you. It's different. He's implying that if you take the vacation you want, there might not be a job waiting when you get back. The answer to that is "f…
or, if the employer knows that if she finds a replacement for you, she will have to find replacements for all her employees, then she won't bother coercing you at all.