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66% of Americans want European-style vacation policies, like being OOO for the entire month of August

In many parts of Europe, it’s common for workers to take off weeks at a time, especially during the summer. Envious Americans say it’s time for the U.S. to follow suit.

Some 66% of U.S. workers say companies should adopt extended vacation policies, like a month off in August, in their workplaces, according to a Morning Consult survey of 1,047 U.S. adults.

NathanielThomas ,

It’s funny, all these articles about how Americans want universal health care, vacations, four-day work weeks, maternity leave.

Yet nothing ever changes. Even a little bit.

candyman337 ,

That’s because politicians are so far separated from the average American. Some of them are so old and senile and have been in power so long, they don’t even realize how bad it is for the average American, and on top of that, because they don’t think it’s as bad as it is, they don’t care.

the_third ,

Money talks and in this case money specifically asks not to implement any of this. Overworked, stressed out workers that are afraid to lose their healthcare are easier to control.

CharlesDarwin ,
@CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world avatar

It’s the money in politics. Doesn’t matter how young or old the politicians are.

candyman337 ,

I’d say it depends but the older ones are more likely to be influenced by money

madcaesar ,

We don’t have these things because 50% of the population is dumb as bricks and is voting against their own interest.

candyman337 ,

It’s not even 50% tits our fucked up districts, and also it’s gotten like this because of legislation to defund education. But younger voters are becoming more informed, change can happen. It will take effort and time though.

jasondj ,

Hey man if there’s one thing the defunded schools taught me, it’s that America is the greatest country in the universe.

altima_neo ,
@altima_neo@lemmy.zip avatar

So I stood up and told that teaching lady, “the only letters I need to know are U, S, and A!”

Adalast ,

I have always wished that requiring congressmen work a minimum wage job in their district that they have to look for and apply to like the rest of us while out of session would do anything. Deal with some Karens to humble them properly.

squaresinger ,

No. It’s because the constitution effective abolishes democracy, by ensuring a two-party system.

In the US democracy is limited to one coin toss worth of decision making once every four years. Add to that that their first-to-the-post system eliminates all election power to non-swing-states, that means ~40 of the states have no democratic input at all, and the rest has up to 15 bit worth of democratic input over their whole life time.

Thus politicians have nothing to fear at all. They mess up, who cares? It’s gonna be their turn after the next term limit anyway.

candyman337 ,

The Constitution doesn’t employ a 2 party system and actually our founding fathers were against it. It has been put in place since then. I do think the electoral college system does cause issues though. We need a ranked choice system or something else where all votes have some value.

Furbag ,

The overwhelming majority of working class adults want these things, but also the overwhelming majority of working class adults also work for large corporations who do not want these things (because it costs them money/profits). Guess who has more money to buy off politicians? Walmart/Amazon/Target would work together to never let these beneficial policies go through congress. It would be worth it to them to spend literal billions to prevent it, because it would cost them billions in the long run.

The sad reality is we don’t really live in a democracy. It’s an oligarchy that allows us to think we are in control.

Dass93 ,

I have never understood why Americans doesn’t have trade union?

Like in Denmark we have trade unions where a working area is united like the health care area, have “FOA” there is trading “time off” payment and so on, for all in this area.?

jugalator ,

There are trade unions in the USA but the cultural difference compared to in a Scandinavian country is very striking, both in terms of American vs Scandinavians unions themselves but also their support. It would surprise many Scandinavians to learn that many Americans don’t even want trade unions because it’s for example commonly seen as that they interfere with career paths, promoting seniority at the cost of new blood or keep the wages low because individual wages can be affected.

I think the culture collision here is that the whole idea behind unions in Scandinavia is to offer a stronger collective voice and bargaining actor to increase wages and other subjects that improves the standards and quality of life / motivation of their employees so that the relationship between the work place and the individual is less asymmetrical.

But it’s been a long journey and it still is even if unionizing in USA has seen an uptick in debates lately, because USA has a radical and capitalistic history where there are loud and influential voices that even asking for basic rights on a job can be seen as “greed” and the company looks for someone being less of a bother and not asking these questions instead. All due to weak unions, of course. Otherwise the company would of course lose too much in employee skills by excluding everyone having these demands (and already being union members) like the situation here in Scandinavia where this by consequence is simply not an option.

