How many weeks holiday per year

[CanadianCowboysFan]

do you all get, and do you take them?

I saw the end of Bill Maher's show last night and he stated Americans have the least amount of paid holidays in the western world and most don't take them out of fear of losing their job.

Is that true?

I get 6 weeks, my secretary gets 4. Even our newest associates get 3 weeks to start.

Lord knows, I take my six weeks every year.

So how many holidays do you get and do you take them? If not, why not?

 

[vta]

It is true that we have the least, (at least my European family likes to remind me so, when they take month long vacations).

Most companies I've worked for start at 2 weeks and it's upped to 4 after 5 years.

I don't see anybody having a problem taking vacation though, it seems more like you have to jockey for the time to make sure you don't overlap with someone in your department taking one at the same time.

 

[cowboy_ron]

However many I want

 

[Faerluna]

We get a particular amount of time per pay period, the amount of which is relative to the length of time with the company. I get about 6.5h per pay period (2 weeks.)

I rarely take bunches of time together unless it's around the holidays, in which case I'll take 3-4 days. I prefer taking an extra day here and there to have 3-day weekends and such, or if I need random time off for whatever else.

We have a cap of 320 hours, which I'm very close to, so sometimes I have to take days off to stay below the cap.

 

[vta]

I rarely take bunches of time together unless it's around the holidays, in which case I'll take 3-4 days. I prefer taking an extra day here and there to have 3-day weekends and such, or if I need random time off for whatever else.

I have to take a week at a time. Nothing recharges your battery like a full week away from work. If I can I'll line it up with a national holiday falling on a Monday or Friday as well to get that extra day. Large gobs of time away from work are therapeutic.

 

[CanadianCowboysFan]

I have to take a week at a time. Nothing recharges your battery like a full week away from work. If I can I'll line it up with a national holiday falling on a Monday or Friday as well to get that extra day. Large gobs of time away from work are therapeutic.

I used to think that until I took two weeks one year. Then I thought two weeks was enough until one year I took three. Now I always take three.

I'm off June 30 to July 23 this year.

 

[Faerluna]

I have to take a week at a time. Nothing recharges your battery like a full week away from work. If I can I'll line it up with a national holiday falling on a Monday or Friday as well to get that extra day. Large gobs of time away from work are therapeutic.

In a way it is, but for me it's difficult because there is nobody to cover for me when I'm off and the work just piles up. I don't like dealing with that and it's not fair to the people I support.

 

[Dallas]

At the state we have an amazing vacation leave system. I am currently in my 13th year w/ the state and collect 300 hrs of personal leave each year.

I usually take about 4 weeks and cash out some hours over the year for fun things to buy or to pay off a CC.


I have some users w/ over 2000 hrs in the system. You get to cash it all out when you leave state service too.

It's a pretty sick benefit.

 

[Phrozen Phil]

In a way it is, but for me it's difficult because there is nobody to cover for me when I'm off and the work just piles up. I don't like dealing with that and it's not fair to the people I support.

I get 6 weeks a year and have since I completed 26 years of service 5 years ago. That's the max I can get. I generally don't take more than 3 weeks at a time as my work is covered by a truly great co-worker and like you, I feel obligated to support my co-workers. I will more likely take a couple of one week holidays during the winter months and have a longer holiday in August. I rarely use up all my holidays in one year and my employer offers to pay me out. I always decline, as it ups my tax bracket. I try and use a day or two to extend a long weekend into a longer weekend several times a year.

 

[CanadianCowboysFan]

I usually take 3 weeks in July, 2 at xmas when with the number of stats we have there, it basically doesn't cost me 10 days, then the rest throughout the year. In the end though, as long as I hit billing quotas, most don't care how much I am here.

 

[TheCount]

I just got a new job and I'm staring out with 2 weeks, and you get 2 extra days for every year, up to a max of 20. So 4 weeks max.

I jet left a place in had been at for 4 years and they were really lax about vacation days, no one kept track of them.

Normally I'd work all year scared to take days off and then have a stockpile to end the year so I'd end up using as many as possible in November and December. Lord knows I wasn't going to let them expire. Plus the fall is my favorite season, so I love taking extra days off for thanksgiving and Christmas.

The real disparity in my opinion is national holidays. We have colleges in the UK and they are off so often it became a joke.

 

[junk]

I get 3 weeks plus the company shuts down for at least a week at Christmas.

Then I get most of the major holidays off. Usually 2 days at the 4th, 2 days at Memorial Day, 1-2 days at Labor Day, 2 days at Thanksgiving.

In about two years, I get another week.

My company is pretty good about flex time too, so if I want a three day weekend, it is pretty easy to swing without taking any vacation.

 

[TwoCentPlain]

4 Weeks vacation - use or lose so, of course, I take it.
2 Weeks (10 days) holidays (Christmas, New Year's etc.)
2 Weeks sick leave

Also, we are allowed to roll over up to 6 weeks (240 hours) vacation and no limit on the sick leave rollover.

 

[ologan]

However many I want

Nice,isn't it!

 

[TheCount]

I get 3 weeks plus the company shuts down for at least a week at Christmas.

The whole Christmas thing pisses me off. This year it's on a Tuesday, and my old company had no plans to give workers either Monday or Wednesday off.

That's typical American corporate culture for you. Give your employees an extra day off to celebrate a long weekend with their families? Hell no, you have vacation days, use em!

If you're good little boys and girls, maybe we'll let the rest of your poor *******s out early on Monday so you can spend one night with your families!

 

[VietCowboy]

At my new job, it's just PTO, which adds up to 30 days of leave (includes federal holidays). But, my schedule is such that while I can take PTO for 4th of July, I can work the other days to get 40 hours, and still get 4th of July off and not use any PTO.

 

[Kingsmith88]

4 weeks plus all major holidays and week at Christmas. I rarely take all my vacation days. We get to roll 5 into the next year and can bank up to 5 more. (can't use them but will get paid for them if you retire with the company) I have about a dozen banked.

 

[theogt]

I wouldn't hire a lawyer that disappeared for six weeks out of a year. That's a little much. The reality at large US law firms is that (1) as long as you meet your billable hours and (2) you're response to partners and clients, it doesn't really matter how much vacation you take.

 

[Jammer]

I get a little over 5 weeks a year, but I'm so busy I can't afford to take a "lump" some at one time. I have to take a day or two here and there to keep myself from losing my vacation. I usually take it with the national holidays to make it long weekends.

I would love to take a week or more at a time, but I have crews working for me nationwide and I have to be available to take care of business whenever they need me. I also travel a lot. If I'm not there for them my crews could lose their jobs and I can't let that happen, so I forgo vacations.

 

[CanadianCowboysFan]

The whole Christmas thing pisses me off. This year it's on a Tuesday, and my old company had no plans to give workers either Monday or Wednesday off.

That's typical American corporate culture for you. Give your employees an extra day off to celebrate a long weekend with their families? Hell no, you have vacation days, use em!

If you're good little boys and girls, maybe we'll let the rest of your poor *******s out early on Monday so you can spend one night with your families!

In Canada, we are open Xmas Eve but Dec 26 is a holiday, Boxing Day so unless you are in retail, you get the day off. If 25 or 26 is on a weekend, you get a Monday or Tuesday off in lieu.