Author here. Definitely didn't mean to condescend. I used "like a European" as short-hand for, "this is an employee who regularly chooses to take off far more t

Author here. Definitely didn't mean to condescend. I used "like a European" as short-hand for, "this is an employee who regularly chooses to take off far more time than the typical American would generally be expected to take off". This section of the article was meant to speak directly to management who may be concerned about using this policy due to this particular possibility. The following text is attempting to answer their concerns. That is, don't worry so much about this. Rather, judge the results, as you should be anyway.