This is at least my two cents of this entire situation from the “outside” also in Europe, please correct me if I’m wrong…

MattTheProgrammer ,
@MattTheProgrammer@lemmy.world avatar

Because the American Oligarchy do nothing to actually improve the lives of the average person and deflect, blame, and fear monger against the other party to distract from their own corruption. It’s both sides of the political spectrum in this country and it’s getting pretty old.

Arsenal4ever ,

The think tanks funded by rich people saying “They want to take away your guns/cows/statues etc” and “unions suck” are better at this than we are.

We can want all we want, but a whole pile of the media is owned by the 1% and what they want is the status quo.

Conservatism is literally, don’t change anything.

jasondj ,

Conservatism is literally, don’t change anything.

Not true. They also like regression.

Arsenal4ever ,

Make America like the 1950s.

Gumbyyy ,

I’ll take the higher tax rates on the highest brackets from the 1950s, but I’d rather do without the racism.

Arsenal4ever ,

MAke America Tax the Rich Again.

FlashMobOfOne ,
@FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.world avatar

98% of the people who vote are voting for repressive corporate culture.

The people who don’t vote can’t afford to miss a day of work, and even if they did, they know the people they have to choose from won’t do anything to change it.

Therefore these polls are meaningless.

PeleSpirit ,

We have to have voting mail in and at the booths as federally mandated. Washington State and quite a few others do this and we get a pamphlet that lists each candidate, their website, a pic and their policies. This should be the bare minimum for every state.

PersnickityPenguin ,

Oregon passed a minimum 40 hours of sick leave on top of vacation. That’s what vote by mail and ballot measures get you.

Hawaii has had socialized universal healthcare for like 50 years.

PeleSpirit , (edited )

They had universal healthcare in Hawaii? Where dd it go? I’ve never heard of that.

PersnickityPenguin ,

Per Google AI:

Hawaii is the only state to have implemented near-universal health insurance. The Hawaii Prepaid Health Care Act, enacted in 1974, requires most employers to offer employees group health insurance. Hawaii does not have a specific law requiring individuals to have health insurance coverage.

Hawaii is ranked #1 in the country for overall health and public health. According to U.S. News & World Report, Hawaii is the top state for healthcare. The ranking is based on 71 metrics across eight categories, including healthcare, education, and economy.

The average health insurance cost in Hawaii is $421 per month for a 40-year-old across all plan tiers. The cheapest Silver health plan in every county in Hawaii is KP HI Silver 4000/45 from Kaiser Permanente. Individuals can get insurance directly from HMSA or through the federal health insurance marketplace at HealthCare.gov. Depending on your financial situation, you may be eligible for financial help, which is only available through the federal marketplace.

– My family over there tells me it’s great.

medquest.hawaii.gov/en/…/health-plans.html#:~:tex….

rusticus ,

That’s because Americans have no say in these issues. They’re brainwashed (well, 1/2 is) to think those things are sOciAliSm, which apparently is bad despite many voters having socialized medicine that they love. It’s the American way, convincing people that what they want is not in their best interest.

lone_faerie ,

Land of the free, amirite?

rusticus ,

Land of the free…to be manipulated.

heckypecky ,

I would say th other half is brainwashed too, your 2 party system sucks. Things won’t get better if you have no choice in elections

rusticus , (edited )

There is no party of red and party of blue. It’s all a single party of green. And it’s not named after the color of trees.

Edit: Green is the color of money.

BigBananaDealer ,
@BigBananaDealer@lemm.ee avatar

the color of …grass?

heckypecky ,

Why green?

Franzia ,

The only way to vote for these issues is to vote to form a union.

inclementimmigrant ,

Racism and bigotry are a hell of a drug.

sock ,

everyone wants it when you survey people that want it

(not that i disagree)

RegularGoose ,

If you’re going for a whole month off, why August, the hottest, shittiest month of the year?

donuts ,
@donuts@kbin.social avatar

So you can go somewhere that isn't hot and shitty or so you don't have to work while it's hot and shitty (air conditioning is still very rare in Europe).

RegularGoose ,

If you’re an American, no, you probably can’t afford to go somewhere nicer.

gazter ,

I don’t know where this concept of air conditioning being rare in Europe comes from.

Isthisreddit ,

Old buildings are hard to retrofit a modern central air AC system into, and Europe has a lot of old buildings. Also, from an American viewpoint, Europe is much higher in latitude that the USA, so it’s like Canadian weather which is usually believed to be cooler. The USA is more of in line with middle eastern latitude

vodka ,

While I don’t know for most of Europe, almost everywhere I’ve been in Northern Europe has had a decent chunk of home have Inverter Heat Pumps installed. Don’t really ever see buildings retrofit a central AC system when separate heat pumps per unit do the job.

