Vacation/free days in your countries

I work for a state college and I get 90 hours of sick leave along with 12 days (96 hours) of vacation time. I do not get any more based on my length of service, but I can save my hours up to about 500 sick hours and 250 vacation hours.

Of course, I also get an extra 2 weeks at Christmas and a week at Spring Break in addition to all of the normal holidays.

I am the exception rather than the rule, I get FAR more time than most.

 

I work for a non-profit organization that is run by New Zealanders; so their employee policies are largely based on European models. I get 25 days a year to use as I choose, be it sick days, vacations days or personal days. We also get 13 paid holidays a year. They also pay 100% of all health benefits.

I consider it quite good.

 

I am going to start working for a large consultancy firm in the U.S. where I will have 23 days off for vacation, sick leave, etc. and 7 paid holidays.

I currently work for a software company where I have 15 vacation days, 10 paid holidays and unlimited sick days (I never take any sick days).

 

It is a shame that in this rich land the average worker gets so little vacation.

Saphan, you will find that the average poster on this board is highly educated and gets more vacation than most. They also have health insurance.

Some of them, therefore ,could care less about the vacation time, health care, vacation, pay or living standard of others. They have inculcated conservative versions of Christianity and economics that convince them that not only is this state of affairs natural and necessary, but moral.

In this country only the upper class has class consciousness, which enables them to shape political and economic policies that benefit that class more than in almost any other developed country. The upper class has wielded their power so effectively that they have even convinced many of the working class of the naturalness of the present system.

 

Wow, you guys have a lot of vacation time. I work for a school reform foundation. I started off with 8 days of vacation and 8 days of sick time. My vacation time will increase incrementally to the point that after 10 years I will have 20 days each year.

 

By vacation days I mean paid days that are not official holiday breaks like Thanksgiving or Labor day.

 

When I was in Gemany, I had 6 weeks (30 days) paid vacation, and my wife even had 7 weeks+. I believe people in those Northern European countries also have about 6 weeks. North America and Japan are by far the worst, I think. I only have 15 days here in Canada, which makes me think twice each time I want a day off, and plan well ahead of my vacation.

 

I work for a state college also and I get what I accrue in sick leave and vacation based on longevity. I don't get Spring Break off. We are under Texas Retirement System... do you work for a Community College or something?

 

I'm self-employed, so I can take as much or as little vacation as I want.

Of course, if I don't work, I don't get paid either.

 

There are generally 3 types of paid time-off days in corporate America. You get holidays (for example, Christmas, New Year's, Thanksgiving, etc.). Typical workers in corporate America (in particular those that are not in academics or federal employment) generally get 6-10 paid holidays per year. You get vacation time which is generally tied to the length of time you have been with a company. For example, you may get 1 week AFTER you've been with a company for 1 year, 2 weeks after 5 years, 4 weeks after 10 years, etc. Some companies allow employees to start accruing vacation immediately so that after a couple of months of work, they have a day or two of paid vacation. At others, you must work for 6 months or a year before getting any paid time off. Some companies also offer sick days where you accrue perhaps 1 week of sick time per year up to a maximum of 2-4 weeks.

Currently I get 5 weeks of paid vacation per year, 8 company holidays, 2 personal holidays and some amount of sick time (in the 19 years I have been at my current job, I have taken 2 sick days - 1 to have surgery on my wrist and 1 due to a supposed ulcer attack). We can maintain a maximum of 240 hours of vacation time and then we no longer accure it until we get below 240. We can maintain a maximum of 160 hours of sick time. If you don't use your 2 personal holidays per year you lose them.

The above comments are based on full-time employment. Part-time employees may or may not get similar benefits. It's up to the company. For example, my wife is part time and works 2-3 days a week. She gets 0 paid vacation days, holidays and sick days.

 

Fed here...

10 Federal holidays.

4 hours of sick leave every 2 weeks.

8 hours of annual (vacation) leave every 2 weeks... that's the highest rate that kicks in after 12 years in service. From years 1-3, you get 4 hours and years 4-12 you get 6.

If you have over 240 hours of annual leave, you have to use it before the end of the year. Thus, because I usually work all Spring and Summer, I typically end up taking off most of the days between Thanksgiving and New Year's and still carrying over close to 240.

 

What a slacker.

 

own my own business. we only earn money when lawyers are billing hours.

having said that, working with guys who value family more than money is a good thing. i'm fortunate enough to be in that situation.

in addition...technology allows me to bill hours even when i'm away from the office.

 

Yes. It really feels that way when I spend a good chunk of June-September away from the family and sleeping in a tent.

 

I knew it! I knew it! I knew it!

Everytime i see a lawyers bill i just KNOW i've been paying for his posting on a bbs or watching some horse race something...

 

Even worse. You get to go on a 3-4 month camping trip every year.

 

i just billed you 1/4-hour for reading this post.

 

(billing is easy. collections -- not so much!)