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[tkscz]

Couldn't answer that as my job offers not only maternity leave, but paternity leave as well. We also get about 6 to 8 hours of PTO a month, along with 8 hours of holiday PTO every holiday, regardless of if you worked it or not. I literally went from 0 to 40 hours of PTO in two months (I live in the USA).

 

[Zepp Twofist]

(I think France and Norway even have 6 weeks) so it's not something unique to Sweden by any means.

I think Norway has 4 weeks by law, but most people get 5 from their employer because unions negotiated it a while back. People over 60 get an extra week.

 

[Polishin8r]

Just a had a new born baby and I wish I stayed longer at home only get 2 weeks. She is growing fast and is a handful. My wife was hit with high fever after we got back from hospital for several days so if it wasn't for my mom helping out I would have been screwed.

 

[br0ken_shad0w]

I'm a US federal employee and I get:
-26 vacation days
-13 sick days
-10 holidays

As far as parental leave is concerned, it comes from your vacation/sick days and if you run out it's unpaid (or beg your co workers to donate their time to you), which is why people in my workplace don't use all the 12 weeks guaranteed by the FMLA act.

 

[mackattk]

How do we manage?

We got to do what we got to do. What fucking choice do we have?

 

[Admiral Woofington]

American culture is just different I guess. Taking 5 weeks off plus X amount of days for parental leave plus unlimited sick days all with pay in this culture would make you seem extremely lazy like you're always looking for an excuse to not work.

I mean Lord knows I'd take it just to not be at work everyday.

 

[numble]

I have a pretty good salary and pay around 22%-25% income tax. People with high income pay 60% tax but only on the salary above a certain threshold (~$53000 per year, which is already way above average salary) Anything up to that threshold still gets the normal, substantially lower tax. Doctors and other people with $100 000+ yearly salaries do get screwed, yes

In comparison, a married couple with 1 child in the US would only start paying income tax of 25% if their gross income is above $100k (okay, $99,901), and that would be on income above $100k.

 

[hokahey]

I'm in the US. My employer gives 8 paid weeks for the father. Double for the mother. also get around 5-6 weeks time off for vacation, holiday, sick etc.

 

[Keri]

Generally, law firms should be moving more and more towards undefined vacation time anyway, there is enough incentive to make sure people meet their targets by giving billable hour targets and bonuses tied to performance.

Undefined vacation time is a bit of a scam though: It makes employees less likely to take vacation, because now they don't feel entitled to any specific amount and it makes it so firms don't have to pay out on accrued (but unused) vacation, if someone leaves. It's basically a win-win for firms, because it means employees work more and the firm pays much less money for it.

 

[CaviarMeths]

I dunno. Working 8 hours a day and 5 days a week is just something I do. It doesn't bother me. Work is just work and I don't feel like in doing too much of it.

I get paid vacation time, but I never actually take time off unless the boss is down my throat to do it, which he hasn't been yet. The only days I ever put in to have off are my younger siblings' birthdays because I feel that they're still young enough that it's important to them that I be there.

Just what you get used to I guess. Lots of people have it much worse than I do and they get by.

 

[gimmmick]

Used to get 26 days paid vacation at the last hotel I worked with, now I get 15 :| Same fucking company too. I have worked with MGM corporation for a little under 11.5 years now. The good news is that I'll get 4 weeks when I hit 12, but still sucks to give up 11 days a years.


I work because I have bills to pay. It's as simple as that.

 

[Mupod]

Here in Canada we're supposed to get minimum two weeks paid vacation a year. In practice this has, until my current job, meant that I ended up working for employers who do sneaky shit to get around it or just refuse to give me any vacation time. The repercussions they received were nonexistent and I'm still owed a lot of money that I'll never see.

My current job, I just saved up vacation time in case I was suddenly laid off because I generally assume that nothing nice will ever happen to me. I ended up being mostly right, although I've been extended several times since my 'layoff'. Any vacation time I use right now will be a day I don't get paid for when I'm gone in 2 months.

If I lived in a fantasy world where job security existed then I probably wouldn't take long vacations. A day here and there is fine. When I was reaching two weeks of saved days here, I was just burning them on new game release days.

 

[casablanca]

I have 8 weeks of vacation per year.
I've been working for the same company for 4 years , never took a day off ...

