[Heybuck]

In the thread "GM plants closures", reply 69 had these words in part of a response:

You are not entitled to PAID vacation.

I'm not asking this question to raise any political point, it's simply a statement which to me, an Australian, is difficult to comprehend. Is this true? That Americans do not have any entitlement to paid vacation?

Australian law dictates that any full-time employee is entitled to four weeks fully paid vacation annually. If you do not take the four weeks, the unused portion is accrued and added to any outstanding vacation.

On top of this, every full time employee is entitled to fully paid long service leave after 10 or 15 years continual service. In my own case, the girl who works for me has accrued 21 years continual service and her long service leave is now about 18 fully paid weeks plus her accrued annual holidays are about 13 fully paid weeks. So if she resigned tomorrow, I would have to find a fair lump of money to pay her out. (We already have it set aside).

Hopefully this thread does not find its way into the Clubhouse. My question is as to what are the usual entitlements for a paid employee in the US?

Ian

[66sprint6]

I can't speak on the US, but there is no government mandated paid vacation for workers here in Canada. It's what the market will bear. My company wanted me, so they offered a good vacation package. They were not obligated to offer anything.
If you get let go here without cause, then the company owes you a week's pay for every year of employment.

[Johnnygoose]

I don't know what the entire context of that thread was but many jobs do provide paid vacation however it is not mandated by the government. The closest thing to a mandate is you have a government or union job and it's spelled out in your contract how many paid vacation days you get. If someone was laid off and they had unused vacation days they usually get paid for them.

[71GP76TA]

There are only 2 things in this world that a person is entitled to... Air to breathe... and water to drink.. Everything else is a luxury..

[chevymad]

After 25 years on the same job, I have 10 days paid vacation. And just getting that amount of time off is a chore. Have to ok it at least a month in advance. Washington state just mandated paid sick leave this last year. We get 1hr sick leave for every 40hrs worked.

[Fullsize455]

Correct, there is no government mandate that employees get paid vacation in the US. I can't believe you have such a law there, that's just crazy.

[Greg Reid]

I'm living proof of it. I retired after 30 years with our transit system. Two years later, I agreed to come back under contract as an inspector. I get no paid vacation, no paid holidays. I get paid when I'm here and I don't when I'm not.
The employer and I agreed to these terms when I took the job. There is nothing mandating that they have to pay me for vacation of anything else except my time and labor.

[Jim Zeek]

Originally Posted by Greg Reid

Two years later, I agreed to come back under contract as an inspector. I get no paid vacation, no paid holidays. I get paid when I'm here and I don't when I'm not.
The employer and I agreed to these terms when I took the job. There is nothing mandating that they have to pay me for vacation of anything else except my time and labor.

sounds like you should have asked for a better contract.

[Greg Reid]

Yeah, I'll know better next time. The way they did it was to offer me the position and dumb me, I ASSumed that I would sit down with someone for a discussion. Instead, they emailed me a contract on Friday with salary and benefits disclaimers. Sign here, you start Monday morning....or don't.
I took it because it's really pretty easy job. I watch other people work, officially witness the tests of the work, email a report and go home. They also pay me quite a bit more than I was making as a regular hourly employee.
The big mistake I made is not going with one of the sub-contractors that do the same thing in the same place. Sometimes I'm co-working with other retired employees, doing the same work and they not only are paid more but have benefits.
I'm not complaining though. I'm earning a salary and getting a moderate pension at the same time.

[dataway]

I've been at the same job for 38 years .... I can take all the vacation I want. Heck I could take six months off and still come back to my job, but they won't pay me to not do work.

The Government told me I am free to seek the best job I can get. That's pretty much all I need. Everything I DON'T have ... is my fault, no one else's.

[Greg Reid]

Originally Posted by Heybuck

On top of this, every full time employee is entitled to fully paid long service leave after 10 or 15 years continual service. In my own case, the girl who works for me has accrued 21 years continual service and her long service leave is now about 18 fully paid weeks plus her accrued annual holidays are about 13 fully paid weeks. So if she resigned tomorrow, I would have to find a fair lump of money to pay her out. (We already have it set aside).



Ian

Wow...I just noticed this part of your post....just wow.

[Heybuck]

Originally Posted by Greg Reid

Wow...I just noticed this part of your post....just wow.

I just asked my wife (my book keeper!!) how much exposure we have to this one employee. Just about A$35,000 at this point. We are responsible employers so we have an interest paying account running to which we automatically add to on a monthly basis so if she resigned or I decide to wind up the business, we will not be stretched to pay her out.

