Strange things you're not used to

[*julez* 124]

Wel, I just "celebrated" my tenth year with the bank I work for. I have 25 vacation days, 1 floating holiday, 8 sick days and all the national holidays off. Not a bad gig if you can handle the boringness of the job!

good times, what the heck is a floating holiday???

A floating holiday is granted when a bank holiday falls on a Saturday, so you get to make up for missing that holiday by taking another day off when it suits you!

[BabyBlueSusie 1]

Wel, I just "celebrated" my tenth year with the bank I work for. I have 25 vacation days, 1 floating holiday, 8 sick days and all the national holidays off. Not a bad gig if you can handle the boringness of the job!

good times, what the heck is a floating holiday???

A floating holiday is granted when a bank holiday falls on a Saturday, so you get to make up for missing that holiday by taking another day off when it suits you!

that is simply awesome

[*julez* 124]

Wel, I just "celebrated" my tenth year with the bank I work for. I have 25 vacation days, 1 floating holiday, 8 sick days and all the national holidays off. Not a bad gig if you can handle the boringness of the job!

good times, what the heck is a floating holiday???

A floating holiday is granted when a bank holiday falls on a Saturday, so you get to make up for missing that holiday by taking another day off when it suits you!

that is simply awesome

I know! Its stuff like that that keeps me working for this bank!

[melusine 5]

yeah that does happen... my sweet who is working at the same private company for 11 yrs have 8 weeks vacations a year if i remember well....

[BabyBlueSusie 1]

oh yea, adriano also gets freaked out everytime we go somewhere and have to go through metal detectors and get searched...the airport is one thing, but when we went to get his ssn we got searched and also when we went to six flags

land of the free

[Mononoke28 137]

You shouldn't go to Colombia then.

Diana

[VisaJourneyLady 33]

so wait, if the holiday falls on a weekend, for instance 4th July, most people DON'T get the Monday off?

oh dear, I think I need to lay down.

I work freelance now, so I don't really get to take any of my holiday time, but when I finish my contract I get paid for any holiday time I have built up. I get the statutory minimum amount of holiday pay, but that's still the equivilent of 24 paid days off a year.

I am happy to say that I have only ever seen schools with metal detectors on American TV, but I bet they've got plenty in L.A.

[SapphireDreams 71]

I'm really not looking forward to only getting 6-8 weeks off when I have a baby as opposed to 1 full year in Canada!!!

Some U.S. employers have great vacation time. My SO gets like 4 weeks or something like and he's only been there 3 years. He also gets extra personal time and sick time.

I'm not living in the US yet, but I've noticed that in Canada its really popular to use "green" (Cloth ones) grocery bags now and re-use and most grocery stores and even retail stores now carry them, but not so much in the US.

[DeadPoolX 9]

so wait, if the holiday falls on a weekend, for instance 4th July, most people DON'T get the Monday off?

oh dear, I think I need to lay down.

Hmm...

If a holiday lands on a weekend, nobody gets off, period. Not even government employees, who'll try and take off to avoid work anytime they can. When I first heard from my wife that if a holiday comes around on a weekend in Canada, you get off for it on either the Friday before or the Monday after I was literally stunned. That seems so inefficient. Nobody is entitled to a day off, especially a holiday. If it happens, great; if it doesn't, too bad.

Reba pretty much covered why vacation and sick days are in such short supply here in the U.S., but she didn't explain the part that separates the U.S. from some other countries -- such as her home in Canada. Many other nations, including Canada, have governments that are much more "intrusive" into everyday business and this includes supporting some areas monetarily. This generally allows companies to give employees more time off (or in some cases, they don't have any choice, since it'll be mandated) for vacation days, sick days and maternity leave without losing too much money.

In the U.S., most companies receive little-to-no help whatsoever, so it's up to that business to support itself. If American companies were to try and copy what's done in other countries, most would be forced to either shut down or fire tons off the payroll. Neither scenario is a pretty picture, since in both, lots of people would be without work and while that might grant you more "free time" you certainly wouldn't enjoy it since you'd lack an income.

So if a business allowed a lot of vacation and sick days to each employee, those days would no doubt get used and the company as a whole would be less effective and efficient. This would mean less money brought in. People also tend to call in sick when they're feeling fine, so even if they (and when) they managed to use up their vacation time, it's a sure bet that there would be numerous individuals who would use their sick days as impromptu vacation time.

As far as maternity leave is concerned (I know this is a real sore point with mothers or mothers-to-be coming from foreign nations to the U.S.), we generally don't offer a whole lot of time off. To be honest, you'll be lucky if you can find work that'll allow you anywhere from six to eight weeks off; if you can manage to find a job that lets you take 12 weeks, keep it, since those are exceedingly rare (although they do exist).

Once again, it's all a money issue, since pregnant women are considered an unnecessary expense in both time and money. Maybe that's not the nicest way of looking at the "miracle of childbirth" but do try and see it from a company's perspective. They've hired you to do a potentially important job. You'll be out however long and in that amount of time, they'll have to hire someone else on a temporary basis who doesn't know a whole lot about the business office, the people there or anything else and be forced to train them. In addition, they'll be paying them while they're paying you (who isn't there, simply because you and your husband/boyfriend decided that you two absolutely needed a child). They're not allowed to fire you too, so they're forced to keep you there as well.

