mm

With the uncertainty of today's economy and the poor political leadership in the U.S. many people are insecure about their jobs.

I never use up all my vacation days (3 weeks per year) because if I get laid off I can cash in my unused days. This is just a tiny bit more money in my pocket if I need it. Granted, taking time off from work be it to travel or just relax at home is wonderful and I wish I did more of it.

Also, as has been pointed out the vast majority of Americans are employed by small businesses which do not provide the same type of comprehensive benefits most larger corporations provide. I work for a Fortune 500 company but my brother for example works as a real-estate agent and has no benefits at all, including health insurance!

mm

soccr

Turn the whole thing upside down and look at the underbelly for a minute. If you work in a system that prizes working hard above all else, which ours does (and many would argue the Japanese system outdoes ours), what you may get in many instances is a lot of effort devoted to creating work or even just looking busy, not only on the individual level but corporate-wide. Efficiency may well take a backseat to energy-output: working hard instead of working smart.

Indeed, if you manage to find ways to streamline what you're doing to give yourself some downtime, you'll either be fired or given more work. Enter downsizing. Corporations wring more and more work out of people, declare labor costs the enemy, and Lord help you if you are a middle-level paperpusher who wasn't seen at your desk at 7 pm one night. Or, gasp, actually took vacation time.

If it sounds Dickensian, it is. And I always think of this treadmill when I eavesdrop on the roadwarriors in airports, on their cellphones defending turf, proposing more meetings, insisting that they need "facetime" with someone at some distant city (instead of phonetime).

As for getting more money for working harder? The cleaning staff who clean one exec. house in the morning, another in the afternoon, and an office building at night work very hard, but they don't exactly get elite frequent flyer status for their next - unpaid - vacation.

ilovetulips

MagicRat, Unfortuntely for a great number of Americans this is true. My husbands jobs is much like mine when I worked in healthcare full time. You accrue about 8 hours every 2 weeks and this Paid time off is to be used for vacation, sick days and holidays. You have to monitor how much time you take because you don't know when you or a family member could get sick and you have to save some time for Christmas, Thanksgiving and any other holiday that you would like to be home. I work for a school district so I am home from late May to early August but I also still work as needed at our local hospital to make extra money. We even have some friends and family that have so much paid time accumulated that they must take days here and there to be accumulating it. Many American employees feel so busy that they don't think they can leave work for vacation or anything else for that matter. I am very proud to be an American but I think that the Europeans maintain a better quality of life on that front.

suzanne

My BF, who works for a typical NYC law firm, has been given 4 weeks/year since he started at his firm. However, he has never taken more than 2 weeks a year, and more often takes only 5 days off or less! And it's NOT because he loves his job...it's because it is extremely frowned upon to take vacations, and, more importantly, because his annual bonus and raise is directly dependent on hours worked. So taking an extra week off is like saying goodbye to $30K! I see SO many NYers go through this, working late nights and every weekend just because of the promise of extra cash (which - guess what - doesn't always come) and see their relationships, minds and bodies wasting away. It's just sad.

I am very PRO-vacation and would gladly accept less pay for more vacation days...if I could!

audreyh1

I work for a mental health agency. Only one person here is a workalcholic and that would be my boss. For the most part some people that have the time don't take it. I think that they don't have anything better to do. They think I am crazy because I am always going somewhere. I am 30 and single. When they take time it is to make home repairs. I don't think they love to work I think they do not know how to enjoy life. I use all my vacation and sometimes have to take leave without pay. I don't mind I am happy and well rested.

pegelicious

MagicRat,

Corporate America is no longer merely Dickensian. It is now Orwellian. Every keystroke is monitored. I risk my job by writing this response, while I wolf down my lunch, at my desk, during a 10-minute break. And I am a (comparatively) highly paid, non-management professional.

Don't forget the bias inherent in this Forum--the "majoirty of Americans" are not necessarily represented here. The people who work all the retail/service sector jobs, are, in many instances, intentioanlly kept at just under 40 hours--with a bare mimium of benefits, if any at all, and those do not include paid vacation. Fodorites: next time you eat out, ask your server if they have 10 days paid vacation.