 

[Vicetrailia]

I dont get shit. Gotta finish my degree.

 

[Kuro Madoushi]

As a Canadian that gets parental leave, I salute you and if I could take your place, I would.

So many people complain about mental health and I honestly think not being worked to death would go a long way towards that.

As for why some Americans might not like what you're presenting, it's cause they have FREEDOM and socialism is a dirty word to them.

 

[bionic77]

In America we are not lazy so we shun vacations and work ourselves to death and use that added income to buy some luxuries and consumer products.

Also, freedom, guns and take it or leave it.

Fuck yeah!

 

[Apt101]

It all depends on where one works in the US. I get more vacation than many European workers. If I had a wife, she'd get a month of maternity while still accruing normal vacation hours, and could stack them if she wanted up to two months. Not a terribly long time, but better than most places.

Now onto the question of how do we deal? Well I remember the days of not having a lot of vacation time, and my answer is pretty much this: the same way I deal with most shitty things in the richest country of the world - hating it and wishing our politicians were good enough to make these things a reality for us as well.

 

[Crantius_Colto]

nobody goes on a 5 week vacation

My SO and I actually did. Went to visit friends in Thailand. Then travelled together with them through the country to go to Laos. Went hiking there in the jungle. Spend the rest of the vacation visiting southern China. There are so many great places on this planet, a lifetime of vacation wouldn't suffice.
Thing is, I never was much of a travelling person and am afraid of flights. Totally worth it, though. To actually be in another country, meeting people, seeing things, not just photos, is just something else.

 

[LegendofJoe]

I support Clinton, because parental leave is going to be an actual policy.

This is one of the big reasons why I'm excited to vote for her. I think she has a decent shot at getting parental leave through Congress. It won't help my wife or I (having our 2nd and last kid early next year), but it will help my younger brother and his fiancee. And not to mention every other young family out there busting their tail to make having kids work with next to no help from society at large.

 

[jerry113]

So this is a stealth brag post. Not really stealth actually. I'm sorry about that. But I'm also super curious about how people handle... well, working and especially family life without the privilieges I'm so used to.

I live in Sweden with a wife and a two-year old. Over here we have a mandatory 5 weeks vacation per year for everyone. Work at many places, especially at offices and less so in manufacturing, practically shuts down in july-august because most people are away for 3-4 weeks. I know this is very common across Europe (I think France and Norway even have 6 weeks) so it's not something unique to Sweden by any means.

We also have 480 days paid parental leave per child (this is cumulative), which can be split however you want between the parents. During 390 days you get 80% of your normal salary paid by the state, and many employers pay an extra 10% on top so you get 90% of your normal salary. During the remaining 90 days you get a very low amount of money (~$20 per day). You can use these 480 days however you please until your child is 12 years old. Most people take 12-18 months off when the child is born and then save days to prolong vacations and stuff during the coming years. My wife took 8 months off when our kid was born, and then I took 8 months off after she went back to work.

So for you guys who live in countries without these privileges: How do you manage? Without several weeks of vacation each year, I feel like I would be burnt out in a few years. I'm sure if I had to, I would manage fine, but it seems ill-advised from an employee health standpoint.

But really, the big thing is the parental leave. I know in the US there is NO paid parental leave. This to me is insane. How are you guys supposed to raise a child, let alone several? Does one parent stay home without pay until the child can be put in daycare? Do you put them in daycare from day one? How much is daycare (we pay around $150 per month but if we have more kids we get a discount for each kid so it doesn't get out of hand)? If you have one parent stay home, do you actually manage to live on just one person's salary? I know this was possible over here 40-50 years ago but now it would be really difficult. We have high income taxes (20-30% for most people) but many states in the US do as well AFAIK and you don't get free education, free health care etc so you have to pay for that. How to people cope? Do employers in the US have benefits that rival the state-mandated ones here in Sweden?

Super interested in hearing you guys' answers, especially from parent who I can imagine do not have it easy.

most americans r simply unaware that other countries have it better. what is there to gripe about if u already believe ur the best?

 

[PulseONE]

I manage with crippling depression

I work 7-4, 5 days a week, and make about 3USD an hour. I get a total of 5 sick days and 5 discretionary days, no vacation, I'm an IT Technician.

Why yes, I would *gladly* work at an American McDonald's at minimum wage!

