Post: #1

Just curious. How much holiday does the average American take each year from their work?

I seem to read alot about guys working hard and never taking any holiday leave. As a way to try and get ahead at work.

Is this common? And does anyone know if this sort of culture exists in the UK.

I should know more about the UK - but I only really know about my place of work. Where everyone is expected to use up off of your holiday leave. And if you don't - it gets carried over to the following year.

My holiday leave is pretty good. About 35 days a year. I can't remember if that includes public holidays though.

Anyway - I worry about you guys in America. Eveything I read about your country seems to involve long hours, long trips to work from the suburbs and little holiday leave. As well - it being expected that you socialise after work with your work colleagues.

I love America. But I think the long hours and the lack of public health care would put me off ever moving there.

Post: #2

I think the standard is 2 weeks for most run of the mill jobs but can get up to 5 or 6 weeks depending on how long you have worked there and what type of job. At my work I get 3 weeks of paid vacation a year. (21 days)

Post: #3

Two weeks is tough. In this country I think the minimum tends to be 3 weeks. And you would get a few days for public holidays thrown in on top of that.

Post: #4

Yeah alot of people also get holidays off depending on the industry. I get Christmas, Christmas Eve, Thanksgiving and a few other holidays paid off also.

If you work in retail or the food industry I dont think you would get some of these holidays off.

Post: #5

I think people work harder in America because your status is built around your career.

Whereas in the UK - your status is still reflected more in your upbringing and level of education.

That is how it seems to me.

Post: #6

Most people I know in the US in professional salaried positions get 4 weeks (20 days) plus holidays (Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc). When I was in the UK, 5 weeks (25 days) plus holidays seemed standard.

Post: #7

Yea I'm coming from a blue collar job when I talk about vacation.

Post: #8

Yeah it depends on the industry or each respective company in the US.

These estimations are based on experiences of my peers:

Government Job - 3 Weeks off per year plus national holidays off. Also, additional 2 weeks off around Christmas/NYE time. It can be more than 3 weeks outside of Christmas calendar with more years spent at the establishment

Healthcare Based Job - Nurses, Physician Assistant, Health Care Informatics or Administration etc.
I think it's 3-4 weeks per year depending on your location. If you're in administration or health care informatics, it should be 3 weeks per year to start off with on top of the 2 weeks off around Christmas/NYE time.

Oil or Natural Gas Industry - I think the standard might be 2-3 weeks off per year total which includes the holidays of Christmas time. I would not work in this industry if based in the US, haha.

Finance/Banking - Once again standard might be 2-3 weeks off. If I'm in finance and wanted to spend the holidays to see my family around Christmas time, I'd have to use one of those vacation days. That would suck.

Misc. companies that are fairly generous
Delloite - 3 weeks off per year plus 2 weeks for Christmas time. Fair deal IMO for US standards.

Gap Inc. San Francisco - My friend when working there got 4 weeks off per year. Plus the 2 weeks to see family around holidays.

Wells Fargo - I think it's 4 weeks off per year. Not sure about holiday time off. Pretty reasonable in the world of finance/banking.

If I was stuck working in the US for another company, I would probably stay close to home in Dallas/Ft. Worth area so that I could use my vacation days to travel domestically or internationally. I haven't seen my family too much during Christmas because they like to travel a lot, but we make up for it with 1) week long Thanksgiving and 2) Chinese New Year celebrations in late Jan/Feb depending on the Lunar Calendar.

Post: #9

Keep in mind that there are NO laws mandating vacation time in the US. They don't have to give you anything. We are like the only major economy in the world where there's no laws mandating vacation time. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sta...by_country

Many companies only give one week off. If you're lucky you get 2 or more. For people that get a month off it's likely because they've worked at the company for a long time or have a position higher up the ladder with more perks. If you are entry-level and/or you don't work for a major company, good luck.

Post: #10

(02-24-2013 07:43 PM)speakeasy Wrote:  Keep in mind that there are NO laws mandating vacation time in the US. They don't have to give you anything. We are like the only major economy in the world where there's no laws mandating vacation time. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sta...by_country

Many companies only give one week off. If you're lucky you get 2 or more. For people that get a month off it's likely because they've worked at the company for a long time or have a position higher up the ladder with more perks. If you are entry-level and/or you don't work for a major company, good luck.

Thx for the link! Out of curiosity, would you happen to know if this includes the "main holiday" time around Christmas/NYE where companies usually allot 2 weeks?

Post: #11

(02-24-2013 07:14 PM)cardguy Wrote:  Just curious. How much holiday does the average American take each year from their work?

There is a lot of truth to this in America at small private companies.

Every company I worked for had this attitude.





Let me tell you what's required. You are required to work your fucking ass off at this firm. We want winners here, not pikers. A piker walks at the bell. A piker asks how much vacation time you get in the first year. Vacation time? People come and work at this firm for one reason: to become filthy rich. That's it. We're not here to make friends. We're not savin' the fuckin' manatees here, guys. You want vacation time? Go teach third grade, public school.

Post: #12

I worked for this european company in america the last 3 years and I had 4 weeks off plus holidays. In actuality, you really couldn't ever take more than 2 weeks in a row off though without pissing people off. And only 2 weeks during the low work season around project schedules. When I ended up quitting I had 4 weeks accrued and wish I would've taken it instead of getting paid out.

