4 ms·

It's called paid vacation in Europe and all citizens have the right to at least 4 weeks per year. I hope this boon arrives to the whole of USA one day, together

It's called paid vacation in Europe and all citizens have the right to at least 4 weeks per year. I hope this boon arrives to the whole of USA one day, together with paternal holidays, free education and other modern achievements that are standard here. I don't mean to be inflammatory here, it really boggles my mind how a week off is even a thing we're discussing here.

allannienhuis 5y ago
pretty sure that they're talking about giving an EXTRA week of time off on top of whatever normal PTO/vaction time they have.
- dvfjsdhgfv 5y ago
  Of course, but for all we know this extra week could be the only paid vacation they have since for some reason in the USA there is no concept of mandatory paid vacation.
  - flavius29663 5y ago
    > for all we know If you had any idea on how US orgs work, you wouldn't say that. First, just because the government doesn't impose something, it doesn't mean companies can't do it. In fact, companies so much more for their employees than the government dictates. It's the same for minimum wage: the federal government might be stuck at 7.25, but in practice low pay jobs are more than that: Walmart was 11 last time I checked, Amazon 15 etc. Most US tech workers have around 20 days of PTO. Paid medical leave is a bit trickier: some companies don't give it to you so it comes out of PTO. Some companies require a doctor's note. Some don't require anything. Some require a note after 10 days....it varies a lot. And this is where the US could step up a bit and acknowledge humans do get sick every now and then, and cover for that.
    - dvfjsdhgfv 5y ago
      > Most US tech workers have around 20 days of PTO Do you have any source for that? My limited research[0] shows it's closer to 15 - and sometimes, as you say, this includes sick days. It can't be compared to Europe where you have 4 weeks, guaranteed, for any industry, plus sick days - and many cou. Fortunately WfH greatly reduced the strain reduced with working in the office (commuting, open spaces, not being able to use your time more efficiently), but for non-office workers the problem still remains: you spend your life working and you barely have time to even stop and think why you're doing all this. Family life suffers, Cat's Cradle and all. It's all really wrong. [0] https://www.advanced-hr.com/vcReport/2016-Sequoia-Benchmarking-Report-AHR.pdf https://www.advanced-hr.com/vcReport/2016-Sequoia-Benchmarki...
Rebelgecko 5y ago
This is different than paid vacation and has some pros and cons. Obviously it doesn't have the flexibility of 1 week you can use whenever you want. But closing the company for a week forces people to take the time off (some people just accumulate as much vacation as they can, either because they don't like taking it or because in some states you'll get cash for unused vacation). Making EVERYONE take the same week also helps avoid the existential dread of taking vacation because you feel burnt out, then coming back to a pile of 500 unread emails

allannienhuis 5y ago

pretty sure that they're talking about giving an EXTRA week of time off on top of whatever normal PTO/vaction time they have.

dvfjsdhgfv 5y ago
Of course, but for all we know this extra week could be the only paid vacation they have since for some reason in the USA there is no concept of mandatory paid vacation.
- flavius29663 5y ago
  > for all we know If you had any idea on how US orgs work, you wouldn't say that. First, just because the government doesn't impose something, it doesn't mean companies can't do it. In fact, companies so much more for their employees than the government dictates. It's the same for minimum wage: the federal government might be stuck at 7.25, but in practice low pay jobs are more than that: Walmart was 11 last time I checked, Amazon 15 etc. Most US tech workers have around 20 days of PTO. Paid medical leave is a bit trickier: some companies don't give it to you so it comes out of PTO. Some companies require a doctor's note. Some don't require anything. Some require a note after 10 days....it varies a lot. And this is where the US could step up a bit and acknowledge humans do get sick every now and then, and cover for that.
  - dvfjsdhgfv 5y ago
    > Most US tech workers have around 20 days of PTO Do you have any source for that? My limited research[0] shows it's closer to 15 - and sometimes, as you say, this includes sick days. It can't be compared to Europe where you have 4 weeks, guaranteed, for any industry, plus sick days - and many cou. Fortunately WfH greatly reduced the strain reduced with working in the office (commuting, open spaces, not being able to use your time more efficiently), but for non-office workers the problem still remains: you spend your life working and you barely have time to even stop and think why you're doing all this. Family life suffers, Cat's Cradle and all. It's all really wrong. [0] https://www.advanced-hr.com/vcReport/2016-Sequoia-Benchmarking-Report-AHR.pdf https://www.advanced-hr.com/vcReport/2016-Sequoia-Benchmarki...

Rebelgecko 5y ago

This is different than paid vacation and has some pros and cons. Obviously it doesn't have the flexibility of 1 week you can use whenever you want. But closing the company for a week forces people to take the time off (some people just accumulate as much vacation as they can, either because they don't like taking it or because in some states you'll get cash for unused vacation). Making EVERYONE take the same week also helps avoid the existential dread of taking vacation because you feel burnt out, then coming back to a pile of 500 unread emails