 

[otapnam]

6 weeks parental leave from my company

New law in San Fransisco starting in 2017 where the employers are required to pay the difference of the federal family leave assistance / disability (100% pay vs 55% from just federal)

20 vacation days a year
7 holidays

4 days of vacation required to be used during shutdown between Christmas and new years.

My wife's worried because shes only got 4 months worth of paid time racked up for our next kid. We need to crunch some numbers to see how long we can afford for her to stay on maternity leave :/

 

[OniBarubary]

Having a job I enjoy and no kids or wife works out pretty well.

Even if I do have a pretty good vacation plan.

 

[Rabbi_Vole]

I find deep satisfaction in my work. I like having a purpose. Extended time off would only lead to thoughts of inevitable death, decay and the fact that we're on a wet fucking rock barreling through a relatively empty vacuum with an end game we're unable to fathom.

 

[Aeana]

My contract just says "10 days paid time off," and it includes sick days, vacation time, and personal days. At this point I don't think it's tracked or enforced at all. It's a small startup and people just take off when they need to, although not without a bit of guilting if it's too often. There's definitely no maternity/paternity leave.

 

[Sagely]

My situation is actually alright but I've been spoiled by the really good vacation and sick leave allocations back in the UK (moved to Quebec three years ago).

At the place I currently work we have two days of sick leave and can't take unpaid days, but we do get three weeks vacation for the year at least. I enjoy my job very much but feel pretty exhausted and close to burning out at the moment, since I'm saving all my leave for Christmas. I just deal with it and look forward to moving home eventually, also no overtime is a big plus. Basically it could be better, but could also be a lot worse in my case.

 

[ZOONAMI]

I have 4 weeks vacation and work from home. It's cool.

 

[executor]

Here in italy It's very similar (5 weeks/year full paid) and 5 month of parental leave (80% pay) when a new child has born except:
-parental leave can only be requested by woman and only if they've a permanent contract (and sadly this is not the rule for women)
-father can request it only if the mother has very big health problems (in fact never seen any father getting a parental leave....)
-the parental leave has precise timings connected to the birth (usualy 2 months before the birth and 3 months after but I thinks depends on contracts).
-if your wife is a housewife... no father parental leave...

 

[jorma]

The big law firms have very generous leave benefits. Leaves need approval, so the supervisors know not to approve everyone for the same time. The average revenue per lawyer for the top 100 law firms was $894,253, while average pay is probably 1/4 of that, so they are still in the black with lawyers having vacation. Nobody takes a month at a time, and they probably won't approve that. 5 weeks of vacation time can mean having a 4 day weekend every month, for instance, or a week off every other month. You can tell clients that you will be on vacation and you can delegate work to others.

Generally, law firms should be moving more and more towards undefined vacation time anyway, there is enough incentive to make sure people meet their targets by giving billable hour targets and bonuses tied to performance.

Well you ARE legally entitled to four straight weeks some time between june-august and i'm pretty sure anyone working for a law firm is aware of that

 

[br3wnor]

All depends on where you work in the US.

My first (SHIT) job out of College I had I think 5 vacation days and 3 sick days the first year and that was it. Second year I was there I think my vacation doubled to 10 days w/ sick days staying the same. Had I stayed there long term it wouldn't have gone up much more than that.

Job I have now is 20 vacation, 10 sick and 5 personal (can accumulate up to 40 vacation and 25 sick days, personal days don't carry over year to year). Paternity leave is unpaid, but I can take up to 3 months I think w/out consequence. After 6 years I'll bump up to 25 vacation days. My wife is hoping to be a teacher by next year so our plan when we eventually have kids is to time them for the summers so that she can take the month before or after summer and get a solid 3 months w/ the baby, then we'll have my mother-in-law and my mother watch the baby when she returns to work. I'll probably take the first week off and sprinkle some days off after that but I mostly plan to return to work since we'd rather not lose out on the money.

I'd love to have more time off obviously but it's the nature of the beast in the US unless you work for a really rich/progressive place. Given what I do, I'm pretty lucky compared to a lot of people I went to school with since I work 9-5 M-F (1 hour paid lunch) and never take work home.

