No vacation time for you.
May. 17th, 2006 02:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chestnutcurlsLast week after Sunday School, a few of the girls and I were discussing the insanity of our society's work habits. One of my friends just had her annual evaluation, and was told that the only reason she didn't get a raise was because she didn't work enough overtime. As much as I wish that wasn't the standard, I know better. My friend flat-out told her boss that she has a husband and a life, and that if those things are keeping her from making more money, she will get by just fine on what she has. I'm so proud of her for saying that.
The whole conversation got me thinking about American vs. European work and vacation habits. I did a little research and found this article. It confirmed my thoughts and said everything I wanted to say, so I've pasted it below for your reading convenience. :)
Work Week and Vacation Variances
Stress, rest, and productivity
by Joe Kissell
A Swiss friend was telling me one summer about his upcoming four-week vacation. I said something like, “Wow, four weeks!” and his reply was, “Yeah, that leaves me with only two weeks of vacation for the whole rest of the year!” When I asked how many years he had been working to save up that much vacation time, he didn’t know what I meant. “Six weeks of paid vacation per year is normal in Switzerland,” he said. “Why, how many do you get?” I told him that two was the norm but that my employer was especially generous and offered three—and more after you’d worked there for a few years. My friend was shocked. How could anyone survive with that little time off?
I had never really thought about it like that, because the mere possibility of longer vacations (or “holidays,” as they’re known in some places) had simply never crossed my mind: it just doesn’t work that way in North America. Not long after that discussion, I went to the doctor because of some symptoms that he said were caused by stress. “How many hours a week do you work?” he asked. I replied, “I don’t know, 50 or 60, give or take.” He said, “That’s the first thing you have to change. Work to rule.” I wasn’t familar with that expression. He said, “You’re getting paid for 40 hours, so work 40 hours. Tell your boss it’s doctor’s orders; he has no right to demand any more than that.” And I thought: “As if!” Most employers in North America—especially in the high tech field—expect salaried employees to work as many hours a week as it takes to keep their projects on schedule, which is another way of saying they expect your work to be your life. To suggest otherwise would be to endanger your job.
Imagine my surprise, then, when I learned that Europe had adopted a 35-hour work week as standard. Unthinkable. How shockingly, blatantly sane.
Follow the Money
In the United States, employees work, on average, considerably more hours per year than in any other industrialized nation; Europeans, on average, work the fewest hours. (Japanese employees work the second-highest number of hours, by the way—but Japan also mandates 25 days of paid vacation per year.) The usual explanation given for this imbalance is that Americans are “workaholics,” a condition we are presumably supposed to be proud of. I don’t think that’s true, however. Americans may work a lot, but not usually because they’re addicted to it; on the contrary, they feel they have no choice. In America’s competitive job market, most salaried workers would never dream of telling their employers that they expect to work no more than 40 hours a week, because there are plenty of others who are willing to work twice as long for the same pay. It would be one thing if those extra hours translated into proportionally greater pay and benefits, but usually they don’t—and even hourly workers, who sometimes volunteer to work overtime, generally do so only for the extra money, not because they actually enjoy the work.
Nor are those long hours offset by days off. Americans are lucky if they get more than 10 paid days off per year, even though they work many more hours per week than their European counterparts. And needless to say, the hours spent at work are not typically the most enjoyable ones of the day; stress in the American workplace is notoriously high.
Work While You Whistle
But now the shocking news. When France reduced its official work week to 35 hours a few years ago, studies showed that there was no loss in productivity. That’s not to say, of course, that an American who currently works 60 hours while being paid for 40 would get just as much work done in 35. But it does mean that the connection between hours on the job and productivity is not as close as one might think. Some commentators have noted that Europeans spend a greater proportion of their work days with their “nose to the grindstone,” so to speak, whereas Americans spend more work time socializing or being otherwise unproductive. Then again, this may be nothing more than a way of saying that Americans have found ways of coping with a higher level of workplace stress.
Shorter work weeks sometimes mean lower pay, but they also mean lower unemployment. Several countries that have shortened their work weeks to 35 hours in recent years have seen a dramatic drop in unemployment, as businesses hire additional workers to ensure adequate coverage. In the U.S., though, employers would have a much harder time expanding their workforces to compensate for shorter work weeks, because of the high cost of providing benefits to full-time employees. In Europe, health insurance (for example) is paid for by taxes, rather than by businesses and their employees.
