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I may put my foot in my mouth but is the weekend considered a holiday? You get a 100 days off a year just from that + the 2 weeks or whatever that most professi

I may put my foot in my mouth but is the weekend considered a holiday? You get a 100 days off a year just from that + the 2 weeks or whatever that most professionals get which make up the bulk of hackernews readers. I know in some other countries like the middle east, they operate more like what the writer of this article suggests. They work weekends but they get many many more random holidays.

celeritascelery 3y ago
> is the weekend considered a holiday? That was my thought as well. I get ~104 days off a year, not counting other holidays. I honestly feel like that is a pretty good balance. Obviously I want some other days off when I want to do something that takes more then 2 days, but I would rather have those as vacation days then mandated federal holidays.
- xeromal 3y ago
  Aye, in my experience federal holidays are a catch 22. Everything is closed so you can't do anything and if everything isn't closed then people are working. lol. With holidays, you can go do stuff. That said, I usually do nature things on federal holidays. Went offroading this 4th for instance.
- basscomm 3y ago
  Maybe it's different for you, but, for nearly everyone I've ever known, most weekends are not true days off. Weekends are where I work on things in my personal life (yard work, home maintenance, etc) that I can't get done any other time because I've sold the majority of my waking hours to my employer. Unless something has gone wrong, I generally don't do any work on holidays.
asutekku 3y ago
Weekends are not holidays and should not be considered at such. It's insane for me, a European, that people in the US are really fine with just 2 weeks of holidays. I get 30 days + I can exchange some of my yearly bonus for 2 extra weeks. There's no way I'd change that into a system where most would be ok with way less.
- FanaHOVA 3y ago
  These European comments are so tiring. You’re lucky that your job has very good time off, but 30 days aren’t a European requirement and people in many countries in Europe don’t get 30 days.
- staringback 3y ago
  This is offset by wages being 2-3x (or even more) higher in professional fields. Lower income tax generally as well, so US professionals take home much greater pay in lieu of more holidays.
  - SketchySeaBeast 3y ago
    But what percent of the work force is in a professional field? And is that true of all professions or is this another software bubble?
    - mrmlz 3y ago
      I'd say its true for the majority of engineering work at least. I saw and ad for a Waffle-house manager with a salary range of 50-55k year. That's about what I earn as a engineer in Sweden (pre-tax).
- cj 3y ago
  Is 30 days including holidays like Christmas, New Years Eve/Day, etc? Or is 30 days in addition to mandated holdiays? Most people in the US have 2 tiers of vacation days: mandatory holidays (I'd say between 8-14 mandatory holidays is pretty standard at tech companies) plus an additional 3-4 weeks (15-20 days). For most engineers in the US, something like 10 holidays + 3 additional weeks (or more) can be expected for a minimum total of 25 days. Plus 3-5 "sick/personal" days brings you up to roughly 30 days.
  - Shaanie 3y ago
    30 days in addition to national holidays, at least in my country. Those national holidays are something like 6-9 days extra paid time off (exact amount varies per year as some can occur on weekends).
darod 3y ago
The author said medieval peasants ONLY worked 150 days a year. The average US worker is probably closer to 240-(8hr?) days a year of work. If you work more than 8 then I'm sure this figure would decrease. Additionally there are only so many hours that you can concentrate on a problem before you're useless yet we try to press on.
- kemotep 3y ago
  Only working 150 days a year probably left a lot of time to go fight in one of those wars, peasant uprisings, and the crusades that were going on.
  - bovermyer 3y ago
    I'll dig into the history of leisure in the medieval period. In the mean time, though... consider. If you earned the same amount as you do now, but only worked 150 days a year (and even then, only maybe 4-6 hours per day), what would you do with your free time?
    - kemotep 3y ago
      I would have a lot more free time? I don’t understand the question. If I didn’t work at all but lived off of passive income due to an inheritance or investments, I would have even more free time. I could probably live to the same standards of living as a medieval peasant working only 90 (potentially less) days a year for a significant pay cut of what I make currently. A wood stove, no electricity or running water, an outhouse, etc. the tent I could afford today to camp in would be luxurious compared to a peasant’s home.
- Aunche 3y ago
  >The author said medieval peasants ONLY worked 150 days a year. They worked 150 days on the field. Their other time was occupied with chores.
NoMoreNicksLeft 3y ago
Historically (in Europe), I think we can count half the weekend... Sunday was generally a day of rest, no?
jdechko 3y ago
For me, weekends are a time to get things done that can’t be done during the week after work/school. And from a certain point of view, they are still “work” days, except I’m working for myself instead of a company. Compare that to a vacation where I don’t have those same responsibilities.
shadowgovt 3y ago
> is the weekend considered a holiday People who got shot by federal troops and Pinkertons while delaying mail trains until the railroad would come to the negotiating table are gonna say "no."