My friend works at Etsy and he'll get 6 months paid paternity leave I think, he also has unlimited sick days (but he can work from home technically so you have to be really really sick to actually get use out of them). Best part of his deal is once he hits the 5 year mark he gets 3 months paid 'sabbatical' to do w/e the fuck he wants w/. I don't know his vacation/personal days package but I'd imagine it's in the 20-30 day range.

 

[Mendrox]

I said it earlier, actually. Why do you hate small businesses? They make things run. They're the backbone of your community. Many of them aren't rolling in tons of money, but are providing a ton of jobs for American workers. Fuck them, right?

So why do our small businesses in Germany not have that Problem? It works in many other countries without trouble.


People in this thread should remember that life is not only about work. Remember that there are other nice places to visit or having time with your loved ones.

 

[SpecX]

3 Weeks vacation (getting an additional week next year!)
10 Holidays
3 formal sick days (except employee so just have to makeup the time if more is taken)

For me, this is enough and I'm going to struggle on that extra week next year. Problem I have is missing work just means more work to come back to, so I tend to save my time for special events throughout the year and take a big chunk off in December.

Our company has us work on what they consider the less significant holidays (Columbus day and a couple others) and groups them all together at the end of the year so we all get Christmas and New Years week off. It works to my advantage since I usually have 1 1/2 to 2 weeks of vacation left and I can take half the month off when business is slow for our group.

 

[NandoGip]

I manage by taking 30 minute shits on the clock. Over the year that's about 130 hours I get paid to poop. Fairly even trade off i guess

 

[Snkfanatic]

Been here over 10 years, it took 10 years to earn 120 hours of vacation time a year. Only perk I got for hitting that mark. Also we have 3 sick days and that's it, need more? Use your vacation time, hell I had to use vacation time when I went to a family member's funeral this year.

How do I manage it? I dunno, I have never gone on an actual vacation, too expensive and I don't think my company would allow me to leave for more than a week at a time so it limits most things anyways.

I haven't had a week off straight in over 2 years. Hoping to fix that early next year when my time resets but it will just be a staycation. As always

 

[Tragicomedy]

In the US military, mothers get six weeks of maternity leave (bumped up from four previously) and fathers get two weeks. It's not enough.

Paid leave we all get 30 days. Seems very reasonable.

Keep in mind, this is not the norm across corporate America.

 

[Faustek]

Fuck... I'm really privileged here in Sweden...and I barely take advantage of that. I feel for you with sucky deals but hey capitalism and such and such

Then we'll either send our baby to daycare or we're considering having my husband become a stay at home parent.

I live in the U.S. and it's definitely hard for parents to manage and juggle raising children.

May I ask if you are of the generation born in the 80s or later? Anyway great on you two for not falling for the standard gender stereotypes.

PS I always sigh when I see coworkers, men, always choosing their "careers" over family and just joke it away when I ask them about it.

Edit: about Sweden, isn't perfect. Remember now that we're also allowed to stay at home with your child or a friends/familys child if they are sick and still get paid.
A friend got royally screwed over. His wife got really sick, we're talking physical and depression so he stayed at home for two months taking care of his child which also got sick for a week. So we found out that he wasn't allowed to stay at home with his sick child the first 10 months. The wife was supposed to but she was also sick so he had to but that week the child was sick he got Nada. Been asking wtf that is about but all we got was that it was an old law that hadn't been updated.

 

[Mendrox]

Been here over 10 years, it took 10 years to earn 120 hours of vacation time a year. Only perk I got for hitting that mark. Also we have 3 sick days and that's it, need more? Use your vacation time, hell I had to use vacation time when I went to a family member's funeral this year.

How do I manage it? I dunno, I have never gone on an actual vacation, too expensive and I don't think my company would allow me to leave for more than a week at a time so it limits most things anyways.

I haven't had a week off straight in over 2 years. Hoping to fix that early next year when my time resets but it will just be a staycation. As always

What? 10 years and then that? I had my 5th anniversay and next year I am allowed to take additonal 6 weeks off work (time out). 10 years is another timeout and also a Gift which you can choose yourself for a certain amount of money.

Also not having a week off since two years? Why? Take a vacation. Vacations are not expensive anymore (or Start saving a whole year like any other person).

Many people in this thread feel like slaves. Dont you love life? Visiting New places? Making awesome memories with friends and family? Get rewarded by having a Hobby? And then it also seems like many of you get shit pays. Really really sad. Come to Germany my friend and I will help you out fast (know IT? I can easily get you a Job - also for anyone else that is interested).

