Interesting article. I'm taking two weeks of vacation in August and I actually feel a little guilty about it--even though I'm a freelancer and will be bringing work with me.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/T...index.html

(CNN) -- Let's be blunt: If you like to take lots of vacation, the United States is not the place to work.

Besides a handful of national holidays, the typical American worker bee gets two or three precious weeks off out of a whole year to relax and see the world -- much less than what people in many other countries receive.

And even that amount of vacation often comes with strings attached.

Some U.S. companies don't like employees taking off more than one week at a time. Others expect them to be on call or check their e-mail even when they're lounging on the beach or taking a hike in the mountains.

"I really would like to take a real, decent vacation and travel somewhere, but it's almost impossible to take a long vacation and to be out of contact," said Don Brock, a software engineer who lives in suburban Washington.

"I dream of taking a cruise or a trip to Europe, but I can't imagine getting away for so long."

The running joke at Brock's company is that a vacation just means you work from somewhere else. So he takes one or two days off at a time and loses some vacation each year. Only 57% of U.S. workers use up all of the days they're entitled to, compared with 89% of workers in France, a recent Reuters/Ipsos poll found.

Brock's last long holiday was more than 10 years ago, when he took a two-week drive across the country.

'Americans work like robots'

It's a totally different story in other parts of the world.

Nancy Schimkat, an American who lives in Weinheim, Germany, said her German husband, an engineer, gets six weeks of paid vacation a year, plus national holidays -- the norm. His company makes sure he takes all of it.

It's typical for Germans to take off three consecutive weeks in August when "most of the country kind of closes down," Schimkat said. That's the time for big trips, perhaps to other parts of Europe, or to Australia or North America. Germans might also book a ski holiday in the winter and take a week off during Easter.

Schimkat's family back in the United States teases her that she's spoiled. But when she tells Germans that workers in the U.S. usually get two weeks of vacation a year, they cringe.

"They kind of have this idea that Americans work like robots and if that's the way they want to be, that's up to them. But they don't want to be like that," Schimkat said.

"[Germans] work very hard, but then they take their holiday and really relax. ... It's more than just making money for Germans, it's about having time for your family and it's about having time to wind down."

No legal obligation to offer vacation

So what's going on here?

A big reason for the difference is that paid time off is mandated by law in many parts of the world.

Germany is among more than two dozen industrialized countries -- from Australia to Slovenia to Japan -- that require employers to offer four weeks or more of paid vacation to their workers, according to a 2009 study by the human resources consulting company Mercer.

Finland, Brazil and France are the champs, guaranteeing six weeks of time off.

...

The article is long; click the link at the top for all of it.

I currently get four weeks of paid vacation/year and will go to five weeks on November 1, when I will have been with the company for 20 years. Even with that, I still buy a week (ie, take a week of unpaid leave) every year.

I told my boss that, even when I go to 5 weeks, I'll still buy a week. He said, "How can you take all that vacation time? " and I replied, "Watch me!"

The problem in Europe is that they're going broke mandating those vacations (and all their other benes).

I read this yesterday.

I really think it’s sick how little the US values vacation and time away from work. I’m lucky that I get 4 weeks + 4 days paid vacation a year, but I had to work at the same company for 10 years to get that. I’ll be hitting 15 years this year and won’t receive any extra. I would easily use 6 weeks a year (as is standard in other countries) and wouldn’t feel the slightest bit guilty. Time away from work is positively necessary for good health.

If I were a law maker I’d make vacation mandatory. We require workers to be allowed breaks during a shift, we should be requiring paid vacation allowance as well.

I took 4 weeks in a row last year (basically the month of November) and felt no guilt whatsoever.

The only thing that sucked was using almost NO vacation in the year leading up to it so I'd have enough time banked to use all together.

Genesia said:

I currently get four weeks of paid vacation/year and will go to five weeks on November 1, when I will have been with the company for 20 years. Even with that, I still buy a week (ie, take a week of unpaid leave) every year.

I told my boss that, even when I go to 5 weeks, I'll still buy a week. He said, "How can you take all that vacation time? " and I replied, "Watch me!"

The problem in Europe is that they're going broke mandating those vacations (and all their other benes).

I'd totally buy a week every year if that were an option to me!!

I think unless you are doing some extended travelling or having a stay-cation and doing work around the house, most people would get bored with taking off 6 weeks at one time..

This year is my seventh with my current employer and my first with four weeks paid vacation. I intend to use it all. Even if it's just for staycation.

It's the first time I've had more than two weeks vacation a year at any job ever.

sextonseven said:

This year is my seventh with my current employer and my first with four weeks paid vacation. I intend to use it all. Even if it's just for staycation.