Time Off Is Good Behavior
Then there’s vacation time. In the 15 nations of the European Union, by law all full-time employees must be given a minimum of four weeks’ paid vacation per year; the same is true for part-time employees who have worked for at least 13 weeks. The notion of “accruing” vacation time doesn’t apply; you are generally entitled to your four (or more) weeks of vacation from the moment you’re hired. And these vacation days are in addition to statutory holidays scattered throughout the year. There’s also an important psychological difference: in the U.S., vacation time is permitted but not usually encouraged—it’s treated as an inconvenience to the employer. In Europe, by contrast, it’s simply part of the culture; it’s what people are supposed to do.
I can barely imagine what overwhelming crisis would have to occur in the U.S. to get employers to adopt more rational and healthy work week and vacation schedules. But an organization known as The Simplicity Forum has launched an initiative called “Take Back Your Time Day” to promote awareness of the dangers of overwork and the imbalance between North American and European work schedules. Their premise is simple and compelling: by October 24 of any given year, the average American or Canadian will have worked as many hours as the average European will in the entire year. Counting shorter work weeks and longer vacations, the average European gets nine weeks (350 hours) more free time per year. So every October 24, the movement urges North Americans to take the day off and participate in activities that call attention to this disparity.
Being the head of my own company, I tend to ignore the clock and work however long I need to. But researching this article has inspired me to make a concerted effort to treat myself (as an employee) better than that. I’m going to see if I can institute (and enforce) an official policy of 35-hour work weeks for alt concepts, inc., from the Head Honcho to the unpaid interns. (Yeah…all of us.) Four-week vacations are going to be tricker, but I could always threaten to go on strike.
Maybe I should move to Europe. Or maybe I only find our society's obsession with career so annoying because I'm a woman. I know some women do well in the business world, but I personally am not made for this. Maybe men can take it all with a grain of salt. Thoughts?
The whole conversation got me thinking about American vs. European work and vacation habits. I did a little research and found this article. It confirmed my thoughts and said everything I wanted to say, so I've pasted it below for your reading convenience. :)
Work Week and Vacation Variances
Stress, rest, and productivity
by Joe Kissell
A Swiss friend was telling me one summer about his upcoming four-week vacation. I said something like, “Wow, four weeks!” and his reply was, “Yeah, that leaves me with only two weeks of vacation for the whole rest of the year!” When I asked how many years he had been working to save up that much vacation time, he didn’t know what I meant. “Six weeks of paid vacation per year is normal in Switzerland,” he said. “Why, how many do you get?” I told him that two was the norm but that my employer was especially generous and offered three—and more after you’d worked there for a few years. My friend was shocked. How could anyone survive with that little time off?
I had never really thought about it like that, because the mere possibility of longer vacations (or “holidays,” as they’re known in some places) had simply never crossed my mind: it just doesn’t work that way in North America. Not long after that discussion, I went to the doctor because of some symptoms that he said were caused by stress. “How many hours a week do you work?” he asked. I replied, “I don’t know, 50 or 60, give or take.” He said, “That’s the first thing you have to change. Work to rule.” I wasn’t familar with that expression. He said, “You’re getting paid for 40 hours, so work 40 hours. Tell your boss it’s doctor’s orders; he has no right to demand any more than that.” And I thought: “As if!” Most employers in North America—especially in the high tech field—expect salaried employees to work as many hours a week as it takes to keep their projects on schedule, which is another way of saying they expect your work to be your life. To suggest otherwise would be to endanger your job.
Imagine my surprise, then, when I learned that Europe had adopted a 35-hour work week as standard. Unthinkable. How shockingly, blatantly sane.
Follow the Money
In the United States, employees work, on average, considerably more hours per year than in any other industrialized nation; Europeans, on average, work the fewest hours. (Japanese employees work the second-highest number of hours, by the way—but Japan also mandates 25 days of paid vacation per year.) The usual explanation given for this imbalance is that Americans are “workaholics,” a condition we are presumably supposed to be proud of. I don’t think that’s true, however. Americans may work a lot, but not usually because they’re addicted to it; on the contrary, they feel they have no choice. In America’s competitive job market, most salaried workers would never dream of telling their employers that they expect to work no more than 40 hours a week, because there are plenty of others who are willing to work twice as long for the same pay. It would be one thing if those extra hours translated into proportionally greater pay and benefits, but usually they don’t—and even hourly workers, who sometimes volunteer to work overtime, generally do so only for the extra money, not because they actually enjoy the work.