Isthisreddit ,

I traveled through Europe this summer during the heatwave. The hostels were fucking saunas lol. As a traveler I was not staying at people’s houses where they might have a decent ac system

vodka ,

I’ve never been to a hostel, but I can see that type of cheap accommodation not having any sort of cooling yeah. Especially since it honestly hasn’t been much of a need for the one week above 25c a year… Too bad that’s now more like 3 months

suction ,

it comes from facts

NathanielThomas ,

What is your favourite month? I think May is nice but sometimes a bit cold in the beginning.

RegularGoose ,

October by far. Still warm enough to do stuff, cool enough that the heat doesn’t make me want to kill myself, and the trees don’t look barren and depressing like they do for most of spring and later in the fall.

doggle ,

Going to the beach is nicer in a swimsuit than a heavy coat and mittens.

I’d rather do pretty much anything in the heat of Summer than during any of the winter months.

RegularGoose ,

There are more than two seasons, and the others are both far more tolerable than summer or winter.

suction ,

you do know that different places have different climates, right?

RegularGoose ,

Sure, but we’re talking specifically about the US. August is typically the hottest time of year in essentialy every part of the country, aside from maybe Hawaii and San Diego, where the weather barely changes.

suction ,

sure, but we’re talking specifically about the US

…not in this thread, chud

RegularGoose ,

Did you not look at the article?

suction ,

Did you not look at the thread?

lunarul ,

July and August are most common because they overlap with summer break from school, which means families can plan a trip together.

RegularGoose ,

Everyone crowding all the public places with their shrieking banshees at the same time just makes the idea even less appealing. I’d almost rather be at work than have to spend my vacation time around that.

D1G17AL ,

Way to admit to being whipped by your work culture.

frickineh ,

I mean, I’d prefer to just have enough leave to actually take a month off when I want to take it off, rather than being told my office is closing for one specific month. Saying you don’t want to have a forced vacation time with a million kids doesn’t mean you buy in to the bullshit system in the US.

lunarul ,

Nobody is forcing people, it’s just the most common choice for the reason given above (also because a lot of people choose beach destinations for their vacations, and it’s the best time for that). Everyone is free to use their days off when they want to and not everyone chooses summer vacation.

RegularGoose ,

Exactly what this guy said.

vodka ,

I enjoy taking 4-6 weeks off when it is the hottest here in Europe, and going to the south of New Zealand for a nice holiday in cold temperatures. Flights are also surprisingly affordable when you plan it 6+ months in advance!

RegularGoose ,

Most Americans can’t afford to vacation in another state, let alone another hemisphere.

You know that stereotype you guys have about Americans being untravelled and ignorant of other cultures? Well, it’s accurate, but it’s not because we’re arrogant or don’t give a shit; it’s because 2/3 of us live paycheck to paycheck. The thought of vacationing overseas is absurd and fantastical when you’re too busy worrying about the fact that you can’t save enough to retire or afford to get your car fixed when it breaks down and gets you fired for missing work because you used both of your sick days last month when you were violently ill, which, by the way, you didn’t get treatment for because it costs too much and your insurance only partially covers it.

treefrog ,

The other 34% of adults surveyed were middle management.

CharlesDarwin ,
@CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world avatar

Or were part of the base so trained as to kneejerk into thinking that sounds like “Communism”.

Reva ,

As a European, I just want to know where Americans get all these fairy tales about European life, lol. Do you think the people in France that they keep admiring so much are protesting because of nothing?

Stop pretending Europe is some kind of paradise. It isn’t. I don’t get the whole month of August off on paid vacation. That’s a straight-faced lie.

PeleSpirit ,

Then you should be fighting for weeks vacation too. I notice you were very specific about not getting the whole month of August off, how many weeks do you get in vacation?

Reva ,

I get 21 days off in a year. If I want to take Christmas off, that’s like three or four days off of that, plus my birthday maybe. Most people take like two different week-long holidays off throughout the year so they can spend some time with family.

Personally, I am more concerned with affording food or going hungry.

PeleSpirit ,

How about maternity leave for men and women? What’s your minimum wage?