I'm not making a judgment orgetting into the politics of economics, it's simply a matter of perspective--I have found that the average college- educated, professional American that I know, and work with, has little understanding of how the working class actually lives, even though they may live down the street from them. To wit: the service workers union breaking from the AFL-CIO--it's a very different climate ou there for the "new" working class, millions and millions of them. And the old rules no longer apply.

Here's a question: All of you who were space-age babies, do you ever feel like no-one delivered on the goods? It's the 21st century, for pete's sake. Where's my jet-pack? Where's my 30-hour work week?.....just a little food for thought.

Poohgirl

I have to agree with Pege. In my case I'm very lucky. Where I work, I am able to take vacation almost whenever I want, and after working for the same company for 21 years I've earned quite a bit of vacation time (by American, not European standards). Since I'm unmarried with no kids, I have less day-to-day expenses than many. My main boss is a total workaholic, but he's not a psycho about it - he appreciates vacation time for me, at least. However, after having worked in another department in the same company for many years, I had a hard time being able to take more than two days off consecutively. And since I'm single with no kids, what on earth did I need free time for anyway? My experience says that it can often be a matter of luck. I know there are a lot of people who work harder than I do for less money who don't get much vacation, have difficulty getting time off, or not being able to afford "true" get-away types of vacations. I have no problem with hard work, but for God's sake, there's more to life than that!!

ncgrrl

At my job, I'm given my vacation and sick time on January 1 and if I don't use it by December 31, it's gone.

I earn 3 weeks of vacation and it's getting tougher to take more than a couple of days at a time because of the work waiting for me when I return.

I'm hourly (and glad for it, salaried people here work way too much) but I can not longer earn overtime/comp time. Sure some people are putting 40 hours on their timesheet and working more, but that is illegal. Management keeps saying don't do that, but . . .

And I doubt in Europe there are bumper stickers that say "he who dies with the most toys wins!" In our greed is good, keep up with the Joneses, get the newest version of something even though last year's version is just fine, we keep working longer hours. Esp. if it's billable.

Soccr and pegelicious bring out good points. How much 'change for change's sake' is there in Europe. Look busy, NEVER say you have a free moment.

JJ5

I agree with you, pegelicious. Especially about this forum being very "unrepresentative" of the average American.

I personally don't feel the angst you describe over not getting the "promise".
It's partially because of coming from a Chicago Southside and immigrant background, and I am probably not peer average in any sense. But ALL of us worked and worked hard from 14 onwards, most times two jobs and service jobs like you describe. Your "Orwellian" corporate atmosphere is rough, but doesn't come close to standing cutting a ham for 11 hours before you go to class or shop for a family. Nor laying cement foundations, doing service calls for truck tire emergencies on the Dan Ryan at 3 in the morning, or working salt trucks all winter in Chicago.

Kal

I had a little over 50 days of paid vacation "in the bank" for 2005.

Yep...I guess I'm a "workaholic" who never goes anywhere.
8-)

mikemo

When I was working full time, we partners took between 4 - 10 weeks a year off.
I semiretired in Sept '94 and worked 27 -37 weeks a year until Sept '03 and have been retired since then. I'm nearly 61.
M

Binthair

M: But I bet your average week might have been longer than 40 hours, and you didn't get paid time-and-a-half by Medicare! And let us not forget about weekends worked.

BTilke

Yes, it's true. I had jobs that gave me as little as one week vacation (after working a year!). But OTOH, the last full time job I had in the U.S. (as a reporter with a medical mag publisher) gave me 3 weeks paid vacation and closed down for the week between Christmas and New Year. So in reality, I had four weeks of paid vacation after my first year with them, which is not usual.

mingtsainy

I'm a college professor so I teach only in the Spring and Fall semesters. I generally get ~1 month off in the winter. It starts after the final exams, which is usually the week before X'mas and runs through the second Monday in January, which is Martin Luther King's birthday, I think. I also get ~3 months off in the summer.