Nor are those long hours offset by days off. Americans are lucky if they get more than 10 paid days off per year, even though they work many more hours per week than their European counterparts. And needless to say, the hours spent at work are not typically the most enjoyable ones of the day; stress in the American workplace is notoriously high.
Work While You Whistle
But now the shocking news. When France reduced its official work week to 35 hours a few years ago, studies showed that there was no loss in productivity. That’s not to say, of course, that an American who currently works 60 hours while being paid for 40 would get just as much work done in 35. But it does mean that the connection between hours on the job and productivity is not as close as one might think. Some commentators have noted that Europeans spend a greater proportion of their work days with their “nose to the grindstone,” so to speak, whereas Americans spend more work time socializing or being otherwise unproductive. Then again, this may be nothing more than a way of saying that Americans have found ways of coping with a higher level of workplace stress.
Shorter work weeks sometimes mean lower pay, but they also mean lower unemployment. Several countries that have shortened their work weeks to 35 hours in recent years have seen a dramatic drop in unemployment, as businesses hire additional workers to ensure adequate coverage. In the U.S., though, employers would have a much harder time expanding their workforces to compensate for shorter work weeks, because of the high cost of providing benefits to full-time employees. In Europe, health insurance (for example) is paid for by taxes, rather than by businesses and their employees.
Time Off Is Good Behavior
Then there’s vacation time. In the 15 nations of the European Union, by law all full-time employees must be given a minimum of four weeks’ paid vacation per year; the same is true for part-time employees who have worked for at least 13 weeks. The notion of “accruing” vacation time doesn’t apply; you are generally entitled to your four (or more) weeks of vacation from the moment you’re hired. And these vacation days are in addition to statutory holidays scattered throughout the year. There’s also an important psychological difference: in the U.S., vacation time is permitted but not usually encouraged—it’s treated as an inconvenience to the employer. In Europe, by contrast, it’s simply part of the culture; it’s what people are supposed to do.
I can barely imagine what overwhelming crisis would have to occur in the U.S. to get employers to adopt more rational and healthy work week and vacation schedules. But an organization known as The Simplicity Forum has launched an initiative called “Take Back Your Time Day” to promote awareness of the dangers of overwork and the imbalance between North American and European work schedules. Their premise is simple and compelling: by October 24 of any given year, the average American or Canadian will have worked as many hours as the average European will in the entire year. Counting shorter work weeks and longer vacations, the average European gets nine weeks (350 hours) more free time per year. So every October 24, the movement urges North Americans to take the day off and participate in activities that call attention to this disparity.
Being the head of my own company, I tend to ignore the clock and work however long I need to. But researching this article has inspired me to make a concerted effort to treat myself (as an employee) better than that. I’m going to see if I can institute (and enforce) an official policy of 35-hour work weeks for alt concepts, inc., from the Head Honcho to the unpaid interns. (Yeah…all of us.) Four-week vacations are going to be tricker, but I could always threaten to go on strike.
Maybe I should move to Europe. Or maybe I only find our society's obsession with career so annoying because I'm a woman. I know some women do well in the business world, but I personally am not made for this. Maybe men can take it all with a grain of salt. Thoughts?
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2006-05-17 07:39 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-05-17 07:45 pm (UTC)I know I'm really blessed to be in a department where no one counts against me for leaving at 5 every day, or taking my lunches. I dread the day I have to be on salary (if it ever comes).
(no subject)
Date: 2006-05-18 12:40 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-05-17 07:46 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-05-17 08:44 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-05-17 08:03 pm (UTC)I really think that the US should adopt the same policy, as well as the health care policy.
The other reason that Americans work more hours is that a large majority of them are working to pay for their high standard of living. Most people in this country have a huge amount of debt for toys and houses that they can't enjoy because they have to spend time working to pay them off. Many Americans spend more than they make. They become workaholics because they have no choice......they have too much debt to pay off.
Careers & the money to back them have also become a status symbol in this country. People in this country are made to feel like less of a success if they don't have a high powered career and the toys to back it.