celeritascelery 3y ago

> is the weekend considered a holiday? That was my thought as well. I get ~104 days off a year, not counting other holidays. I honestly feel like that is a pretty good balance. Obviously I want some other days off when I want to do something that takes more then 2 days, but I would rather have those as vacation days then mandated federal holidays.

xeromal 3y ago
Aye, in my experience federal holidays are a catch 22. Everything is closed so you can't do anything and if everything isn't closed then people are working. lol. With holidays, you can go do stuff. That said, I usually do nature things on federal holidays. Went offroading this 4th for instance.
basscomm 3y ago
Maybe it's different for you, but, for nearly everyone I've ever known, most weekends are not true days off. Weekends are where I work on things in my personal life (yard work, home maintenance, etc) that I can't get done any other time because I've sold the majority of my waking hours to my employer. Unless something has gone wrong, I generally don't do any work on holidays.

asutekku 3y ago

Weekends are not holidays and should not be considered at such. It's insane for me, a European, that people in the US are really fine with just 2 weeks of holidays. I get 30 days + I can exchange some of my yearly bonus for 2 extra weeks. There's no way I'd change that into a system where most would be ok with way less.

FanaHOVA 3y ago
These European comments are so tiring. You’re lucky that your job has very good time off, but 30 days aren’t a European requirement and people in many countries in Europe don’t get 30 days.
staringback 3y ago
This is offset by wages being 2-3x (or even more) higher in professional fields. Lower income tax generally as well, so US professionals take home much greater pay in lieu of more holidays.
- SketchySeaBeast 3y ago
  But what percent of the work force is in a professional field? And is that true of all professions or is this another software bubble?
  - mrmlz 3y ago
    I'd say its true for the majority of engineering work at least. I saw and ad for a Waffle-house manager with a salary range of 50-55k year. That's about what I earn as a engineer in Sweden (pre-tax).
cj 3y ago
Is 30 days including holidays like Christmas, New Years Eve/Day, etc? Or is 30 days in addition to mandated holdiays? Most people in the US have 2 tiers of vacation days: mandatory holidays (I'd say between 8-14 mandatory holidays is pretty standard at tech companies) plus an additional 3-4 weeks (15-20 days). For most engineers in the US, something like 10 holidays + 3 additional weeks (or more) can be expected for a minimum total of 25 days. Plus 3-5 "sick/personal" days brings you up to roughly 30 days.
- Shaanie 3y ago
  30 days in addition to national holidays, at least in my country. Those national holidays are something like 6-9 days extra paid time off (exact amount varies per year as some can occur on weekends).

darod 3y ago

The author said medieval peasants ONLY worked 150 days a year. The average US worker is probably closer to 240-(8hr?) days a year of work. If you work more than 8 then I'm sure this figure would decrease. Additionally there are only so many hours that you can concentrate on a problem before you're useless yet we try to press on.

kemotep 3y ago
Only working 150 days a year probably left a lot of time to go fight in one of those wars, peasant uprisings, and the crusades that were going on.
- bovermyer 3y ago
  I'll dig into the history of leisure in the medieval period. In the mean time, though... consider. If you earned the same amount as you do now, but only worked 150 days a year (and even then, only maybe 4-6 hours per day), what would you do with your free time?
  - kemotep 3y ago
    I would have a lot more free time? I don’t understand the question. If I didn’t work at all but lived off of passive income due to an inheritance or investments, I would have even more free time. I could probably live to the same standards of living as a medieval peasant working only 90 (potentially less) days a year for a significant pay cut of what I make currently. A wood stove, no electricity or running water, an outhouse, etc. the tent I could afford today to camp in would be luxurious compared to a peasant’s home.
Aunche 3y ago
>The author said medieval peasants ONLY worked 150 days a year. They worked 150 days on the field. Their other time was occupied with chores.

NoMoreNicksLeft 3y ago

Historically (in Europe), I think we can count half the weekend... Sunday was generally a day of rest, no?

jdechko 3y ago

For me, weekends are a time to get things done that can’t be done during the week after work/school. And from a certain point of view, they are still “work” days, except I’m working for myself instead of a company. Compare that to a vacation where I don’t have those same responsibilities.

shadowgovt 3y ago

> is the weekend considered a holiday People who got shot by federal troops and Pinkertons while delaying mail trains until the railroad would come to the negotiating table are gonna say "no."