Reva ,

Minimum wage is 12€, meaning $12.96, which is way lower than California’s for example. There is no paternity leave.

donuts ,
@donuts@kbin.social avatar

There's an official EU article here that states that "staff has the right to at least 4 weeks of paid holidays per year" in all 27 member countries. Are you not from one of those countries or are you being messed around by your employer?

Either way, when you compare it to America where people get a measly 11 days paid time off average, there is a hell of a lot to say about the European way of life.

Kaldo ,
@Kaldo@kbin.social avatar

That sounds like it includes holidays too, it's not just vacation days you can take whenever you want.

But agreed, it's still better than 11 days, but it's not "anyone can just leave for a month and half".

Reva ,

I am German. According to German law as I refer to here, the four weeks are calculated on a basis of a six-day work week, which in practice almost nobody works. Most people work four or five days, and the right to holidays is scaled accordingly.

SpacemanSpiff , (edited )
@SpacemanSpiff@kbin.social avatar

I think the point is that it’s possible, in theory, maybe depending on your employer. But you get close to that amount of vacation time in total. The majority of Americans don’t get more than two weeks for the entire year, and many get none at all, only sick time. Many Americans can’t even take just two consecutive weeks off any time of the year.

lunarul ,

I don’t get the whole month of August off on paid vacation. That’s a straight-faced lie.

You not getting vacation doesn’t mean it’s not common for others. Definitely common to get a month of vacation in summer in Romania, mandatory in Sweden, and based on comments here it’s common in other countries too.

Also, even if you don’t use your time off to get a full month of vacation, it is a fact that most of European countries mandate a minimum amount of annual paid time off that’s more than double of what most get in the US.

Syrc ,

Europe isn’t a paradise but everything else looks like one if you’re currently in Hell.

crate_of_mice ,

Somehow I doubt those 66% of Americans will bother voting for the people and parties that would make this happen though.

AbidanYre ,

Well yeah. I deserve that vacation. Not those other people though. You know the ones I mean.

killa44 ,

Because neither party would? The red koolaide people would dismiss this idea immediately, because it’s clearly scary communism. The blue koolaide people would pretend to support it while asking for your votes, then proceed to conveniently forget about it entirely, or pretend to try to do it while also receiving lobbying money from nearly every corporation and anti-workers-union type organization.

The people that would support this are not part of either party.

crate_of_mice ,

Thank you, you’ve rather made my point for me by erroneously assuming I was referring to either of those two parties

killa44 ,

Or, just maybe, I’ve expanded on your original point.

NathanielThomas ,

It’s hard to fix a broken system using a broken system.

Neither political party cares about anything Americans want.

Franzia ,

I don’t doubt it, but our passion for talking about the presidency has to turn into a passion for voting for local offices, too. The governor, representatives, and most key to this issue - unions. One must imagine the Libs unhappy.

markr ,

Approximately 50% of voters will vote for a political party that views any such reform as communism.

Buffaloaf ,

It’s actually quite a bit less than 50%, but their votes have a bigger impact because of a broken system.

markr ,

sure, but effectively they deadlock the system and prevent any structural reform. Also, national polling currently has close to 50% of the voting population supporting a trump second term. We can’t even get the Democratic Party to support universal public healthcare. The ideological delusion, the willingness of the people to support a system that makes their lives anxious and miserable, cuts across both political parties as well as the general population.

CharlesDarwin ,
@CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world avatar

So much this. We have an antiquated and ridiculous system that gives the regressives far, far too much of a voice.

Rai ,

We’re heading through a dry county, and for political reasons it’s a very long, narrow county. So I cannot serve alcohol until we’re through.

-King of the Hill

PlantbasedChe ,

Socialism is a very nice son of rationalism. It is time for a review

Mdotaut801 ,

Who is the remaining 34% that don’t want this? Brown nosing middle management cunts? Pto policies at a ton of companies in America are abhorrent. Just 2 weeks ago, I had a mental breakdown over my workload and had to call in only getting further behind the next day.

“Gee mdot, you could sure use a vacation!”

Ya. No shit. The problem is, I’ve only been here for 6 months and don’t have much pto banked AND if I were to take longer than a day off, I’d be so behind that it wouldn’t even be worth it. Luckily, someone on my team gets back from maternity leave in 2 months. Even then, it’s going to be hard to leave because of my workload and, for the first 2 years I get 10 days of pto per year. That’s it.

“Gee mdot, you should get a new job.”

