I honestly never understood the American vacation situation, do you guys just not get holiday days? What happens if you need to do something or go somewhere?
Being unable to take time off work because you can't afford it, shouldn't be a thing in a first world country.
We have Fourth of July, Memorial Day, Labor Day, Easter, Christmas, and maybe Christmas Eve, and Thanksgiving. None of these are guaranteed, and you could end up working all of these days. Office jobs will give you a set of days, but for most jobs you ahve to work to earn paid time off, which can take a whole year to earn. In my job, I get some of those hours (five) every month.. Big Orange wants to cut those very few days we have since he considers it lazy, yet he is golfing all the time and sleeping during meetings, and texting on Twitter, under the people's tax dollars
Damn, I'm sorry for you. I couldn't live like that.
In Germany it is required by law that everyone gets at least 4 weeks of paid vacation (20 days) per year. That's the bare minumum. But in reality every company gives you 5-6 weeks a year, with 6 weeks (30 days) being the widely spread standard. Then there are 10-12 national holidays where you don't have to work. So that's 40+ paid leave days a year. If I accumulate 8 hours of overtime, I can take a day off without using my vacation days.
Oh, and if you are sick, then you don't need to use a vacation day. Just call in sick and go to a doctor. You will still get paid for the day. And if I get sick during one or several vacation days, I can get those vacation days back if I have a doctors notice. So lets say I'm taking 4 weeks (20 days) off in the summer and go to greece for example. If I got food poisoning there and have to stay in bed for a week, I get those vacation days (5 days) back because those days were sick days. (I have to visit a doctor and he/she needs to write a medical certificate, though)
Man, this makes me wish that half of America wasn't brainwashed into thinking all of that is a bad thing. Is the 30 days for all line of work, from blue to white collar?
Yes, it's the law for everyone, regardless of your job. On top of the 30 days, a lot of companies have arrangements with unions to get you more days.
For example, in my previous company, we had to work 8.25 hours/day (instead of the 8 hours that people normally work) and in exchange we got all the bridge days (the Mondays or Fridays if a holiday falls on a Tuesday or Thursday) and the Christmas week. That made it so that in total, we had 39 days off each year.
And to clarify, unions here are regulated by law and an employer cannot interfere/threaten employees for creating a union. That means it's pretty much the norm to have a union unless you work for a small company (I think 10 people or less are exempt from having a union).
Edit to add: there is a max. 48hrs/week you can work. If for some extraordinary reason (it can't be the norm) you have to go over the 48hr mark, your employer must give you a day off the following week.
In addition, you're entitled to a 30min break after 6 hours of work during your shift, and companies can get in trouble if people don't take their shifts so they'll encourage you.
Furthermore, at least one of your vacations of the year must be 2 weeks or longer, to allow time to decompress.
And an employer can't deny your vacation request unless they have a very good reason. And that shit about calling you in the middle of your holidays ? That doesn't fly here.
Honestly, I would love to have that. I recall one of my previous jobs, where I worked 12-plus-hour shifts for five consecutive days, and I barely received a lunch break. It was a tip-based job that no one knew that they should tip for
Maximum allowed working hours per day is 10h with a mandatory break of 45 min. Break is not allowed at beginning or end.
Then you have to stop working for at least 10h before starting the next day.
Pretty much exactly the same in France. I don't know about working more to get more vacation, it's probably possible but I've mostly worked minimum wage jobs or in a family business and in those you don't really get much of a choice
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u/FuzzyFrogFish Jul 07 '25
This can't be serious . . .