It's the first time I've had more than two weeks vacation a year at any job ever.

I've been at my company for 14+ years and I get the max vacation at 6 weeks and that is RARE in the USA. Most places you have to work there a full year before you even get one year...then you are stuck at one year for a couple years, then you get 2 weeks. ugh!

ours is use it or lose it so...I take it all...or atleast I try. I end up taking fridays off or mondays or after a holiday I'll tack on a day or 2. My husband only gets one week a year so, most of my time off is alone or with the kids taking day trips and such. I went on a cruise last april but that's the only real vacation I've ever had.

I am currently on two weeks vacation.

It's hard to get myself prepared for the time off. I have to work like crazy to get things in order. There are meetings happening and I have to arrange for someone else to go instead of me.

But then it seems like I get back and not a single thing has happened while I was gone

I've always thought the ideal length for a vacation would be three weeks. That way, you'd have a week to forget about work, a week to fret about going back to work - and one week of pure bliss in the middle.

tinaz said:

I think unless you are doing some extended travelling or having a stay-cation and doing work around the house, most people would get bored with taking off 6 weeks at one time..

I think it takes at least two weeks for your soul and body to realize that you are on vacation, and another two weeks to finally enjoy it and reap the benefits. My shortest vacations are at least two weeks long and my maximum were three months, and I would have loved to extend that. I didn´t get bored at all.People in France and Sweden have even more vacation time than Germany.

Vacation isn´t everything in life and I think I wouldn´t really NEED six weeks or more if I lived in a place like, say, Hawaii or Miami, but if I had to live in a colder climate or big city that is not close to the sea I would definitely need at least six weeks a year or I´d be gone with the swiftness.

I could never live in the Midwest permanently if I only had two weeks vacation per year edit.

[Edited 5/24/11 13:09pm]

KoolEaze said:

tinaz said:

I think unless you are doing some extended travelling or having a stay-cation and doing work around the house, most people would get bored with taking off 6 weeks at one time..

I think it takes at least two weeks for your soul and body to realize that you are on vacation, and another two weeks to finally enjoy it and reap the benefits. My shortest vacations are at least two weeks long and my maximum were three months, and I would have loved to extend that. I didn´t get bored at all.People in France and Sweden have even more vacation time than Germany.

Vacation isn´t everything in life and I think I wouldn´t really NEED six weeks or more if I lived in a place like, say, Hawaii or Miami, but if I had to live in a colder climate or big city that is not close to the sea I would definitely need at least six weeks a year or I´d be gone with the swiftness.

I could never live in the Midwest permanently if I only had two weeks vacation per year edit.

It's obvious you haven't spent any appreciable time in the midwest. We do have seas - they're called The Great Lakes.

[Edited 5/24/11 13:41pm]

Genesia said:

KoolEaze said:

I think it takes at least two weeks for your soul and body to realize that you are on vacation, and another two weeks to finally enjoy it and reap the benefits. My shortest vacations are at least two weeks long and my maximum were three months, and I would have loved to extend that. I didn´t get bored at all.People in France and Sweden have even more vacation time than Germany.

Vacation isn´t everything in life and I think I wouldn´t really NEED six weeks or more if I lived in a place like, say, Hawaii or Miami, but if I had to live in a colder climate or big city that is not close to the sea I would definitely need at least six weeks a year or I´d be gone with the swiftness.

I could never live in the Midwest permanently if I only had two weeks vacation per year edit.

It's obvious you haven't spent any appreciable time in the midwest. We do have seas - they're called The Great Lakes.

[Edited 5/24/11 13:41pm]

Minnesota is known as the land of 10,000 lakes. There are more miles of shoreline here than California, Florida and Hawaii combined. And we border the largest of the great lakes, Lake Superior - the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface area (3rd largest by volume).

The most I take of vacation time is usually two or sometimes three days a year and when I do take then, I just stay at home because it's good to not have to get up and go to work those days. As for going on an actual vacation out of town, what's that? Vacations out of town cost money and I ain't got it.

I accumulate four hours of vacation time with each paycheck which is semimonthly. I don't ever have to take the hours if I don't want to because I don't lose them at the end of the year. They just continue to build over the years and if I ever quit or get fired, I get paid for all the vacation hours I accumulated over the years.

Wait a minute, I forgot about that misunderstanding I had with the accumulation of vacation hours. If I quit or get fired, I only get paid for so many of those accumulated hours and I lose the rest. I keep forgetting about that. I just recently found out about that when a coworker retired after 28 years and she didn't just leave. She took a vacation for months and months and months before she retired. Hell, I've got hundred of hours my damn self. I keep meaning to take some but it's never the right time.