Ya. No shit. But I just started here 6 months ago, I don’t want to look job hoppy and they compensate me well. Also…as with many Americans, health insurance is tied to our jobs. My insurance is solid and the specialist I see for a chronic health condition is in network. I do not want to change.

Millions of Americans are probably in a similar boat as I am and it sucks. Stuck in a job dealing with shit company “policies” all because they pay me well and give me insurance. They don’t treat me well, though.

Sorry for the rant, clearly I needed to get that out lol.

Pete90 ,

I am truly sorry that you are stuck in this awful situation. The system (or large parts of it) are designed like this. Keeps people in check. As an European, I find it baffling. Not everything is prefect here, far from it. I’m dealing with chronic health issues myself and I probably wouldn’t survive the US.

There is nothing I can do to help you, but I emphasize with your situation and hope, that you can rest soon!

Mdotaut801 ,

I appreciate it! My boss is a good dude and is helping me figure it out. It’s his boss that are the bastards. Luckily I have a very supportive partner who told me to just do my best and if they don’t like it, they can fire me and I can take some time off (she does well financially too and we have a solid savings account). I’m in a decent situation but I couldn’t imagine being in this situation and being 1 check away from living on the streets like millions of people are.

Here’s how tired I am: I went to bed at 6pm last night and woke up at 8:30am. I failed to mention I’m also back in college as well so…I’m exhausted.

Jivebunny ,
@Jivebunny@lemmy.world avatar

Probably not what you wanted to hear or see, but this is why managers are there. Exactly why you said the boss of the manager is an ass: www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnsRU3JJ_rs

teft ,
@teft@startrek.website avatar

Congress does it. If it’s good enough for the ruling class it should be good enough for the rest of us.

Tugboater203 ,
@Tugboater203@lemmy.world avatar

We want it, but won’t take the necessary steps to procure it.

traveler ,

I never pick August to have vacations.

amenotef ,
@amenotef@lemmy.world avatar

The OOO full August sucks because every near touristic place is crowded and 2+ times more expensive.

I never pick August. But my company doesn’t force me to pick August either.

GladiusB ,
@GladiusB@lemmy.world avatar

your vacation has been approved for August

lud ,

Why would they force you to pick August?

Here vacation is most commonly from mid July to mid August, but some people obviously have it earlier or later out of choice or necessity.

Manuy jobs can’t be completely unmanned for 1+ months so vacations are often spread out slightly if possible.

amenotef , (edited )
@amenotef@lemmy.world avatar

Many companies in Europe encourage you to take in August because the work is less in some regions and the majority take them during August.

They can’t pick all your annual days. But sometimes like 50% of them.

I generally try to take mine during November or March.

Sometimes December because I have to pick 3 days between Christmas and New Year as policy.

gazter ,

I’m not a fan of companies picking any of my time off.

“This office shuts down over the Christmas/New Year period, so don’t come in, take your holidays. Oh but there’s a job that needs to be done on the 28th so you’ll need to come in for that.”

Ummm… It’s not really my holiday if I don’t have control over it. What you’re describing there isn’t even leave without pay. It’s just a period of no work.

amenotef ,
@amenotef@lemmy.world avatar

Yeah me neither. Which is why I’m OK with my current contract which blocks only 3 out of 23/24~ paid time off on December, as a general rule.

In my previous company it was hassle the process to ask for not taking any time off in August (or around August).

NathanielThomas ,

My family lives in a picture postcard beautiful area of southern Germany. I can’t visit in summer because it’s too popular.

HughJanus ,

100% of Americans want a million dollars

Andjhostet ,

Tbh a good percentage of Americans would turn down a million dollars if it meant minorities didn't get it.

GladiusB ,
@GladiusB@lemmy.world avatar

Just take it and then siphon some off

markr ,

In reality they would oppose it if minorities also qualified.

dhork ,

I’ve worked in companies with a presence in various European countries over my career. Whether or not everyone takes Summer leave at the same time very much depends on the company, and the country. I specifically remember working with a Finnish contractor firm who planned to have no billable time available at all in August, from anyone. But our offices in France and elsewhere never fully shut down in August, they were just very lightly staffed. Everyone took some multi-week summer holiday, just not the whole place at once.

