4 ms·

Is 2-3 weeks off a normal amount of time in the US? I get 28 days off per year in the UK, which is around the standard amount.

by oakesm9 12y ago

shawabawa3 12y ago
> I get 28 days off per year in the UK, which is around the standard amount. 28 is the legal minimum in the UK, however that includes bank holidays. You probably actually have 36 including bank holidays
- vonmoltke 12y ago
  It is also worth pointing out that the American posters are only referring to discretionary vacation time. Most US companies have eight or so fixed holidays in addition.
  - vidarh 12y ago
    In Europe we very rarely count public holidays in vacation time - you can generally assume that most of the numbers listed in this discussion from Europeans is discretionary vacation time that comes in addition to 8 (UK) to 15 (Finland) or so public holidays (though not all countries mandate time off or time in lieu for public holidays). I'm in the UK, and have 25 days discretionary holiday, plus 8 days of public holidays
CalRobert 12y ago
Outside tech (which is dripping with privilege) it's common to have 0-2 weeks of vacation in the US. There is no legal minimum, and I've had jobs offering 0, 1, and 2 weeks of vacation. In some cases you can take time off and simply not be paid for it.
- organsnyder 12y ago
  Not only that, but many employers aren't required to offer maternity leave (let alone paternity leave). My wife has had to combine accrued vacation time, sick days, and unpaid leave just to get to six weeks of maternity leave.
  - zelos 12y ago
    That's pretty crazy. Do many companies actually tend to provide maternity leave as a benefit? It makes a bit of a joke of gender equality in the workplace, IMHO.
    - organsnyder 12y ago
      U.S. employers above a certain size are required by the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) to provide some unpaid maternity/medical leave. Small employers (such as where my wife works) are exempt from any requirement, and it varies according to the employer and what the job market requires (i.e. not much for most fields). Also, part-time workers receive absolutely zero protection. The United States is incredibly backward in this regard (among many others). Combined with our lack of support for childcare (tax breaks are meaningless when you're not making enough money), it's no wonder that we're well behind most of the rest of the world when it comes to workforce participation rates for women. In my experience, most white-collar jobs tend to provide two weeks of paid vacation, a week or so of personal/sick days, and—if they're generous—some [mp]aternity leave (I get one week at my current job). Due to the labor market, tech jobs tend to be more generous, but even the most generous policies by US standards tend to fall short of the minimum required policies in more enlightened nations.
    - rudolf0 12y ago
      Many companies do provide maternity leave, many (but fewer) also provide paternity leave, but companies below a certain size are not federally required to provide either (though I believe there are some arrangements where you can take unpaid maternity leave but legally can't be fired during your maternity leave).
      - jacalata 12y ago
        It sounds like you're thinking of the Family Medical Leave Act, which doesn't apply to everyone.
  - csorrell 12y ago
    When my daughter was born I chose to stay home for 2 weeks to be with my new family. I was working a shit job without PTO and ended up having to take out a loan to cover living expenses for the missed time. The whole thing still leaves a bitter taste for me... Paternity leave would have been a great relief.
- smackfu 12y ago
  >Outside tech (which is dripping with privilege) it's common to have 0-2 weeks of vacation in the US. I have to disagree. Maybe outside of white-collar work. But "tech" is not all of white-collar. Most people who work in offices for big companies get good vacation time.
  - johnward 12y ago
    Yes but there are still a lot of people who receive no vacation time and there is no law saying that employees have to get a minimum amount of time off.
  - CalRobert 12y ago
    I disagree as well. Of course, "good" is subjective but this doesn't look great: (from http://www.bls.gov/news.release/ebs.t05.htm http://www.bls.gov/news.release/ebs.t05.htm) Table 5. Average paid holidays and days of vacation and sick leave for full-time employees in small private establishments, 1996 Professional, All technical, Clerical Blue-collar Leave category full-time and and sales and service employees related employees(2) employees(3) employees(1) Paid holidays................... 7.6 8.5 7.7 7.0
    - CalRobert 12y ago
      Sorry, I didn't catch that this data is for small establishments and you specifically said big. I can't immediately find this data from the BIS so disregard it if you like.
    - smackfu 12y ago
      For professional, technical, and related employees, it looks like starting at two weeks and moving up to three or four after some time is the most common, which agrees with my experience.
barrkel 12y ago
10 days is the normal amount of time as a new employee, not including bank holidays. Often increases with tenure (rather than seniority). Some companies are more enlightened than others, however.
rmc 12y ago
(Broadly) there is no legal requirement for paid holidays in the USA. About 25% of employees don't get paid holidays. The USA is shockingly backward compared to EU when it comes to employment rights.

