In many parts of Europe, it’s common for workers to take off weeks at a time, especially during the summer. Envious Americans say it’s time for the U.S. to follow suit.

Some 66% of U.S. workers say companies should adopt extended vacation policies, like a month off in August, in their workplaces, according to a Morning Consult survey of 1,047 U.S. adults.

  • Brynting@lemmy.sdf.org
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    10 months ago

    In Sweden atleast we usually get 25 vacation days and are entitled to 4 weeks in a row. So you can take a month off if your employer accepts it at the time you want it. Not everybody takes the same 4 weeks and not everyone takes 4 weeks in a row. I took 2 weeks last month and I’m saving 2 weeks for christmas.

    • bob_wiley@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      Thanks, that makes much more sense. August might be a popular time, but if you wanted your 4 weeks in May, or break it up, that would be fine too. Do you ever take single days, or do people tend to block it for weeks at a time?

      It’s very similar for me here in the US. I get 25 days as well. I don’t think there is any legal protection for taking off 4 weeks in a row, but I’ve taken the whole month of December off in the past. I knew a co-worker who went on a month long cruise, however, there is some risk. I didn’t hear anything bad about when I took my time, but I heard someone make a comment about the guy who went on the cruise to the effect of, “if you can take a month of than why do we need you?” That being said, the cruiser is still with the company and the guy who made that comment is not. I often take 2 weeks off at a time, especially if I’m going overseas (I went to Sweden in 2018 and loved it), and that has been totally fine.

      I do recognize that not everyone in the US is in my position when it comes to vacation, and it took me 10 years with one company to get to that level of vacation. A lot of these articles make it sound unheard of. I think vacation policies one of the big gaps between office workers and retail, for example. I think I’d be more likely to try my hand at different career fields if things like vacation and sick time weren’t so hard to earn at some places.

      • Brynting@lemmy.sdf.org
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        10 months ago

        You usually get 25 days and you can use them whenever or wherever you like, as long as your employer aprooves of it. People usually only use 20 of the 25 days as you can save 5 days each year. There is a limit on the amount of saved vacation days and also how long you can save them for.

        With sicknes we dont get paid at all the first sick day but after that we get 80% pay, after one work week we need confirmation from a doctor if we need to stay home longer.