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Why is America the 'no-vacation nation'?

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Re: Why is America the 'no-vacation nation'?

#391

Post by Goladus »

yardie wrote: post #212
Aloisius wrote: post #147

If the US had the culture of taking off August, it would be far easier to take off 3 weeks since everyone in your company would be doing it. Logistically however I don't really understand how taking August off works in Europe. Where does everyone go? Doesn't it get super crowded?

Most of the French head south to the riviera, or north to brittany, basically any place with a beach nearby. The roads are packed so you'll usually see a traffic report with them interviewing people taking a picnic on the side of the road, complete with wine and cheese of course. Also, its part of the draw. When there is a known crowd coming most of the hotels and restaurants pull out all the stops: foods, drinks, li…

That sounds like a large-scale version of what happens every summer weekend in New England as Boston and its suburbs head to the cape.

Re: Why is America the 'no-vacation nation'?

#393

Post by tallanvor »

wheels wrote: post #141

This was one of the major draws for me for moving to Europe in my early 20s (from the US). After working one year in the US and having one week of vacation, it was bordering on surreal to have 6. That said, most Americans wouldn't like the European pay scales. While a developer gets 3-6 times the vacation in Germany, they make half as much money. For me it was a great trade; I still had a middle class income and spen…

Pay varies widely in Europe. I work in Norway, get 6 weeks vacation a year, and make a lot more than I would in the US. Even after accounting for higher taxes and living expenses (rent, food, etc), I can still set aside almost $1000 more per month than I would if I were in the US.

When I talk to people for the first time they're always asking me if I'll be moving back to the US. My response is maybe someday, but for now I'd be crazy to give all that up!

Re: Why is America the 'no-vacation nation'?

#394

Post by pja »

vacri wrote: post #345
chrisaycock wrote: post #210

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You guys are doing it again -- idealizing the other side of the fence as if everything was all rainbows and unicorns in Europe. I used to live in Britain. After having gone to doctor a few times there, I'd rather have the customer-pays model of America. I was just pointing-out that it's (obviously) expensive over here.

The US and UK are both bad examples. Here in Aus we have universal healthcare and private - if you want to jump waiting lines or have carpet on the waiting room floor, pull out your wallet and go private. There are a few problems, but there is no perfect health system as there is always more demand than supply.

Um. The UK has universal healthcare (the NHS) and a parallel private system. I'm not sure why that make it a bad example in this context.

(Admittedly, the NHS is not the best health care system in the world, but then we spend less on it than other countries do as a proportion of GDP.)

Re: Why is America the 'no-vacation nation'?

#395

Post by hessenwolf »

evilbit wrote: post #392
hessenwolf wrote: post #387

No heathcare, no vacation, can get fired with no notice, crap public transport, astronomical crime rate, dubious legal freedoms. Why is it you guys pay your government again?

Liberation/spreading democracy :)

Yes... I forgot to mention education. How much did my 24 years of education cost me? Squat.

Re: Why is America the 'no-vacation nation'?

#396

Post by camiller »

hmottestad wrote: post #335
camiller wrote: post #295

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The sick days part varies by employer. At a previous employer it was 10 sick days in addition to your vacation days, and unused sick days accumulated from one year to the next. When my son was born 8 week early with my wife in the hospital 2.5 weeks before that, I had accumulated enough sick time that I could take 11 weeks off to spend at the hospital (Caleb spent 25 days in neonatal intensive care) and at home after…

What about if you were sick and your doctor said you had to stay home? In Norway we can take up to 3 consecutive days off due to illness 4 times during 12 months. If you work in an extra exposed environment (kindergarten, old people's home) you have more days. If you need more than that, you have to see a doctor. The doctor can give you up to 12 months of leave. During this period the state refunds your employer for…

In that instance I pay for long term disability insurance. If I have to be off for medical reasons for more time than my sick days, I get paid by LTD instead of employer.

Re: Why is America the 'no-vacation nation'?

