Why can't Americans have a vacation?

[Katzndogz]

Anotherlife is talking about a minimum legislated vacation. If you don't take your vacation men with guns show up at your job for violating federal vacation laws. You are arrested and forcibly put on vacation at the institution of the president's choice.

In 40 years of working I took two one week vacations. My son has not had a vacation in 11 years. One place I worked had two weeks mandatory vacation. When my scheduled vacation days came up I already had a temp job lined up.

What is it about liberals that they must control everything and everyone? No wonder they have to take drugs.

 

[Dragonlady]

Anotherlife is talking about a minimum legislated vacation. If you don't take your vacation men with guns show up at your job for violating federal vacation laws. You are arrested and forcibly put on vacation at the institution of the president's choice.

Right-wingers have such idiotic fantasies about employee rights legislation. Legislated vacations are hardly as you depict them. Legislated vacations mean that companies have to give you the time off if you request it, not that you have to take it if you don't want to. I know lots of people who are entitled to more than two weeks vacation due to length of service, but never take the time off, so many in fact that many employers have a "use it or lose it policy" for vacation pay over the legislated 4% minimum.

We have legislated two weeks of vacation in Ontario. Employees are entitled to take that time but I know lots of people, including my husband, who take the 4% vacation pay instead. He has one week of unpaid vacation between Christmas and New Year's and except for the odd personal day, say if one of his parents was going in hospital, he doesn't take vacations but he get 4% vacation pay every July 1st.

A lot of manufacturing companies in Ontario shut down for two weeks in the summer but there is nothing to stop workers from taking a temp job. In Quebec, the entire construction industry shuts down for two weeks at the end of July, but I'll bet a lot of those guys use the time to build decks or additions for friends and neighbours and they're still working and making extra money.

 

[YoungRepublican]

Every country is at a LEGISLATED vacation mandate of ~ 5 weeks per year, +/- 1 or 2, except the USA, where there is no vacation legislation for workers, and the ridiculously low 2 weeks is a "gift". Why are Americans so freakishly different again? And why do Americans love undercutting themselves this much?

No rest for the wicked. If you want to make money, which to most of us is the most important thing out there we dont have time for vacation. Its for the lazy, unproductive and europeans

 

[Dragonlady]

In 40 years of working I took two one week vacations. My son has not had a vacation in 11 years. One place I worked had two weeks mandatory vacation. When my scheduled vacation days came up I already had a temp job lined up.

Some of my children's most cherished childhood memories were our vacations at our family cottages over the years. My older kids remember water skiing on Lake Erie and having to wash the sand off their feet coming in from the beach, or camping in the Provincial Park the year of the tent catipillar infestation. Our youngest learned to canoe in at our cottage in the Muskoka's and went tobaganning with her Dad down some of the mountain roads after a snowstorm.

I returned to my high-stress job relaxed and refreshed. Ready for the next round of 50 to 60 hour weeks. I loved my work and had great bosses, wonderful co-workers and beautiiful surroundings, but I work to live, I don't live to work. I have a family, friends and volunteer work within my community. Not everything is about making money.

Anyone who spends ALL of the life working is a fool. No one, on their deathbed, has ever said "I wish had spent more time working and less time with my family and friends".

 

[Dragonlady]

Your definition of WINNING is about as moral and healthy as Charlie Sheen's.

Just sayin'.

Employers who lay off workers and then buy an "executive retreat" for management employees that the workers who paid for it with 60 hour weeks are not allowed to use, deserve what they get. People who dump older, more expensive workers just so they can hire cheaper younger workers, lose a lot of expertise and skills. And thinking the guy they just fired is going to be willing to consult with them for free, it just plain laughable.

I find the idea that the company shot themselves in the foot and lost a lot of business when they let their most senior, most qualified employee go for no good reason other than to save a buck, very poetic justice. I think all bad bosses deserve the same.

I worked for one of the largest law firms on Bay Street in Toronto. That's like working on Wall Street in New York. 800 people in the firm, which was housed in one of the large banking towers at King & Bay. Best job I ever had, but as an aging hippy and a card carrying member of the Liberal Party, I felt like I had sold my soul to the devil going to work on Bay Street. The devil pays well, very well indeed. The devil also gives bonuses when you exceed your billable hours.

Overtime was paid at time and a half if we worked more than 7 hours in a day. If we worked past 7:00 p.m. the firm paid for our dinner. If we worked past 9:00 p.m. we received a taxi home. If we worked past midnight, we were paid double time. Registration of a condominium is like setting a big freight train in motion without any brakes. Within 60 days, we had to register all of the by-laws and management agreements, and start transferring titles, and we would do up to 20 of these per day. On the day we registered a condo, my husband would kiss me goodbye and say "See you when it's over" because he would be in bed when I got home until we were done.

In addition to these perks, we received annual bonuses based on billable hours (clerks bill but at a lower rate than lawyers), plus Christmas bonuses. Overtime and bonuses worked out to be nearly 20% of my base salary, which was already more money than I had ever earned before. Our firm had the highest number of billable hours per person on Bay Street and we were damn proud of that record.

