Summations Only

From what iv seen on shows that like overhauling, or anything simmilar, the americans reading this are goingWtf weeks off from work u call that getting fired or somethingWtf is time off when do you sleep?Wtf u can support yourself from one job for weeks doing nothing u evil socialistic communist capitalism is the way to go live the American dream.

Buzsaw has 'cheered' your reply - have I misunderstood something?
Aren't Americans entitled to annual leave?
In the UK we are legally entitled to 28 days off from work each year.
Do Americans not get holidays?

Actually, there is no legal requirement for any time off in the US with the exception of some medical based ones such as maternity leave.There are Federal Holidays, eight days a year IIRC, but no requirement that someone gets off work.Vacation time is based on a company by company system and only available where the company either offers it as an employee benefit or it is required through a union contract.Edited by jar, : Fix subtitle appalin spallin

I tried to read your link but I got a nose bleed. I've nothing to add but, this is a really good post.Edited by Larni, : No reason given.

But is it normal for Americans to be allowed several weeks annual leave by their employers?Edited by Panda, : No reason given.

Yes and no.It was common but is being eroded rapidly. Today the norm is multiple tiered vacations where new employees get none and they can earn vacation based on how long they stay with that company. Many companies also have a "use it or lose it" policy yet can often find reasons why someone cannot take vacation at the time they want it. This means that often in a family with multiple working members, vacations are not coordinated.

So holiday is something you have to negotiate with your employer, rather than an obligation of said employer?That's harsh: I get 35 days off, no questions asked.

Not only that, but that is only if you are a full time regular employee. I have been a contractor for the last two places I worked at. I work full time at one place, but I am not technically an employee of where I work. It's basically like a temp service. I get zero benefits.

Yes, it is a company by company issue. Often unions include vacation in their contracts and so in that case it will extend across companies where workers are under the same union, but even there, any non-union workers are not assured of vacations.

The 28 days obligatory days are pro-rata-ed for part-time employees in the UK.
And contractors are paid more than standard employees to compensate them for no paid holidays/sickness pay/maternity leave/etc.

I get a few paid holidays (Christmas, Thanksgiving and the day after, New Years Day, etc), and I get 15 days worth of "paid time off," which is combination sick and vacation time. It accumulates biweekly (I get an additional few hours of PTO every payday, basically), and I can never have more than 15 days saved at any time.This is the most PTO I've ever had. Previous employers gave 10 days, or I was a contractor and had nothing.Contracting is particularly bad, because when the company you contract for gets a paid holiday (like Christmas or Thanksgiving), you don't get to work but you also don't get paid. "Holiday" becomes code for "stress out because your paycheck is short."

Part timers here get ZERO benefits. I get paid less than my co-workers, mainly due to the fact that the company I work at pays my contracting company and they take some off the top. Now, the place I work at very well could be paying my contracting company more than they pay regular employees, but they also don't have to pay for my benefits, nor do I get paid holidays. Any day I miss work, for ANY reason, I don't get paid.

Fuckin tell me about it. My company is closed for like 6 days straight this x-mas. I have had to beg to work, still with no response if I can....

Recent sick-day legislation in Connecticut--one of our most liberal states--shows the current climate here.(Disclosure: I live in Connecticut. Being well left of liberal, the effect of my residency is that I generally feel that I share a planet of origin with my neighbors.)The new law, the first in the nation, requires employers of 50 or more people to provide one hour of sick time for each 40 hours worked. So a full-time worker can accrue about six days per year, part-time workers considerably less.The law barely passed, and even so only because we have a Democratic governor for the first time in many years. The law had been introduced regularly for years but stalled in the face of a veto threat from a Republican governor.The response from the business community?

quote:

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Joe Brennan, a lobbyist for the Connecticut Business & Industry Association, dismissed that argument as absurd. The new law will make Connecticut less competitive with states that do not tell business how many sick days they must provide to workers, he said.

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Where does it stop? Brennan said. Mandate vacation time? Mandate how many times people can get a coffee break during the day?

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Mandated vacation time?! Breaks? The horror, the horror.See, if we provide these Euro-Socialist perks to our workers, then we will undermine the lean, competitive companies that support our vibrant American economy.Then we will have persistently high unemployment and decades of stagnant wages.Oh. Wait.

I know fellow Britains that slag off the UK, but it doesn't take much looking around to see that it has got a lot of important things right.