Employee benefits in Australia are (in my opinion I suppose as an employer...), exceptionally generous. Standard employment gives the employee a good weekly wage, 4 weeks annual holiday, long service leave, up to 10 days sick leave each year fully paid, if a family member is ill, they can take carers leave. A woman is entitled to very generous maternity leave, a new father gets a varying amount of leave as well (2 to 4 weeks is normal). And all fully paid. A 36 hour working week is normal.

We are a small business now. 25 years years ago we had 14 employees but we have cut back to only one now. With one employee, I make as much money as we did with 14 and now have 14 times less stress. Reading all the above, you can see why I have a less stress!!!

Nonetheless, I was quite astonished that holiday breaks are not paid to an employee in the US. I gather you are saying you are paid for the time you are at the job and if you take a holiday, that's down to you financially??

[jerry455]

It depends where you work. I have worked for GM for 29 years and I get 30 days paid vacation. If I don't use it by the end of the year I lose it. I am a "white collar" technician. The union has different rules. My wife, works for the local school district, earns a sick day a month.She is a clerical employee not a teacher. I don't get sick days because I am salaried not hourly. I still am happy with what I get. Sure the grass always looks greener. I think a lot of the European countries get the benefits you talked about guaranteed by the government. In the U.S. if you wanted benefits you worked for a company that offered them. Many of the larger companies do.

[johnta1]

Heybuck, what's the real estate prices there?
Maybe I should go there.
(but I'm retired so that probably won't help)

[poncho-mike]

It definitely depends on where you work. I started out working as a salaried engineer at IBM. At 15 years, I had four weeks of paid vacation, around 15 holidays, sick time up to six months (with doctor's note), and no time off with the birth of a child. That was one of the more generous companies I worked for. I think I started at two weeks vacation, went to three weeks at five years, then four weeks at 15 years. No more than one week of vacation could be carried over to the next year. There was no extended leave, although some companies do offer sabbaticals. I was laid off in 1998.

My next employer had a similar plan. They shut down the facility after five years.

My current employer offers fewer paid holidays and is less generous with vacation. After 14 years with the company I've only got three weeks of paid vacation, plus they put me on call on some weekends to support manufacturing. I think I get 12 paid holidays. I think my salary is about 15% lower than what it would be at IBM or Ericsson, but for the power industry it is probably fairly good. The high tech companies pay pretty well compared to the power industry.

The bias in the US has always been towards the employer. Some employers can also require employees sign non-compete contracts that restrict who they can work for after they leave. After I was laid off by Ericsson, I went to work for a small consultant company doing design work. I was there about a year, then my employer got bought by another larger consulting company. They required me to sign a contract stating I couldn't work for another consulting company or any of our customers for two years if I terminated employment wtih them, regardless of whether I quit or was fired. I refused, and three months later I was laid off.

Capitalists rule in the USA. Unless you've signed a non-compete contract, you are able to seek a job at any time and with any employer. Your pay and vacation is subject to negotiation. If you don't like the package, don't accept the job. If you want a better package, look for a new job and give your employer two weeks notice (not a requirement, but a courtesy).

[Heybuck]

Originally Posted by johnta1

Heybuck, what's the real estate prices there?
Maybe I should go there.
(but I'm retired so that probably won't help)

Its all relative John.

Here's a link to the area I live in. I'm about 17 miles from the city centre. Quite rural locality because there are covenants preventing subdivision. I live on 3/4 of an acre which is the norm in my area.

https://www.realestate.com.au/buy/in...ic+3114/list-1

[Half-Inch Stud]

Tradition has it that U.S. folks (starting at a new job) get 2 weeks VAC out of the goodness of the company.

So, after 35 years work i have 2 1/2 weeks VAC and don't call out sick like ever. Today i probably work 3 hours and out 'cause i'll have my 40 in.

[ponchjoe]

Vacation in the US is classified as a benefit like health insurance is. Companies are trying to find new benefits to retain personnel like time off for new fathers.

[Firedup6975]

Originally Posted by 71GP76TA

There are only 2 things in this world that a person is entitled to... Air to breathe... and water to drink.. Everything else is a luxury..

Actually it’s, a Birthday, a name, air to breath, and a date of our death.

[RocktimusPryme]

There are similar laws here but they are at the state level. The US workforce lags behind much of the rest of the world in worker benefits. That said many of those other countries have government paid for healthcare, which is a whole different can of worms. (Not trying to have that argument here, just an observation) Perhaps if employers here weren't paying for employee healthcare they would be more open to giving out more paid time off. Any huge issue like that isn't nearly as black and white as people like to make it. There is always a cause and effect.

I started a new job this year and only get 10 paid days off with no added sickleave. I have expressed my dismay, eventually the company will cave in or I will walk. That's really the only way to fix it, you have to be willing to leave. Also much easier for me to say as I'm not a very family oriented guy. I can kick in a bosses door more easily than can a man supporting a wife and two kids.