It’s not just summer leave, either. There are people all over the world having kids and going out on maternity (or even paternity!) leave for months at a time. When my wife and I had our kids in the US, I didn’t get any extra paternity leave, and just used saved-up PTO. I particularly remember that my wife had to stay in the hospital for a bit after my first kid was born, so the two weeks I had saved up flew by in a flash. I recall my boss strongly encouraging me to dial in to a conference call on that last PTO day, and when I did his boss lashed into me for taking so much time off. I started sending out resumes shortly after.

On the other hand, when the Europeans I worked with later got their summer or parental leave, their Project Managers just dealt with it, and if it meant their schedules had to slip, they slipped, no temper tantrums required. And I think that is the key difference. American bosses and PMs are much more likely to get away with assigning blame for schedule slips downward, perhaps because not as many people are unionized.

sep ,

Many types of workers in scandinavia is not as heavily unionized either. Perhaps the ones that are not, enjoy a form of herd immunity from worker abuse from the ones that are.

Bo7a ,

This is exactly why every worker should be supporting unions even if their industry doesn’t have one. Rising tides and all that.

Zekas ,

There’s a lot of unionisation. Further, there’s industry-wide collective agreements, which pretty much do the herd immunity thing.

lazyslacker ,

Just an anecdote related to the first part of what you said: I’m in the US, PTO season seems to be December at my company. Both because some portion of people’s PTO hours will expire at the end of the year, and obviously because of being adjacent to Christmas and new year.

ParsnipWitch ,

Depending on the country, there aren’t that many people in unions. Most countries in the EU (not Europe in general) have laws that protect the workers better than workers in the USA. The result is a different work culture.

freebee ,

Which is often still the result of strong union actions in the past, even if only 20 or 30 % are currently unionised.

Living in EU, mid thirties, full time office job getting about 33 days off per year all together. Max 4 weeks in a row tho, and must match schedules with colleagues so all keeps on running, no full closing of offices. The older you get, the more vacation days you get. Older colleagues complain they have too much holidays…

Parellius ,

I’m on the UK and taking paternity leave in December. By using some of my holiday allowance plus a Christmas shutdown I’m turning my 4 week paternity leave into 8 weeks off in total. It’s hardly a holiday (seeing as we’ll be lookin after a newborn and my other half will be recovering from a c-section/childbirth) but god-damn I am looking forward to two months of just focusing on mu family.

GiddyGap ,

Then don’t vote for Republicans.

BossDj ,

30ish percent of Americans identify as Republican (depending on the poll), so these types of questions are always ~66% of Americans in support

GiddyGap ,

But many independent voters who want these policies vote for Republicans. If they want these policies, voting for Republicans will not get them there.

NathanielThomas ,

Biden is in power right now. Where’s the beef?

markr ,

Nominally in power. In reality Congress is deadlocked and has been since his term started,and the USSC has aggressively blocked just about everything he has attempted via executive orders.

We need a lot more center left democrats in office, at the state and federal level, to get any significant reforms passed. That also means getting the geriatric Clinton era neoliberal democrats out of office.

GiddyGap ,

These things require 60 votes in the Senate and approval in the House. Republicans are blocking them in both.

Jagermo ,

I know lots of us people with “unlimited time off” type contracts. No one ever takes more than a week because they are afraid that their bosses wouldnt like it.

electriccars ,

If I’m stuck in the USA, I’m gonna find an unlimited time of job and actually use that benefit like Europeans. Fuck American work culture.

AA5B ,

I’m sure you’ll keep that job for several months. The other part of American “work culture” is how quickly and easily we can lose that job. Be happy that you have some worker protection

Kalkaline ,
@Kalkaline@programming.dev avatar

Americans are too afraid to unionize. They don’t actually want a better life, they just want to raise up the rich and punch down the poor and middle class because of some fucked up sense of “work ethic”.

HellAwaits ,

Yeah, they’re so afraid to unionize that…they unionized in Starbucks, UPS, railroads, hospitals, maintenance management…

AA5B ,

en.wikipedia.org/…/International_comparisons_of_t…

agent_flounder ,
@agent_flounder@lemmy.one avatar

For some that’s true.

But we undergo a great deal of brainwashing. Unions are demonized, billionaires lionized, puritanical (insane) work ethic lauded, anything less than that vilified, etc.

Attempts at unionization are aggressively subverted and crushed by large corpos.

And most people are given just enough to not want to risk it all to get a bit more.

It will be a while, yet, before US culture shifts enough that more people side with unions, join unions, and build critical mass. Although, younger generations seem to be more aware of the anti-labor BS more than my gen (x) was at a similar age.