I still took a month off between jobs to travel but I wished I could've stretched it more, just already had an offer I wanted to take. Now I get 3 weeks a year plus some public holidays, but I think it'd be hard to even take 2 weeks in a row outside of Christmas when the office is light.

A lot of newer companies and startups now are switching to an 'unlimited' vacation policy, where they don't record vacation. This is of course a scam because in reality it means a no vacation policy. You can take some vacation but when you travel or work remotely but you better be on email. I'm sure people actually end up taking less vacation at these companies.

Next time I quit I hope I take a real mini-retirement for a few months. While you work companies don't like you traveling and living for your own life but I think employers are starting to understand lapses between jobs if you say you were traveling and doing dope shit and have a good reference from your last position. At least where I am.

Post: #13

(02-25-2013 12:28 AM)tpiddy Wrote:  A lot of newer companies and startups now are switching to an 'unlimited' vacation policy, where they don't record vacation. This is of course a scam because in reality it means a no vacation policy.

Exactly. It's such bullshit. Not only do they scam their employees out of their vacation time, but they also tell the press of how generous they are for giving everyone "unlimited" vacation time. Smart people will call their bluffs though.

Post: #14

Can you tell me some more about 'unlimited vacation' time. I've never heard of it.

I wonder if it exists here in the UK?

Post: #15

I've worked many jobs, the most generous offered 11 paid holidays per year, 1 week vacation after six months, 2 weeks vacation after 2 years, 3 weeks vacation after five years, and 4 weeks vacatiton after ten years.

Post: #16

(02-25-2013 07:59 PM)cardguy Wrote:  Can you tell me some more about 'unlimited vacation' time. I've never heard of it.

I wonder if it exists here in the UK?

Here's some articles on 'unlimited' vacation policy.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872...09396.html

http://www.inc.com/joe-reynolds/give-you...-time.html

http://mashable.com/2012/04/13/netflix-u...-vacation/

I think its a scam. If you have a set 3-4 weeks a year, there's less pressure to be at work, you are basically told by the companies values to take the time off. With an 'unlimited' vacation policy its about 'personal responsibility'. This means you are expected to stay connected more on vacation and certain vacations are more acceptable than others. Your wife has a baby, your brother gets married, you go on a honeymoon, or other socially acceptable vacations, no questions asked. It comes across a lot different if you want to go hit up Thailand for 2-3 weeks with your boys.

I try to use my vacation days today but the mini-retirement is really the way of the future. Shorter stints at jobs with breaks between them.

Post: #17

I'm obsessed with the idea of mini-retirements. I think it will become more and more common place. It would be great if people could take 6 months off work every 4/5 years.

Post: #18

Wow - that 'unlimited vacation' concept seems dodgy as fuck.

Definitely sense a slippery slope there. It seems like it will devolve into a weapon whereby those without a life will try and use it to show management they are team players. As opposed to those who actually have shit going on outside of work and thereefore use up more holiday leave.

The same thing happens in places that don't have a fixed start and finish time. You get people starting early and staying late in an effort to make the others look like slackers.

For me - time off is more important than money. I would rather have an extra three weeks holiday instead of an equivalent pay rise.

Post: #19

From my experience having worked in the UK and Canada, UK companies are very generous regarding vacations.

Most companies in the UK close for xmas, meaning they shut down Christmas Eve and re-open January 2nd. This is not the case in Canada, although no work gets done you are expected to work those days in between.

On average companies in North America give 2-3 weeks vacation, the problem is that alot of people have a work mentality and probably will not take the time off.

Post: #20

(02-25-2013 10:26 PM)rudebwoy Wrote:  From my experience having worked in the UK and Canada, UK companies are very generous regarding vacations.

Most companies in the UK close for xmas, meaning they shut down Christmas Eve and re-open January 2nd. This is not the case in Canada, although no work gets done you are expected to work those days in between.

On average companies in North America give 2-3 weeks vacation, the problem is that alot of people have a work mentality and probably will not take the time off.

That, or two other common stories:

1.) Some companies will "buy out" your vacation week, basically you don't take a week off then earn your wages + vacation pay, or failing that, if you don't take your vacation within a set time period, you lose it.

2.) Most people that do take vacations don't do jack shit. They haven't set aside any money for a trip away, so they sit on their ass at home and use their vacation pay for regular bills.

Post: #21

Unlimited vacation is complete bullshit. You can never be fully off because you always have work to do. The best you can do is find a gap here and there between a project to sneak away. Or, you can work remotely from another country.

UK firms tend to be quite generous in time off but they pay a shit load less than US firms. UK firms are required to give at least 4 weeks vacation + Public holidays but most give like 4-5 weeks vacation +public in general. I bought an extra week so I have 6 weeks vacation. And when you're on vacation, you are off. None of this call you up crap I see with my US friends.

Post: #22

Personally my dream holiday is to just stay at home and do nothing.

Sitting around the house drinking bourbon and reading books. My idea of heaven.

Post: #23

It really varies with job and sector. The main thing teachers in the US love about their jobs is getting June, July and August off. Plus another 25 holidays off during the other 9 months that class actually is in session.

There's also a lot of companies that enforce mandatory vacation time, usually with a factory floor shutdown and the entire company going dark Christmas to New Years. There's some accounting tax thing that encourages companies to carry over as little vacation as possible year to year. I also see companies enforcing mandatory vacation use every quarter as a soft alternative to furloughs.