7 ms·

I recently wrote a blog post about annual leave (vacation) entitlements around the world. [1] I cannot believe that the US does not have a federal legislation

I recently wrote a blog post about annual leave (vacation) entitlements around the world. [1] I cannot believe that the US does not have a federal legislation on annual holidays, but instead leaves it up to the employers to negotiate that with their employees. My wife once applied for a remote working position with a quote famous US company that actually wrote a book on remote working. They offered her a 'generous' 10 days vacation a year. Here in Australia, full time worker are by law to get 20 days annual leave and 10 days fully paid public holiday leave per year as a minimum. My feeling is that if there is no minimum quota set, then it is open to pressure from above to ignore and abuse it. My tip? Move to Iran or Cambodia ;) [1] [1] - http://blog.hrpartner.io/holiday-leave-around-the-world/ http://blog.hrpartner.io/holiday-leave-around-the-world/

thearn4 10y ago
> I cannot believe that the US does not have a federal legislation on annual holidays, but instead leaves it up to the employers to negotiate that with their employees. It's odd considering US federal employees have leave policies that most closely resemble what you see in the rest of the developed world. It's the private sector that seems to be in a race to the bottom in the last few decades.
- cyberferret 10y ago
  Thanks for clarifying the point re: federal government department employees. What are avenues for US based employees to seek arbitration in cases like the OP, where leave entitlements and agreements are abused? What if someone had to take time off to, say, care for a sick family member and they had 'n' days leave owing to them and their employer would not let them take it? Can there be some non legal industrial mediation, or must they take it to court?
  - brianwawok 10y ago
    Anything like this and and you are on the bad side if your work. I.e. no promotion ever. Best bet is to Glassdoor and leave.
- kasey_junk 10y ago
  Most of those employees are covered by collective bargaining agreements negotiated by a union.
  - massysett 10y ago
    US federal employees have leave and holiday policies that are set by law. It has nothing to do with anything negotiated by a union. Full-time feds get 10 paid holidays a year, 13 days sick leave with unlimited carryover, and 13, 20, or about 28 days of annual leave (as we call it) depending on years of service. Maximum carry-over on annual leave is 240 hours.
- zacharycohn 10y ago
  Federal employees accrue 4 hours of paid annual leave per pay period (two weeks) for their first six years of federal service. That comes out to thirteen days a year. After six years, it becomes six hours a pay period. After I think fifteen or seventeen years, it becomes 8 hours. So while federal leave maxes out close to what the rest of the world has, it takes a long time to get there.
  - thearn4 10y ago
    True, but I think a key thing for us is that annual leave (which has a carry-over cap) is accrued separately from sick leave (which has no cap). That is, our annual leave is actual bonafide vacation time. In many workplaces in the U.S., employees have no paid sick leave at all.
    - bbcbasic 10y ago
      That's also by law in Australia. Ten days sick leave. Twenty annual leave.
cauterized 10y ago
One thing that's worth noting is that most US white-collar jobs DO come with at least 5 and more commonly ~10 paid holidays per year. They're in addition to the vacation days quoted and are so taken for granted that employers don't bother mentioning them. (Things are different for many blue collar workers, since Americans expect services to be available even - or especially - on holidays.) I've yet to hear of a white collar employer that didn't grant New Year's Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas Day. Presidents Day, MLK Day, Columbus Day, the day after Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, and New Year's Eve are also common (the latter three because at least half your employees will take them as vacation days anyway, so they're not very productive.) At an office with a decent culture, upper management will often grant an additional couple of paid holidays just because of timing (and because heck, they want to spend a long weekend with their families too!). If Christmas falls on a Weds or Independence Day on a Tues, you'll also get Monday off. If that holiday falls on a Thurs, you'll get Friday off too. The holidays obviously don't make up for the ridiculously low number of vacation days we get, but they may be part of a miscommunication for non-Americans working for US companies, if in other countries the number of paid holidays is typically explicitly stated in an offer. If you're ever uncertain about what holidays you'd get in a job, ask. But 10 days being "generous" is bullshit anywhere I've worked.

thearn4 10y ago

> I cannot believe that the US does not have a federal legislation on annual holidays, but instead leaves it up to the employers to negotiate that with their employees. It's odd considering US federal employees have leave policies that most closely resemble what you see in the rest of the developed world. It's the private sector that seems to be in a race to the bottom in the last few decades.

cyberferret 10y ago
Thanks for clarifying the point re: federal government department employees. What are avenues for US based employees to seek arbitration in cases like the OP, where leave entitlements and agreements are abused? What if someone had to take time off to, say, care for a sick family member and they had 'n' days leave owing to them and their employer would not let them take it? Can there be some non legal industrial mediation, or must they take it to court?
- brianwawok 10y ago
  Anything like this and and you are on the bad side if your work. I.e. no promotion ever. Best bet is to Glassdoor and leave.
kasey_junk 10y ago
Most of those employees are covered by collective bargaining agreements negotiated by a union.
- massysett 10y ago
  US federal employees have leave and holiday policies that are set by law. It has nothing to do with anything negotiated by a union. Full-time feds get 10 paid holidays a year, 13 days sick leave with unlimited carryover, and 13, 20, or about 28 days of annual leave (as we call it) depending on years of service. Maximum carry-over on annual leave is 240 hours.
zacharycohn 10y ago
Federal employees accrue 4 hours of paid annual leave per pay period (two weeks) for their first six years of federal service. That comes out to thirteen days a year. After six years, it becomes six hours a pay period. After I think fifteen or seventeen years, it becomes 8 hours. So while federal leave maxes out close to what the rest of the world has, it takes a long time to get there.
- thearn4 10y ago
  True, but I think a key thing for us is that annual leave (which has a carry-over cap) is accrued separately from sick leave (which has no cap). That is, our annual leave is actual bonafide vacation time. In many workplaces in the U.S., employees have no paid sick leave at all.
  - bbcbasic 10y ago
    That's also by law in Australia. Ten days sick leave. Twenty annual leave.

cauterized 10y ago

One thing that's worth noting is that most US white-collar jobs DO come with at least 5 and more commonly ~10 paid holidays per year. They're in addition to the vacation days quoted and are so taken for granted that employers don't bother mentioning them. (Things are different for many blue collar workers, since Americans expect services to be available even - or especially - on holidays.) I've yet to hear of a white collar employer that didn't grant New Year's Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas Day. Presidents Day, MLK Day, Columbus Day, the day after Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, and New Year's Eve are also common (the latter three because at least half your employees will take them as vacation days anyway, so they're not very productive.) At an office with a decent culture, upper management will often grant an additional couple of paid holidays just because of timing (and because heck, they want to spend a long weekend with their families too!). If Christmas falls on a Weds or Independence Day on a Tues, you'll also get Monday off. If that holiday falls on a Thurs, you'll get Friday off too. The holidays obviously don't make up for the ridiculously low number of vacation days we get, but they may be part of a miscommunication for non-Americans working for US companies, if in other countries the number of paid holidays is typically explicitly stated in an offer. If you're ever uncertain about what holidays you'd get in a job, ask. But 10 days being "generous" is bullshit anywhere I've worked.