4 ms·

That may be true but here, in Europe (esp. Eastern), many people go years without taking more than few days of vacation. One, you're discouraged to take time of

by odiroot 15y ago

That may be true but here, in Europe (esp. Eastern), many people go years without taking more than few days of vacation. One, you're discouraged to take time off -- you can lose your job if you're not "devoted". Two, you have to work over capacity to support yourself and your family.

gst 15y ago
I guess that depends on the country. Here in Austria it's the norm to take all 5 weeks of holidays you get each year. If you don't take all of them you can either roll them over to the next year or have your unused days "paid for" by the employeer. In addition, unused holidays don't really expire. So if you or your employeer terminates the contract, you have the right to be paid for _all_ unused holidays that accumulated during the period of the contract. That's the reason why most employees force you to really take all of your 5 weeks each year. Edit: Seems that I was wrong and that unused holidays expire after a few years. Still, each employer I've worked for so far "forced" its employees to really take their 5 weeks of vacation.
toyg 15y ago
Well, in Britain the regime is usually fairly generous, with 24 days + 8 national holidays (guaranteed to be working days) being the norm for middle-class jobs and IT. We already know about France. Italy, last I checked, had an average of 20 days + 13 national holidays, with teachers being famous for their 3-months summer break (which in practice is little more than a month, but anyway). Yes, there is always pressure about choosing the right time for the business or public service, but at the end of the day it's a right and if you don't exercise it you're entitled to a lot of extra money -- which is why employers are keen on people actually taking time off.
munchhausen 15y ago
> One, you're discouraged to take time off -- you can lose your job if you're not "devoted". I don't know that this is the case in many European countries, including Eastern Europe (at least the part of it that is in the EU). First of all, in most (all?) EU countries all workers get 4 weeks paid vacation minimum. If you do not use up all of it, your employer can offer you to "carry over" the vacation to the next year. If they do not offer you that option then they are obliged to "force" you to go on vacation after it becomes clear that you will not use up all of your vacation days. Some employers will offer to instead compensate you extra for the vacation days you did not use up - this is legal in some EU countries only. > Two, you have to work over capacity to support yourself and your family. I'm sorry to be so blunt, but this just doesn't make a lot of sense, since those mandatory 4 weeks of vacation are paid vacation - i.e. you get paid the same amount you would receive had you been working instead of being on vacation. Just about the only reason why you could potentially make less money due to vacation is if you regularly do a lot of overtime (which you obviously cannot do while on vacation).
DrCatbox 15y ago
Not strictly Eastern Europe (was never part of Warsaw pact, had hostile relations to Soviet Union) but the former Yugoslavian countries today are in this seat: Slovenia enjoys vacation time like during Yugoslavian times, which means 4-5 weeks at least plus holidays. Croatia took a more capitalist route and altough workers still enjoy socialist benefits such as 1 hour per day payed for their lunch, and holidays off, the vacation time has been decreased while working time increased (10-12 hours per day are common). Bosnia has large unemployment but the holidays+vacation are intact for the public offices, while for private employees get 1 or 2 weeks off per year. Serbia is in a similar position. Yugoslavia Socialism -> 4-5 weeks at least, plus all religioous holidays and all communist free days. Capitalism -> 1-2 weeks maximum, religious on, communist off.
- rospaya 15y ago
  IIRC both Croatia and Slovenia provide 20 days minimum and the rest negotiated wuth employers. If in a union that mostly means 3 or 4 weeks. In Croatia the country shuts down during the summer.

by odiroot 15y ago

gst 15y ago

I guess that depends on the country. Here in Austria it's the norm to take all 5 weeks of holidays you get each year. If you don't take all of them you can either roll them over to the next year or have your unused days "paid for" by the employeer. In addition, unused holidays don't really expire. So if you or your employeer terminates the contract, you have the right to be paid for _all_ unused holidays that accumulated during the period of the contract. That's the reason why most employees force you to really take all of your 5 weeks each year. Edit: Seems that I was wrong and that unused holidays expire after a few years. Still, each employer I've worked for so far "forced" its employees to really take their 5 weeks of vacation.

toyg 15y ago

Well, in Britain the regime is usually fairly generous, with 24 days + 8 national holidays (guaranteed to be working days) being the norm for middle-class jobs and IT. We already know about France. Italy, last I checked, had an average of 20 days + 13 national holidays, with teachers being famous for their 3-months summer break (which in practice is little more than a month, but anyway). Yes, there is always pressure about choosing the right time for the business or public service, but at the end of the day it's a right and if you don't exercise it you're entitled to a lot of extra money -- which is why employers are keen on people actually taking time off.

munchhausen 15y ago

> One, you're discouraged to take time off -- you can lose your job if you're not "devoted". I don't know that this is the case in many European countries, including Eastern Europe (at least the part of it that is in the EU). First of all, in most (all?) EU countries all workers get 4 weeks paid vacation minimum. If you do not use up all of it, your employer can offer you to "carry over" the vacation to the next year. If they do not offer you that option then they are obliged to "force" you to go on vacation after it becomes clear that you will not use up all of your vacation days. Some employers will offer to instead compensate you extra for the vacation days you did not use up - this is legal in some EU countries only. > Two, you have to work over capacity to support yourself and your family. I'm sorry to be so blunt, but this just doesn't make a lot of sense, since those mandatory 4 weeks of vacation are paid vacation - i.e. you get paid the same amount you would receive had you been working instead of being on vacation. Just about the only reason why you could potentially make less money due to vacation is if you regularly do a lot of overtime (which you obviously cannot do while on vacation).

DrCatbox 15y ago

Not strictly Eastern Europe (was never part of Warsaw pact, had hostile relations to Soviet Union) but the former Yugoslavian countries today are in this seat: Slovenia enjoys vacation time like during Yugoslavian times, which means 4-5 weeks at least plus holidays. Croatia took a more capitalist route and altough workers still enjoy socialist benefits such as 1 hour per day payed for their lunch, and holidays off, the vacation time has been decreased while working time increased (10-12 hours per day are common). Bosnia has large unemployment but the holidays+vacation are intact for the public offices, while for private employees get 1 or 2 weeks off per year. Serbia is in a similar position. Yugoslavia Socialism -> 4-5 weeks at least, plus all religioous holidays and all communist free days. Capitalism -> 1-2 weeks maximum, religious on, communist off.

rospaya 15y ago
IIRC both Croatia and Slovenia provide 20 days minimum and the rest negotiated wuth employers. If in a union that mostly means 3 or 4 weeks. In Croatia the country shuts down during the summer.