The agency which placed me with this firm said "No one ever leaves. When we call to ask if they want to move, they laugh". Everybody who worked there felt valued and appreciated. The firm didn't call it "Secretary's Day", they called it "Staff Appreciation Day". My first year at the firm, they gave us all iPod's for Staff Appreciation Day.

And what did my employers get in return for their kindness and generosity? The highest number of billable hours per capita on Bay Street.

 

[anotherlife]

Your definition of WINNING is about as moral and healthy as Charlie Sheen's.

Just sayin'.

Employers who lay off workers and then buy an "executive retreat" for management employees that the workers who paid for it with 60 hour weeks are not allowed to use, deserve what they get. People who dump older, more expensive workers just so they can hire cheaper younger workers, lose a lot of expertise and skills. And thinking the guy they just fired is going to be willing to consult with them for free, it just plain laughable.

I find the idea that the company shot themselves in the foot and lost a lot of business when they let their most senior, most qualified employee go for no good reason other than to save a buck, very poetic justice. I think all bad bosses deserve the same.

I worked for one of the largest law firms on Bay Street in Toronto. That's like working on Wall Street in New York. 800 people in the firm, which was housed in one of the large banking towers at King & Bay. Best job I ever had, but as an aging hippy and a card carrying member of the Liberal Party, I felt like I had sold my soul to the devil going to work on Bay Street. The devil pays well, very well indeed. The devil also gives bonuses when you exceed your billable hours.

Overtime was paid at time and a half if we worked more than 7 hours in a day. If we worked past 7:00 p.m. the firm paid for our dinner. If we worked past 9:00 p.m. we received a taxi home. If we worked past midnight, we were paid double time. Registration of a condominium is like setting a big freight train in motion without any brakes. Within 60 days, we had to register all of the by-laws and management agreements, and start transferring titles, and we would do up to 20 of these per day. On the day we registered a condo, my husband would kiss me goodbye and say "See you when it's over" because he would be in bed when I got home until we were done.

In addition to these perks, we received annual bonuses based on billable hours (clerks bill but at a lower rate than lawyers), plus Christmas bonuses. Overtime and bonuses worked out to be nearly 20% of my base salary, which was already more money than I had ever earned before. Our firm had the highest number of billable hours per person on Bay Street and we were damn proud of that record.

The agency which placed me with this firm said "No one ever leaves. When we call to ask if they want to move, they laugh". Everybody who worked there felt valued and appreciated. The firm didn't call it "Secretary's Day", they called it "Staff Appreciation Day". My first year at the firm, they gave us all iPod's for Staff Appreciation Day.

And what did my employers get in return for their kindness and generosity? The highest number of billable hours per capita on Bay Street.

This story is VERY nice, but I wish all of it were generally true. From what I heard, in the 2002 dot-com bust, the endless laid-off engineers worked for free for over a year, only to "keep up their skills". Then they vanished. Then all competitor firms found themselves in the shoes of having lost their most experienced employees, so none of them retained an edge of expertise and so it didn't matter to them.

 

[JoeB131]

Every country is at a LEGISLATED vacation mandate of ~ 5 weeks per year, +/- 1 or 2, except the USA, where there is no vacation legislation for workers, and the ridiculously low 2 weeks is a "gift". Why are Americans so freakishly different again? And why do Americans love undercutting themselves this much?

I have four weeks of vacation and 11 holidays off a year, plus six sick days if I need them.

Try taking some responsibility for yourself.

"I've got mine, Fuck You!" The Republican Motto.

And why they keep losing elections.

 

[Skull Pilot]

You fucking lazy sheep now want a law stating that you don't have to work and that your employer has to pay you not to work for 6 weeks?

Unbelievable.

If you don't want to work then quit your fucking jobs.

 

[JoeB131]

You fucking lazy sheep now want a law stating that you don't have to work and that your employer has to pay you not to work for 6 weeks?

Unbelievable.

If you don't want to work then quit your fucking jobs.

Oh, my Gosh... employers will actually have to start treating their employees with dignity and respect.

Whatever is the world coming to?

 

[Skull Pilot]

I know it's a novel concept for a lazy fuck like you but you get paid for working not for sitting on your ass.

You know how much vacation I've taken in the past 5 years?

3 weeks and not more than 5 days at once and I'm doing just fine. So stop your fucking whining.

 

[Sunshine]

Every country is at a LEGISLATED vacation mandate of ~ 5 weeks per year, +/- 1 or 2, except the USA, where there is no vacation legislation for workers, and the ridiculously low 2 weeks is a "gift". Why are Americans so freakishly different again? And why do Americans love undercutting themselves this much?

Your vacation, like insurance, is part of your benefit package which is part of your pay. Vacation is carried on the books of the employer as an account payable and it comes out of their bottom line. The person offering the benefit gets to decide how much time off you get.

Beyond that, I know plenty of nurses, who once they realize what their earning power is work every hour they can cram in. I used to be one of them.

And the other reason: We aren't completely socialist. Yet.

 

[Sunshine]

I know it's a novel concept for a lazy fuck like you but you get paid for working not for sitting on your ass.