Personally, I'd rather keep my life the way it is. We like traveling and vacation time, but we live without credit, a very small (and in a year and a half, a non-existant) debt load, a budget, a very small amount of toys and few luxuries. They are well worth the trade in adventure and travel and experiences that will last a lifetime. We counted up the work days that we were away last year and it totalled 21 (not counting the weekends that we were away). Not one of those were paid for because I'm self-employed and Davy was a newbie once again in the employed world and didn't have enough time accrued. But we went anyway and gave up other luxuries to pay for our own time off so that we could travel and explore. Not bad for going half way across the country once and visiting 6 different countries in one year. :)
We always laugh when people ask us if we're rich because we're able to travel and spend time away. Heck no, we're far from monetary riches. We live far from rich, VERY far, but we have a life full of rich experiences because time away and adventure are like a drug to us and we make a way to make it happen.
(We are VERY tempted to move to Europe!)
(no subject)
Date: 2006-05-17 08:07 pm (UTC)Most Americans hate the idea of socialized healthcare tho... :P
(no subject)
Date: 2006-05-17 08:21 pm (UTC)PS
Date: 2006-05-17 08:08 pm (UTC);)
Re: PS
Date: 2006-05-17 08:20 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-05-17 08:44 pm (UTC)That's something I wanted to say but couldn't find the right words. :) Unfortunately I'm as guilty of that as anyone else. I don't need anything elaborate, but I do want a house and new clothes and stuff.
You guys have a cool life. :)
(no subject)
Date: 2006-05-19 02:28 am (UTC)There's nothing wrong with wanting a house and new clothes when you need them. :) I'm thinking more along the lines of Spear Street up here in Vermont. It's known for it's HUGE houses and insane landscaping. They're all owned by CEOs, doctors, lawyers, attorneys, etc. None of those people are able to enjoy what they have because they're working 70 hours a week to pay for asthetics and community status. Owning a nice house within your budget and buying new clothes now and then, as long as you're not spending way more than you make is certainly okay. :)
(no subject)
Date: 2006-05-19 01:30 pm (UTC)Thanks for the encouragement. :) My pastor is very serious about giving money away to missions and not being a materialist, so now I'm super sensitive about that. Anytime I want something more in life, I'm afraid of being accused of extravagance. :P
(no subject)
Date: 2006-05-18 07:51 am (UTC)There's a need for flexibility," said Lemonnier, 47, the president of Manpower France, a temporary-staffing company. "Firing, on economic grounds, in a company with more than nine people, is extremely complicated. So temporary work is the simplest solution for the companies."
Europe still has about twice the unemployment rate of the United States. Yet, in the last five years, employment growth for both part- and full-time jobs has been faster in the 12 nations that use the euro than in the United States, where the labor market stagnated and even briefly shrank in 2001 and 2002 (source: IHT Business (http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/05/10/business/labor.php)
As you said most of the problem here (US) is debt driven. If you like travelling then find a job/situation that can support that. It's stupid for the Gov't to force companies into adopting such policies. It's the Nanny State gone amuck, I remember hearing person after person say, when hearing a new idea I had, "So which gov't agency is funding this?" Kills off initiative..
I did move to europe (and worked for gov't) but came back, not because of the US but because of people.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-05-18 06:49 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-05-18 06:56 pm (UTC)Maybe I should say, "if you want... find a situation that can support your travel plan, kind of like erikaerin has done." :)
(no subject)
Date: 2006-05-18 06:57 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-05-18 06:51 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-05-17 08:04 pm (UTC)Good for her! I'd be proud, too. :D
Dirk gets four weeks of paid vacation every year. Currently that's divided as such: One week at Christmas, two weeks in the summer, and one week whenever. Carl and Henk are the two bosses of the software company where Dirk works, and Carl is the one who decided that two of the weeks have to be in the summer. That really stinks for us, cos that's when flights cost the most. So we only get one week with my folks in the fall (when we can actually afford to fly), instead of the two we would have had before Carl came up with that idiotic policy. Even Henk isn't happy about it.
38 hours is a full work-week here. Even though 38 hours is the legal work-week, Dirk's bosses have decreed that only when the hours go over forty, and they have to work forty minimum, do they count as overtime (he usually works around 45 hours a week). That's illegal, but his bosses don't care. :P If we were planning on staying here in Belgium he'd have found another job already, but it's easier for him to just stick it out with this one 'til we move.
There’s also an important psychological difference: in the U.S., vacation time is permitted but not usually encouraged—it’s treated as an inconvenience to the employer. In Europe, by contrast, it’s simply part of the culture; it’s what people are supposed to do.
He laughed when I read him that bit! Most bosses here do gripe and complain when their employees are taking their vacation time, even tho they're entitled to it.
