Are American Vacation Policies Outdated?

GiorgioG asks: "Am I the only one who sees US vacation policies as outdated compared to Europe?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

In Sweden...

[Kidbro]

...we're more or less encourage to take most, if not all our vacation in one large block, usually during July. This so called "industry vacation" usually means that the entire country grinds to a virtual halt during the summer months. Quite distressing really...

Anyhoo, it's of course up to the employer to accept your vacation request, but I'd be surprised if anybody was denied vacation (even five consecutive weeks or more) unless a project depended on it.

Oh, and btw, five weeks is the legal minimum. I've had two employers so far that offered six week vacation contracts.

Work to live, don't live to work.

[Deagol]

For me, my job is a means to an end, not an end unto itself. As such, I value vacation time. I have a wife and kids, and I prefer to spend my time with them over time in the office.

My current job (at a State University) started me at 3 weeks per year, and if I stick around I'll get to five weeks per year. I can bank up to something like 1040 hours (26 work weeks), then it's a use-it-or-lose-it scheme. I also get 2 weeks of sick leave per year, and that can be banked to 1040 hours as well. It's also pretty lax with flex time. If I work a late night or weekend fixing or installing a machine, it goes into a under-the-table vacation bank (sanctioned by my manager, of course), which I use for extra vacation/sick time.

My last job at a small software shop started at 2 weeks per year and you could only bank 4 or 6 weeks before you lost it. There was no distinction between sick and vacation time, just a generic "leave" bank, which was really lame.

I'm getting paid less here (or at least I was when I left the last job), but I feel far better off now.

My plan is to transition to a more consultant/freelance self-employed state over the next 5-10 years, so that I can spend even more time with my kids as they get older (and before they leave the nest).

I guess it's all about your priorities. I know people my age with far different priorities, who take little time off, have no kids, and easily make twice my salary. I know guys in sales (yuck!) that work pretty much when and where they want to.

So here in the States, you have to taylor your job to fit your life goals. The government won't enforce anything more than minimum wage and safe workplaces, which I suppose is fine (I have too much of a libertarian tendancy to expect/want anything more).

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!