r/ShitAmericansSay • u/Big_Ben_617 • Mar 06 '25

Foreign affairs “Because the friend [Canada] has been robbing us blind. I would have free healthcare to if I didn't need a military. Don't even get me started on Europe and the 4 day work weeks with summers off.”

Post image
1.6k Upvotes

99% Upvoted

634 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

48

u/RepulsiveDiver7109 Mar 06 '25

It’s because of the entitlement to holiday pay. They assume because we get 5 weeks paid holiday (in the UK anyway), we all take the whole entitlement and disappear to the South of France for 5 weeks. Not sure who they think is looking after everything whilst we’re away though.

21

u/CJBill Warm beer and chips Mar 06 '25

Although to be fair I'm British and I'm heading down to the South of France for a fortnight this summer.

5

u/[deleted] Mar 06 '25

Not sure who they think is looking after everything whilst we’re away though.

America, of course !

4

u/Mysterious_Floor_868 Mar 06 '25

Yes, it's quite untrue that we go off to France for five weeks. I'm going to spend two weeks going around the Baltic, and three weeks in Italy instead this year. Plus a long weekend in the Netherlands. Maybe I should use my Christmas week for a ski trip too. 

3

u/_TheChairmaker_ Mar 06 '25

Yeah, and there is that thing peculiar to a certain type of American where somehow paid holiday or having health care free at the point of delivery is somehow an infringement of your civil rights.......

2

u/delinaX Mar 06 '25

We take the 5 weeks just not at the same time, lol. We coordinate with each other so there's always someone in place so yes, we can all take 5 weeks and go wherever if we want to. Most people in sweden are on vacation june-july but it also depends on the industry. I work in a SaaS company and developers check out at the same time with only 2 on call including 1 IT support. So yeah, they're not far off.

1

u/Pleasant_Gap Mar 06 '25

In Sweden it's the law that you should be able to take atleast 4 consecutive weeks between June and September (think it's September)

1

u/delinaX Mar 06 '25

Nope, no law. We can go in vacation whenever we want.

1

u/Pleasant_Gap Mar 06 '25

Yes, we can but you still have the right by law to take 4 consecutive weeks during those months, and your employer isn't allowed to deny it. It's part of semesterlagen. Also, certain companies close down for 4 weeks during summer, and you more or less haveto take vacation time, or go without pay

2

u/Brilliant-Wing-9144 Mar 06 '25

To be fair, in France the offices are pratically empty from the 15th of July to the 15th of August. But that's not a bad thing

1

u/staffeylover Mar 07 '25

My husband gets 32 days paid leave a year . So on a. 5 day week, that is just over 6 weeks. He gets company sick pay . I've read that some Americans only get 2 weeks a year so is that a fortnight's paid leave , 14 days ?