Are American Vacation Policies Outdated?

GiorgioG asks: "Am I the only one who sees US vacation policies as outdated compared to Europe? If I have 3-4 weeks of vacation time, why is it that most companies won't allow you to take more than 1 or 2 consecutive weeks of time off - especially if you aren't performing a 'mission-critical' function. I find it quite frustrating, considering I only want to take 1 long vacation a year (to visit family in Europe.)" This depends, of course, on the types of vacation policies found in Europe and those types found here in the US. So what do both sides of the fence have to say about what they have seen on the other side when it comes to vacation time?

Comments

Australia is far more generous

[blisspix]

leave conditions etc are generally worked out by industry/company here in australia, and four weeks is the average. i get six weeks because i don't get any public holidays/long weekends.

despite that, i think you'd be hard pressed to find a company where everyone used their entitlements every year.

the lack of leave in the US is really outdated considering the era of 'family friendly' working conditions etc.

Re:Australia

[cafeman]

People do leave their jobs here - in many positions, it's hard to get a reasonable raise unless you change roles or companies / departments. However, there are plenty of people who have been with the same company for 15+ years.

The 3 months off you're talking about would be long service leave, and I believe it's a statutory requirement. I think it might be longer than 3 months though, and I'm not sure it takes 20 years to get it (I think it might be less). I don't know though, as I've changed jobs a few times b/c of changing focus and interest in a pay-rise, so long-service leave doesn't really figure in my decision making process.

4 weeks per year is the legal requirement, plus public holidays (around 10 a year), plus sick days. Figure we only really work 44 weeks a year normally (8 weeks off between public holidays, sick days, and vacation time). You may get paid more in the US, but you *sure* work for it in comparison. In many ways I think the US is quite backwards - Oz and Europe have similar policies towards work (except I think Europe in general is even better for the employee than Oz).

outdated indeed

[archie]

In the Netherlands, about 23 days per year is the minimum by law. I've got 31 days, with an option to buy upto 21 extra days, or sell at most 5 days.

You're "expected" to take one big holliday of 3 weeks, but you don't have to. You just have to coordinate with your boss.

When you buy 21 days, you can work 4x9 (instead of 5x8, which is normal), or you can just do 3 vacations of 3 weeks and still take the christmas-week off. :)
Most IT-jobs are less flexible, just 23 days is often what they'll give you.

Chris

You pay for it!

[kruczkowski]

In Germany (from what I heard) the gov requiers people to take a 6 week vacation. I recived a job offer from a German company and took it - 6 week vacation, company BMW (with paid 1000km a month for private use) med and dental.

The downside to all this - I was taxed 55%. I quit after a year becouse I was working for a tax, it was so depressing looking at your statment and seeing all that money go away.

So the moral of the story, in the end you pay for that vacation with your taxes!