_Sc00ter ,

My company has this and just about everyone I work with utilizes the unlimited time off. Most people land in the 5-6 weeks of vacation a year + sick + personal business + holidays.

There are the few who make work their hobby too, but you can’t do anything for those people IMO

Squizzy ,

What is the difference to vacation and personal days?

FlanFlinger ,
@FlanFlinger@lemmy.ml avatar

Attending funerals, births etc aren’t really holidays

Crackhappy ,
@Crackhappy@lemmy.world avatar

I don’t know about that. Depends on who died…

FlanFlinger ,
@FlanFlinger@lemmy.ml avatar

Depends on where you live, the two European countries that I’ve lived and worked in my employers would allow additional leave for funerals of aunts, uncles, cousins and some even allowed for the death of a pet.

Jagermo ,

Exactly, we get days off for this on top

Squizzy ,

Oh, we have bereavement and paternity/maternity leave.

AA5B ,

A lot of the time the difference is in how much notice you need to give work before taking the time off.

Sometimes they are treated different for expirations as well. For example, accrued vacation time usually has to be paid if you leave, might have some or all rollover to the be next year, while other types of time off are more likely use it or lose it

_Sc00ter ,

Personal business is for things that need to be done touring business hours but aren’t vacation. Things like doctors appointments, meeting a service person to fix something at your home, or some delivery that requires you be home. Those kind of things

lenathaw ,

deleted_by_author

    •
    hemmes ,
    @hemmes@lemmy.world avatar

    I…do not know what’s being said here.

    Jagermo ,

    In Germany, you get at least 28 days of holidays per year. Company even has to budget for them, so if you don’t take them, it creates a huge headache for them in regards to finalizing their yearly results because they might have to keep money back. Sorry, I don’t have the correct economical term, in German it is a Rückstellung. So there is a very high insentive to get all of your people to take their holidays, because otherwise it’s a pain in the ass and will delay everything.

    lud ,

    Does Germany also have a maximum amount of days an employee can save before they are legally required to take them out?

    AA5B ,

    If you get such a contract, make sure to read it closely. I had it once, phrased more like “there is no policy restricting time off”. It’s really up to your manager and it means there is an invisible limit that may be different for everyone, you won’t know about until you hit it.

    In my case, I had a good manager, but sure enough, got dinged after taking off two weeks in the year (the worst part was no actual vacation but individual days off for kid’s appointments). I much prefer an actual limit, because then you can take it

    rdrunner ,

    I have unlimited PTO, and it’s a total scam. I’m a contractor, and contracts have required hours within required time-frames. These time-frames don’t have margin for taking off a couple weeks at a time. Any time you take off, has to be made up, so it’s not really time off

    Damage ,

    That is why time off is supposed to be mandatory

    TenderfootGungi ,

    Research shows that people with unlimited time off take fewer days than people with set amount of time off.

    Bo7a ,

    I am definitely an outlier here. We have unlimited PTO and 98% of our workforce is in the US so most people never take more than three or four days at a time. And often end up at the end of the year having taken less PTO than they would have as a regular hourly worker.

    But not me… I’ll take 3 weeks at a time if I have plans. They can fire me if they want. I have a nice 3 months worth of severance written into my contract if they are the ones who terminate it.

    That would give me a month more of break and then 2 months to find a job.

    I know this isn’t possible for everyone. But if more people stood up for themselves, even within the confines of these contracts, we would all be better off as management and executive get used to it over time.

    toynbee ,

    I’ve been told that generally, this is so the company doesn’t have to pay you back for unused PTO if you leave the company.

    I can’t vouch for this as true, but it makes sense.

    marron12 ,

    It can be to limit how much vacation time the company has to pay out on separation, or to limit how much “liability” for vacation pay they have on the books at any given time. If your employees get 5 days of vacation a year, use it or lose it, you don’t have to deal with someone who (the horror!) has built up 2 weeks and wants to use it all at once.

    There are no state or federal laws that give employees a right to paid vacation time. Only 10 states require the company to pay out unused vacation time when you leave (CA, CO, IL, IN, LA, MA, ME, ND, NE, RI). In most of those states, use it or lose it policies are illegal. Everywhere else, the company policy basically decides if it gets paid out or not.

    markr ,

    Yeah because it’s a fucking scam who’s primary purpose is to eliminate pto liability from their accounting. It’s the equivalent of the 401k scam that eliminated corporate pension plans as a standard benefit.

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