You know how much vacation I've taken in the past 5 years?

3 weeks and not more than 5 days at once and I'm doing just fine. So stop your fucking whining.

Because vacation is carried on the company books as an account payable, many employers have a 'use or lose' policy and will only allow you to carry a certain amount beyond which you will lose it. Others just pay you for it at the end of a certain time if you haven't used it. Either way it gets it off their books.

 

[Dragonlady]

I know it's a novel concept for a lazy fuck like you but you get paid for working not for sitting on your ass.

You know how much vacation I've taken in the past 5 years?

3 weeks and not more than 5 days at once and I'm doing just fine. So stop your fucking whining.

What arrogance. Another "I got mine, fuck you!" a$$hat who thinks that HE deserves his vacation but the rest of us are lazy shits who don't deserve it.

People are asking for two weeks of paid vacation, not six weeks. It was commented that some people in Europe get six weeks off not that people wanted or expected 6 weeks of paid vacation.

Any firm I've worked for offers 3 weeks vacation if you have more than 10 years experience, with 4 weeks after 5 years but that is a local standard for the legal industry. The government mandated vacation period is 2 weeks/4% of salary.

 

[boedicca]

And what are unemployment rates in Europe?

 

[Wry Catcher]

Every country is at a LEGISLATED vacation mandate of ~ 5 weeks per year, +/- 1 or 2, except the USA, where there is no vacation legislation for workers, and the ridiculously low 2 weeks is a "gift". Why are Americans so freakishly different again? And why do Americans love undercutting themselves this much?

Keep in mind that vacation days are finite, there are only so many days of vacation and the H of Rep. has used and uses the vast majority of these days every year. I say let them stay in session for 50 weeks a year, enjoy the same Federal Holidays as every other Federal Employee and require they pay the payroll tax.

If you've ever been to the Capital you've noticed the hall and restrooms are very clean making clear the custodial staff is more capable, competent and conscientious then any member of the current congress.

 

[Samson]

Funny, my private sector employer provides 4 weeks of vacation per year, plus 12 holidays - all without the government mandating it.

I had so much at my last job, I literally couldn't use it all. When I left, I cashed out like 2 months.

We just cashed out a couple of weeks. I went shopping.

On a serious note, when my husband was with this one company in Ontario, the head honchos over in Germany were always on vacation. Rog had to contact everyone at their vacation destinies just to keep the Canadian plant going.

It was wild. It was like "does anyone work over there"?

Europeans are famous for taking August off, high VAT, modest economic performance, and ignoring local genocidal maniacs.

 

[JoeB131]

I know it's a novel concept for a lazy fuck like you but you get paid for working not for sitting on your ass.

You know how much vacation I've taken in the past 5 years?

3 weeks and not more than 5 days at once and I'm doing just fine. So stop your fucking whining.

That just tells me you are a terrible manager, not that this surprises me.

Seriously, you apparently can't take any time off because the minute you take your eyes off of them, apparently the hired help are going to screw everything up.

You know, Good managers, and even some of the mediocre douchebags I've worked for, could actually take vacations because they could trust their people to do their jobs.

And the bad ones, when they took vacation, it was kind of a vacation for us because we could just do the job without the less than useful micromanagement.

A legend in his own mind...

 

[boedicca]

I had so much at my last job, I literally couldn't use it all. When I left, I cashed out like 2 months.

We just cashed out a couple of weeks. I went shopping.

On a serious note, when my husband was with this one company in Ontario, the head honchos over in Germany were always on vacation. Rog had to contact everyone at their vacation destinies just to keep the Canadian plant going.

It was wild. It was like "does anyone work over there"?

Europeans are famous for taking August off, high VAT, modest economic performance, and ignoring local genocidal maniacs.

Don't forget incredibly high unemployment.

 

[JoeB131]

I had so much at my last job, I literally couldn't use it all. When I left, I cashed out like 2 months.

We just cashed out a couple of weeks. I went shopping.

On a serious note, when my husband was with this one company in Ontario, the head honchos over in Germany were always on vacation. Rog had to contact everyone at their vacation destinies just to keep the Canadian plant going.

It was wild. It was like "does anyone work over there"?

Europeans are famous for taking August off, high VAT, modest economic performance, and ignoring local genocidal maniacs.

And they have less crime, less violence, a higher standard of living, a longer life expectency and a lower infant mortality rate.

 

[JoeB131]

Every country is at a LEGISLATED vacation mandate of ~ 5 weeks per year, +/- 1 or 2, except the USA, where there is no vacation legislation for workers, and the ridiculously low 2 weeks is a "gift". Why are Americans so freakishly different again? And why do Americans love undercutting themselves this much?

Your vacation, like insurance, is part of your benefit package which is part of your pay. Vacation is carried on the books of the employer as an account payable and it comes out of their bottom line. The person offering the benefit gets to decide how much time off you get.

Beyond that, I know plenty of nurses, who once they realize what their earning power is work every hour they can cram in. I used to be one of them.

And the other reason: We aren't completely socialist. Yet.

Don't worry, we are getting their, mostly because your heroes have made Captialism such a shit sandwich that no one wants to eat it.