All said and done, Dirk is really looking forward to living and working in America even though it will mean less vacation time. ;)
(no subject)
Date: 2006-05-17 08:06 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-05-17 08:40 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-05-17 08:43 pm (UTC)I wasn't made for the business world either. :/
(no subject)
Date: 2006-05-17 08:09 pm (UTC)Thankfully, they're both men who understand why some of us women simply don't enjoy working. I sheepishly admitted it to John finally, and he wasn't surprised or perturbed. HUGE relief, that. His mother didn't work outside the home, so he sees no reason why I should eventually, either. SCORE! :)
(no subject)
Date: 2006-05-17 08:41 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-05-17 08:58 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-05-17 08:18 pm (UTC)What is the retirement age in the US? Over here (Poland, I mean) it's 60 for women and 65 for men, if I'm correct.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-05-17 08:42 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-05-17 08:30 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-05-17 08:42 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-05-17 08:44 pm (UTC)I liked the point in the article about Americans feeling like they're inconveniencing their employer when they take vacation, but it's the norm in Europe. That's how I feel too!
Or maybe I only find our society's obsession with career so annoying....but I personally am not made for this.
I feel the same way. I loathe the corporate atmosphere; the rules of behavior stifle me.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-05-17 08:45 pm (UTC)I know. I think that's terrible, too.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-05-17 10:39 pm (UTC)I have mixed feelings about that.
As someone who hasn't had a raise in almost seven years (but is currently working at a job I love, making less than my last job), I can sympathize with her reaction to the impersonality of such a review. I, too, am impressed with her response, but I submit that it places her in a position where she is seen as an expendable anchor by her employer.
On the other hand, as believers, I wonder (and I can't answer this one yet because I haven't figured it out myself) if we're supposed to combat the pressure of emphasizing performance above the mediocrity of simple expectations (i.e., fulfilling the requirements of our job description) as an act of human injustice, or we're supposed to apply St. Paul's adjuration in Colossians 3:17 to our work ethic and bust our butts for the cause of progress out of a sense of obligation to honor the expectations God places on us.
I lean towards the latter these days, but sometimes it still don't seem right.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-05-18 01:25 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-05-18 12:24 am (UTC)Where I work, I guess that when overtime is offered, you're encouraged to take advantage of it. They know most people could use some extra money. But when we're not busy, overtime is strictly prohibited. Being a "workaholic" and working as many hours as possible won't get you anywhere. In fact, it would probably get you in trouble.
I was told by another employee, not by my boss, that after I've worked there a year, I'll get one week of paid vacation. That's it. I'm pretty disappointed about that. I'm still taking two weeks off in August for Pennsic and camp, but my year isn't up until October, so both weeks will be unpaid. I guess it just sucks, but there's nothing I can do about it, so I have to live with it.
I think all this work is unhealthy for Americans. It would be nice if something changed, but I don't see that happening anytime soon.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-05-18 01:23 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-05-18 01:35 am (UTC)In New Zealand our average work week is 40 hours. We have 3 weeks compulsory holidays a year but that is increasing to 4 weeks in 2007. We also have compulsory stat days and if these aren't taken due to the sort of work you do then you get paid double time and get a day in leu (another day off somewhere ot cover it).
New Zealanders are generally known as very hard workers though. In our 40 hours of work a week we work very hard and efficiently and get the tasks done. I know other places that might technically work the same number of hours a week but don't have as much productivity.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-05-18 01:23 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-05-18 04:11 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-05-18 01:24 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-05-18 05:35 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-05-18 05:48 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-05-18 06:30 pm (UTC)I feel like I should comment to this because I find it offensive and rather unfair.
My Mom worked. She wasn't trying to be "SUPERMOM." She worked because she HAD to. Not everyone can have a man do all the work and take care of the family's financial needs. If you can, great. You're very fortunate. But some people HAVE to work.
I don't feel that there were "severe reprecussions" because of this. I spent time with both Mom and Dad. They were there for all of my activities - Mom even coached our basketball team, was a Girl Scout Leader, and a cheerleading coach at various points during my childhood. We went to church every Sunday. I had a great childhood. And I feel that I am a well-adjusted human being because of my upbringing.
Clearly, what works for some doesn't work for all. But it's not fair to generalize and put everyone in the same category.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-05-19 10:47 pm (UTC)i don't doubt that you're a well-adjusted person - it has nothing to do with that. i should clarify what i said to include the fact that no matter what anyone does, it should be lead by the Lord.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-05-20 06:37 pm (UTC)