Comments on: BECAUSE WE WOULDN'T WANT TO BE LIKE FRANCE

By: screwed holidays too « syncwpmu

screwed holidays too « syncwpmu — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 06:31:16 +0000

[...] Ed says, "We work too goddamn much in this country, and whether it's for Christmas or Zoroastrian New Year it would be nice if our ruling class would grant us a few days to see our families or, you know, enjoy our lives. [...]

By: screwed holidays too « Thought Shop

screwed holidays too « Thought Shop — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 19:40:32 +0000

By: Paid Holidays/Vacation Days in the U.S. Versus Other OECD Countries » Sociological Images

Sun, 31 Jan 2010 20:01:39 +0000

[...] Gin and Tacos: We're a nation of people working harder and harder for less and less, and the merest suggestion that we should do anything other than work 9 hour days without pause until we drop dead is met with cries of socialism… [...]

By: Wears

Wears — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 05:37:12 +0000

Waldo, on the bright side–the US military you despise so much would literally be at the top of this chart. Military members get 30 days of paid leave each year in addition to the 10 Federal holidays. So at least you've got that going for you.

By: Entomologista

Entomologista — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 22:42:00 +0000

My Ph.D adviser likes to remind me that grad students don't get any time off and the fact that I can go see my family at Christmas is entirely due to his beneficence.

I especially like how anybody who tries to improve working conditions is accused of "class warfare". Agitating for more vacation time/workplace safety/progressive taxation is not class warfare. Carting our corporate overlords down Wall Street in tumbrils would be class warfare.

By: Elle

Elle — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 20:23:23 +0000

I suspect the same is true [to a lesser extent] of the UK; the chart errs.

It's slightly out of date, I think. Workers get a minimum of 5.6 weeks holiday a year. (This equates to 28 days for workers who work 5 days a week, and is pro ratad for part time workers.)

Public holidays are rolled up into this entitlement, and your contract speaks to how the time off is distributed, as public holidays are regionally determined. For example, someone might have 20 days to take off as they determine, with 8 organisation-mandated public holidays. Some employers allow individuals to work any date in the year, and to take days in lieu for public holidays they work.

By: Parrotlover77

Parrotlover77 — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 18:22:28 +0000

Word.

In the employee handbook where I work, it takes ten years to get the maximum vacation benefit. Interestingly, if you are upper management, it takes zero years to get maximum vacation benefit. The ruling class is always looking out for themselves… The rest of us are fucked.

By: Misterben

Misterben — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 13:01:34 +0000

It is certainly true that in many sectors of the US economy, there are a lot of days like Christmas Eve: "fake" working days, when nothing really gets done. (As several comments point out, small business owners and retail employees are working like crazy right now.)

But there are a lot of things about our economy that are fake these days – fake is rewarded, in fact. Fake is easier, takes less effort, and is thus more profitable. (Two quick examples: fake banking, resulting in the so-called mortgage crisis, and fake customer service, consisting of people who hate you forced to walk you through preset responses appearing on a screen.)

As long as we're a nation of fakers, we're not destined for anything other than decline.

By: judith weingarten

judith weingarten — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 16:06:39 +0000

Something's wrong with your chart: We unfortunates in The Netherlands seem to get no paid holidays (admittedly in addition to our generous annual leave). This isn't true: Crypto-Communists or not, we luxuriate in 10 paid free days each year; so much so, that if one happens to fall on a Saturday or Sunday, we get the following Monday off. I suspect the same is true [to a lesser extent] of the UK; the chart errs.