.

.

.

[Edited 5/24/11 14:45pm]

CarrieMpls said:

Genesia said:

It's obvious you haven't spent any appreciable time in the midwest. We do have seas - they're called The Great Lakes.

Minnesota is known as the land of 10,000 lakes. There are more miles of shoreline here than California, Florida and Hawaii combined. And we border the largest of the great lakes, Lake Superior - the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface area (3rd largest by volume).

Between lakes, rivers and "flowages," there's a ton of water in Wisconsin and Minnesota. And lots of them in Wisconsin are spring fed - they're just clear as can be and absolutely gorgeous.

my husband works at walmart now for 7 years, and has 3 weeks paid vacation.

CarrieMpls said:

I took 4 weeks in a row last year (basically the month of November) and felt no guilt whatsoever.

The only thing that sucked was using almost NO vacation in the year leading up to it so I'd have enough time banked to use all together.

So glad you did.

because it's a feudalist society.

I just got my first ONE WEEK of paid vacation!!

it's a ridiculous far cry from the mandatory 6 weeks paid that I used to get in Germany...

sextonseven said:

This year is my seventh with my current employer and my first with four weeks paid vacation. I intend to use it all. Even if it's just for staycation.

It's the first time I've had more than two weeks vacation a year at any job ever.

Good for YOU!

To be honest when I told my family how late you work and how little time you could take off, they just shook their heads and sighed It's awful really that you get no overtime or equal time in lieu like we would here.

I had loads of time off when I was working as an English teacher. The holidays kids get here are so long it's amazing. Between high school years they get 2 months off, plus another month halfway through the year. Then there are all the public holidays. For example, during the first 3 weeks of this month there have been 4 days I would've had off, on the 2nd, 5th, 13th and 17th. Not every month is like that, of course, but on average I would think it's more than 1 day off per month.

[Edited 5/24/11 21:25pm]

It's ridiculous. At my previous job (government), you could accrue a lot, but once you went over a certain number of hours you had to "use it" within a certain amount of time or you'd "lose it." When I resigned I had 5 weeks plus another 2 weeks of comp time and those bastards had to pay me for every minute of it. The thing that has been the case for me (until just recently) was that my salaries were also too low for me to actually be able to go anywhere real for a vacation. At my current job, I technically get 2 weeks, but the office is also closed for a week in August and again between christmas and New Year's. The other people at my company never take vacation and they make you feel guilty if you take off more than a day or two in a row. It's really annoying.

my friend is a writer on a TV show, he said he gets like 5 months off!! But he works 16 hour days when he is on.

That is a tough tradeoff.

My husband has worked for Chrysler for 17 years. He only gets 3 weeks off a year. Really it's only like one week, because they shut down every summer for two weeks for machine repair and whatnot and make they employees use their vacation time for the shutdown.

tinaz said:

I think unless you are doing some extended travelling or having a stay-cation and doing work around the house, most people would get bored with taking off 6 weeks at one time..

I think thats true for most and also very sad.

I'm in the UK and get 5 week paid as standard, and also the company I work for gives you the option to buy and additional 5 days - which I have done for the last 3 years - and believe I need every day of that!

One of the reasons I got out of broadcasting was that there were so many vacation "blackout dates" due to ratings sweeps. If you were an on-air "regular," you couldn't take vacation, at all, during February, May, July and November. And during times when vacation was allowed, it was allotted by seniority. So I (as a youngster) had to wait until everyone else had decided when they were going to take vacation - and fill in while they were gone. At my last job, there were four people who were senior to me. So by the time they took their vacations, we were back in sweeps again. I almost never got a day off.

It is such a luxury to be able to take vacation whenever I want - and to stay home when I'm sick. That's why I use all my time. Well...that and the fact that we can't roll it over, anymore.

Neophyte said:

I'm in the UK and get 5 week paid as standard, and also the company I work for gives you the option to buy and additional 5 days - which I have done for the last 3 years - and believe I need every day of that!

I love the "buy" option, too. There are people at my workplace who think I'm crazy to forgo a week of pay - but I really like having that addition time. And I honestly think reducing my pay by that much may have saved me from being laid off a couple times.

CarrieMpls said:

sextonseven said:

This year is my seventh with my current employer and my first with four weeks paid vacation. I intend to use it all. Even if it's just for staycation.

It's the first time I've had more than two weeks vacation a year at any job ever.

A trip to Minneapolis in the near future is mandatory now.