But this summer, I started working as a consultant three days/week. The corporate culture here is very different from university life. The work days are LONG and everyone is very competitive, even within the same organization/office.

I miss having my 3-month vacation!! But this is good experience for me, plus extra income. God, I've become such a slave to $$$ -- something I had promised I would never become.

elizabeth_reed

I know a lot of people who don't use much of their vacation time, for various reasons. Some have no life outside the office, some don't need to travel to see family, some are tied to a huge work load. The professional staff where I work receive 16 hours per month, with a small percentage of unused that can be carried to the next year.

I'm on a scale and am at the level of 14 hours per month (will max out at 16 after 8/06). I, too, can carry a small percentage into the next year. I use everything that I can't carry over. I cut it so close that I might/might not be working on Dec. 31.

I also receive 8 hours/month for sick leave. What a godsend! I've known people who've taken 2-3-4 months of accrued sick leave for surgeries, chemo, recovery from heart attacks, etc.

fairfax

I have worked for non-profit organizations for about 20 years, and have found that in lieu of a high salary, they tend to be generous with vacation time.

I am now working in the UK and in the two offices where i have worked, the attitude at work is so different from the US. People roll in at about 9:30, have tea, work a while, have 11's (tea), then lunch about 1-ish, more tea at about 3-ish and then rocket out at 5:30... Even where I am now, it's mandatory to take two tea breaks during the day. if you don't go, it's frowned upon... And i get six weeks vacation! don't know when or how I will affford to use it all!

justme22

i started out with 12 vac. days per year and 3 personal days (meaning you didn't have to explain why you were off at the last minute, vacation days require permission)

peronal days could be for a funeral etc... after 20 years at my job i now get 25 days vacation, still 3 personal days

i use about 18 days each year, a week to ski in the winter, a two week vacation somewhere, and one or two long weekends. i can only carry over what i earn and i lose personal days not used.

25 days is the maximum, i can't get anymore and still see another 10 to 15 years til i can retire. oh well, it's more than a lot of people get in a whole career. but i can't remember ever using up my vacation time in one year.

greenfieldhunter

I have never recieved a single "paid" vacation day in my life.

cfntmpn

I have to make a comment regarding "ask your server if they have 10 days pd vaca". My husband and I were as corporate as could be (banking & insurance) before we bought our restaurant. Never before have I ever in my life seen such poor work habits as in restaurant employees.

I have discussed this with several owners, so please do not judge me - it is very typical for restaurant employees to only WANT to work 20-25 hours a week. The busiest time of my year is may-september and i have to literally BEG people to work during this time - the time that they can make $300-$350 per night.

The mindset is so off of corporate that unless you have worked management in the restaurant/retail industry, you can't even understand it.

So for those who feel sorry for the "underpaid service workers" think about this. I have 4 waitresses who work 4 nights a week (24 hours max) and bring home $30K CASH. No, they don't have benefits, yes, I pay them $3.65 an hour - but you know what???? They don't want anymore than what they are making - otherwise they could have it in a heartbeat. They simply WILL NOT work anymore than their schedule!

And yes, I am a CMP outside of owning my restuarant - so I travel all of the time and make it a vaca whenever my DH can joint me...works out great! We are probably on vaca at least 4 weeks out of the year, not including 2/3 day jaunts to the beach, or flying somewhere fun to see a concert and then flying home. We believe we work hard, so we play hard!

cfc

cfntmpn, I daresay your waitstaff is 30 or younger, childless and probably not even married, have opted out of education at some point, and perhaps have the idea that some other activity in life is their reason for being -- art, acting, hanging out, etc. I'd be very surprised if the ones who are older, and especially those with children, would turn down work. I think you have a skewed sample, and I'm guessing the others you have conferred with in the same industry have the same skew. The younger workers, particularly those who aren't after a career and therefore are trying to pick up a few bucks "off the grid" are the ones likely to take these jobs. I'm not surprised if they are terribly unreliable -- I've seen how they tend to treat your customers and they clearly have other priorities.