All of the above explains why there are such strict artificial limits on maternity leave. It has much less to do with company's being "mean" than it does with "staying alive." Since they only see they money they bring in themselves, if they offered the generous packages other countries (like Canada), I don't doubt there would be many women who would get pregnant for the sole purpose of reaping those benefits; as it is, my wife has known women to do this in Canada.

[Reba 2]

I'm not living in the US yet, but I've noticed that in Canada its really popular to use "green" (Cloth ones) grocery bags now and re-use and most grocery stores and even retail stores now carry them, but not so much in the US.

Recently a lot of stores started offering their own canvas or cotton bags for sale. I dunno about in other towns, but hardly anyone here uses re-usable bags except me. I've been using the same canvas bags for probably 10 years or more (obviously since before I moved down here) and baggers have been known to run screaming when they see me because they "don't know how to pack them"

[melusine 5]

yeah.. maternity leave is sooo unecessary....

you know thoses little guyz will help pay for the retirement and debt of the country i believe isn't it ?

Damn... that sounded bad PoolX

[*julez* 124]

so wait, if the holiday falls on a weekend, for instance 4th July, most people DON'T get the Monday off?

oh dear, I think I need to lay down.

Somebody posted above that if the holiday falls on the weekend that nobody gets the day off. Period. Well, that is not exactly true.

Where I work, if the hol falls on a Saturday we are compensated with a "floating holiday", which I described above. However, if the hol falls on a Sunday, we do get the Monday off.

So, as you can see, I am, in fact, compensated for the weekend holiday either way. It really varies by employer, though.

Edited April 24, 2008 by julezabelle

[Krikit 1,166]

was literally stunned. That seems so inefficient. Nobody is entitled to a day off, especially a holiday. If it happens, great; if it doesn't, too bad.

Whoa. I think you may be dealing with some past-life issues.

In Canada, the holidays are federally-mandated, so the citizens are entitled. The only time you don't get a day off if it falls on a weekend is if it's Canada Day. The day it falls on is the day it's celebrated.

In the U.S., most companies receive little-to-no help whatsoever, so it's up to that business to support itself. If American companies were to try and copy what's done in other countries, most would be forced to either shut down or fire tons off the payroll. Neither scenario is a pretty picture, since in both, lots of people would be without work and while that might grant you more "free time" you certainly wouldn't enjoy it since you'd lack an income.

Weak argument here, DP. Most companies receive little-to-no help in Canada either.

So if a business allowed a lot of vacation and sick days to each employee, those days would no doubt get used and the company as a whole would be less effective and efficient. This would mean less money brought in. People also tend to call in sick when they're feeling fine, so even if they (and when) they managed to use up their vacation time, it's a sure bet that there would be numerous individuals who would use their sick days as impromptu vacation time.

Yeah, sorry. Another no-go. What you are saying here is that everyone who receives vacation and sick days is a scammer and will abuse the system. As a long term salaried administrator in my former position I received 7 weeks paid vacation and 130 sick days annually. I, along with my fellow administrators, usually lost a lot of our vacation days because we were so heavily burdened with work that we couldn't get away. In addition to that, I can tell you that very rarely did we use any of our sick leave. And even when we did, we worked from home. Ditto with the unionized employees. Nope. A definite no-go, DP.

All of the above explains why there are such strict artificial limits on maternity leave. It has much less to do with company's being "mean" than it does with "staying alive." Since they only see they money they bring in themselves, if they offered the generous packages other countries (like Canada), I don't doubt there would be many women who would get pregnant for the sole purpose of reaping those benefits; as it is, my wife has known women to do this in Canada.

Yeah. Because who wouldn't want an entire lifetime of payback for a year "off" with a screaming, crying, demanding baby? That's just too silly for words.

yeah.. maternity leave is sooo unecessary....

you know thoses little guyz will help pay for the retirement and debt of the country i believe isn't it ?

Damn... that sounded bad PoolX

[BabyBlueSusie 1]

I'm not living in the US yet, but I've noticed that in Canada its really popular to use "green" (Cloth ones) grocery bags now and re-use and most grocery stores and even retail stores now carry them, but not so much in the US.

Recently a lot of stores started offering their own canvas or cotton bags for sale. I dunno about in other towns, but hardly anyone here uses re-usable bags except me. I've been using the same canvas bags for probably 10 years or more (obviously since before I moved down here) and baggers have been known to run screaming when they see me because they "don't know how to pack them"

yea, but the tide is turning as far as the bag situation goes...it is going to be a gradual change, but at least here in new york i see A LOT of people with the reusable, canvas shopping bags...in fact, in the area where i live, its kind of odd to see someone with regular plastic bags...as with most things though, we are just ahead of the curve, i guess

[Krikit 1,166]

I'm not living in the US yet, but I've noticed that in Canada its really popular to use "green" (Cloth ones) grocery bags now and re-use and most grocery stores and even retail stores now carry them, but not so much in the US.

Recently a lot of stores started offering their own canvas or cotton bags for sale. I dunno about in other towns, but hardly anyone here uses re-usable bags except me. I've been using the same canvas bags for probably 10 years or more (obviously since before I moved down here) and baggers have been known to run screaming when they see me because they "don't know how to pack them"

yea, but the tide is turning as far as the bag situation goes...it is going to be a gradual change, but at least here in new york i see A LOT of people with the reusable, canvas shopping bags...in fact, in the area where i live, its kind of odd to see someone with regular plastic bags...as with most things though, we are just ahead of the curve, i guess

They just got them in the local grocery stores here in Florida! Like... within the last two weeks.