Is 2-3 weeks off a normal amount of time in the US? I get 28 days off per year in the UK, which is around the standard amount.

by oakesm9 12y ago

Is 2-3 weeks off a normal amount of time in the US? I get 28 days off per year in the UK, which is around the standard amount.

shawabawa3 12y ago

> I get 28 days off per year in the UK, which is around the standard amount. 28 is the legal minimum in the UK, however that includes bank holidays. You probably actually have 36 including bank holidays

vonmoltke 12y ago
It is also worth pointing out that the American posters are only referring to discretionary vacation time. Most US companies have eight or so fixed holidays in addition.
- vidarh 12y ago
  In Europe we very rarely count public holidays in vacation time - you can generally assume that most of the numbers listed in this discussion from Europeans is discretionary vacation time that comes in addition to 8 (UK) to 15 (Finland) or so public holidays (though not all countries mandate time off or time in lieu for public holidays). I'm in the UK, and have 25 days discretionary holiday, plus 8 days of public holidays

CalRobert 12y ago

Outside tech (which is dripping with privilege) it's common to have 0-2 weeks of vacation in the US. There is no legal minimum, and I've had jobs offering 0, 1, and 2 weeks of vacation. In some cases you can take time off and simply not be paid for it.

organsnyder 12y ago
Not only that, but many employers aren't required to offer maternity leave (let alone paternity leave). My wife has had to combine accrued vacation time, sick days, and unpaid leave just to get to six weeks of maternity leave.
- zelos 12y ago
  That's pretty crazy. Do many companies actually tend to provide maternity leave as a benefit? It makes a bit of a joke of gender equality in the workplace, IMHO.
  - organsnyder 12y ago
    U.S. employers above a certain size are required by the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) to provide some unpaid maternity/medical leave. Small employers (such as where my wife works) are exempt from any requirement, and it varies according to the employer and what the job market requires (i.e. not much for most fields). Also, part-time workers receive absolutely zero protection. The United States is incredibly backward in this regard (among many others). Combined with our lack of support for childcare (tax breaks are meaningless when you're not making enough money), it's no wonder that we're well behind most of the rest of the world when it comes to workforce participation rates for women. In my experience, most white-collar jobs tend to provide two weeks of paid vacation, a week or so of personal/sick days, and—if they're generous—some [mp]aternity leave (I get one week at my current job). Due to the labor market, tech jobs tend to be more generous, but even the most generous policies by US standards tend to fall short of the minimum required policies in more enlightened nations.
  - rudolf0 12y ago
    Many companies do provide maternity leave, many (but fewer) also provide paternity leave, but companies below a certain size are not federally required to provide either (though I believe there are some arrangements where you can take unpaid maternity leave but legally can't be fired during your maternity leave).
    - jacalata 12y ago
      It sounds like you're thinking of the Family Medical Leave Act, which doesn't apply to everyone.
- csorrell 12y ago
  When my daughter was born I chose to stay home for 2 weeks to be with my new family. I was working a shit job without PTO and ended up having to take out a loan to cover living expenses for the missed time. The whole thing still leaves a bitter taste for me... Paternity leave would have been a great relief.
smackfu 12y ago
>Outside tech (which is dripping with privilege) it's common to have 0-2 weeks of vacation in the US. I have to disagree. Maybe outside of white-collar work. But "tech" is not all of white-collar. Most people who work in offices for big companies get good vacation time.
- johnward 12y ago
  Yes but there are still a lot of people who receive no vacation time and there is no law saying that employees have to get a minimum amount of time off.
- CalRobert 12y ago
  I disagree as well. Of course, "good" is subjective but this doesn't look great: (from http://www.bls.gov/news.release/ebs.t05.htm http://www.bls.gov/news.release/ebs.t05.htm) Table 5. Average paid holidays and days of vacation and sick leave for full-time employees in small private establishments, 1996 Professional, All technical, Clerical Blue-collar Leave category full-time and and sales and service employees related employees(2) employees(3) employees(1) Paid holidays................... 7.6 8.5 7.7 7.0
  - CalRobert 12y ago
    Sorry, I didn't catch that this data is for small establishments and you specifically said big. I can't immediately find this data from the BIS so disregard it if you like.
  - smackfu 12y ago
    For professional, technical, and related employees, it looks like starting at two weeks and moving up to three or four after some time is the most common, which agrees with my experience.

barrkel 12y ago

10 days is the normal amount of time as a new employee, not including bank holidays. Often increases with tenure (rather than seniority). Some companies are more enlightened than others, however.

rmc 12y ago

(Broadly) there is no legal requirement for paid holidays in the USA. About 25% of employees don't get paid holidays. The USA is shockingly backward compared to EU when it comes to employment rights.