After this thread i have to Check suicide Rates in every country.. People with these situations have to get depressed and ask after the meaning of life...

 

[ant_]

What? 10 years and then that? I had my 5th anniversay and next year I am allowed to take additonal 6 weeks off work (time out). 10 years is another timeout and also a Gift which you can choose yourself for a certain amount of money.

Also not having a week off since two years? Why? Take a vacation. Vacations are not expensive anymore (or Start saving a whole year like any other person).

Many people in this thread feel like slaves. Dont you love life? Visiting New places? Making awesome memories with friends and family? Get rewarded by having a Hobby? And then it also seems like many of you get shit pays. Really really sad. Come to Germany my friend and I will help you out fast (know IT? I can easily get you a Job - also for anyone else that is interested).

After this thread i have to Check suicide Rates in every country.. People with these situations have to get depressed and ask after the meaning of life...

Is a job in Germany feasible if I only know English?

 

[RoninChaos]

haven't had a day off since March. I have over 120 hours of PTO but if I take one day off my customers go berserk, go to my boss and then I'm getting grilled as to why they're upset. We're at triple the amount of work we're supposed to have so days off don't happen.

 

[Mendrox]

Is a job in Germany feasible if I only know English?

Yes of course. Everyone in Germany also knows good enough English for communication. Many people look for people that can speak native English because of international businneses.

 

[numble]

Well you ARE legally entitled to four straight weeks some time between june-august and i'm pretty sure anyone working for a law firm is aware of that

Which law are you talking about? I work in a law firm in Beijing.

 

[Lunar15]

I recently got up to three weeks paid, up from two. It's nice, but I honestly rarely ever use my vacation days. It's not good.

 

[LegendofJoe]

Fuck... I'm really privileged here in Sweden...and I barely take advantage of that. I feel for you with sucky deals but hey capitalism and such and such


May I ask if you are of the generation born in the 80s or later? Anyway great on you two for not falling for the standard gender stereotypes.

PS I always sigh when I see coworkers, men, always choosing their "careers" over family and just joke it away when I ask them about it.

I'm in a similar situation. My wife makes more money than I do and I work from home. I have more earning potential than what I make now, but the flexibility working from home gives me with regards to childcare is worth a lot. I've always been very work/goal driven so it's hard for me to work a job where I'm not progressing at the rate I'd like to. But at the same time I remind myself that my kids won't be young forever and that the flexibility I have is something that you can't really put a price tag on.

My wife works long hours at the moment, so for now me doing the majority of the childcare works for us. It won't be that way forever. My opportunity to progress further in my career will come. And as I said before your children are young only for a little while, if you have the opportunity to spend more time with them at the expense of your job you should take advantage of it.

Edit: And unlike us men women have had to make this type of sacrifice for pretty much forever. The tables finally starting to turn a bit is a good thing. People are going to have to get used to it because women are dominating men in the classroom AND disproportionately work in fields that are less likely to be affected by automation. Women will be the primary breadwinners for a majority of families by the end of our lifetimes. So us guys need to step up our father game and make sure our sons are well adapted to the reality of today's world.

 

[Misha]

I have two hours left of sick time and at least 2 more doctors appointments I need to have this year so it'll start eating into vacation time. It's likely that my employer would end up being fine with me exceeding it but the official policy is just so low...

 

[Feel the Swift]

Honestly a five week vacation sounds worse to me. I don't know what I would do with all that time, I would be absolutely bored and miserable to whole time.

Living to work i see. Unless your work is your passion

 

[Quotient]

I'm curious how your salary and taxes compare to those of someone with a comparable job in the US.

 

[woolley]

Living to work i see. Unless your work is your passion

Neither.

 

[Rabbi_Vole]

Living to work i see. Unless your work is your passion

Why else would you live? Your life is the accumulation of your real word accomplishments, not in-game achievements.

 

[bennywhatever]

I get 2 weeks paternal leave and unlimited paid time off (discretionary). I've taken 12 days off this year and don't really plan to have anymore.

Work at a tech company in the US for reference.

 

[ant_]

Why else would you live? Your life is the accumulation of your real word accomplishments, not in-game achievements.

The accomplishments (some) people want to achieve are not aligned with their workplace at all.