#397

Post by camiller »

wsc wrote: post #356
camiller wrote: post #280

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would it include personal income tax? Your tax situation could be different than mine (single vs. married, deductions AKA children, etc.) it would be impossible for the employer to know what you personal income tax is going to be. Insurance? if your spouse has access to a better insurance policy you might opt not to participate in your employers plan so why would they "include" that? Social security and medicare…

You fill out a form when you begin employment that specifies how much to withhold: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw4.pdf

Yes, but that is typically after you have accepted the job, not before.

Re: Why is America the 'no-vacation nation'?

#398

Post by farout »

pstack wrote: post #371
potatolicious wrote: post #364

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You miss my point - I don't have a car, nor do I want one, and I'm a complete proponent of urbanism and mass transit. But once-an-hour does not a transit system make. There's a false dichotomy here - the choices aren't car vs. shitty transit. We can very well have good transit (i.e., arterial mass transit with frequency of every 10 minutes or better). The problem with infrequent transit, particularly arterial routes,…

When I was just starting out, I lived on one side of town and my work was on the other side of town. My home town has extremely well-regarded public transit. Still, it took about 2.5hrs to get to work. Another 2.5 to get back. That turned a 9 hour day into a 14 hour day. And if a bus or train was just a little early, it could screw things up even further. We have this idea that Americans don't use public transit, bec…

Aah. Brings back bad memories of commuting as a student with no car in the US for my co-op jobs.

One of the large companies I worked had a liberal vacation policy 4 weeks after 5 years plus 4 weeks of training, which many considered vacation.

However my group was always treated differently than rest of the company, we actually got less benefits so training would be 1 week every 2 years. It was a sad tale. It helped me better understand why people had to unionize. Most of my coworkers were US citizens but foreign born, who are less willing to complain when denied or treated badly. Note to self, don't work in a group of "perceived" foreigners you will be treated worse. Based on other life experiences not just this job.

The company also gave fun money every quarter to help people de-stress and know their coworkers better. Our managers bought us T-shirts with that money: every quarter a $35 T-shirt while ours went out to drink and have fun. 7 years of bloody shitty T-shirts.

I should have quit but I had family responsibilities so...that's that.

My goal now is no necessary looking for companies with good vacation policies but good daily policies. Example: I was telling my husband that there is a restaurant that makes the best steak and cheese in Boston. If I could find a company one mile from that restaurant, I would learn whatever language (build a portfolio to show that I am reasonably good at it), work there and allowed to take a hour for lunch. And everyday walk to/from (my health benefit) to the restaurant for my fix of awesome food. Now if they were also good with bacon...

Re: Why is America the 'no-vacation nation'?

#399

Post by luke_osu »

potatolicious wrote: post #165
jasonkester wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

> "Quit thinking in those terms and you'll live a much happier life." I agree in principle, but it's not always so simple. When you're young, have no kids, no mortgage, no car loan, etc, it's pretty easy to just say "fuck off, see ya" when your employer acts abusively. When you have all of the above, that becomes more difficult. Relocating is more often than not the norm in this industry, and you don't exactly want t…

I'm 32 with 3 kids and a wife, and I literally walked out of a fortune 500 company that is looked at as one of the best places to work. I have no problem telling someone to "fuck off, see ya" if I feel like I am getting mistreated.

Re: Why is America the 'no-vacation nation'?

#400

Post by jasonwocky »

5teev wrote: post #343
thomasgerbe wrote: post #316

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We'll have to agree to disagree. Saying it's no contest is a huge exaggeration. I won't argue that BART/MUNI is better than other transit systems, but I still get around without a car. That said, the fact that transit closes in London and Paris while New York doesn't is a major advantage. It's actually precisely the reason why I have been able to not take a taxi or have to walk home in the early morning. And in NYC,…

BART and Muni beat most other transit systems in the US, but pale in comparison even to London, let alone Berlin or Frankfurt. If you're heading anywhere west of downtown SF, expect long waits for connecting buses...which often simply fail to appear, NextBus's predictions notwithstanding. As an earlier commenter mentioned, it's not uncommon for SF commuters to finish the last leg of their commute with a cab. And a lo…

If you're getting by in NYC without a car, then the car is unnecessary, whether you can afford to park it or not.
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