How do other cultures feel about vacations?

[SproutMamaK]

The ex-pat thread made me curious about this. How do people in other cultures feel about vacations? Do they take trips often? Does jobs provide vacation time? Is the culture more low-key so that there's more "downtime" worked into daily life and vacations are superfluous? Or is travel in general considered a much more important part of life there?

I'm just wondering how this part of life is viewed in different parts of the world. Does anyone have any insights for me?

[EmilyGF]

Germans feel it isn't a vacation if it is less than 2 weeks. :-)

[TeacherZee]

In Sweden we have at least 20 days paid vacation a year. Many people go for at least a week in the sun (often Southern Europe) every year. Any more many people also go for long weekends to cities around Europe. Vacation is seen as a necessity here, even though most people work on average 35-40 hours per week

[Camelfeet]

American vacation time off is a joke.  Canadian time is too - its one of the reasons we want to remain expats.  :)

 

We get 22 days off per year, and we are only given the mandatory minimum for the private sector.  In addition, there are 10 stat holidays.  Vacations are very normal here.  Every single person I am friends with goes on at least 2 vacations per year - one is usually back to their home country.  

[regentrude]

In Germany, employees have to be given at minimum 24 paid vacation days per year by law. In many jobs, unions have negotiated 30 paid vacation days per year.

 

Germans travel extensively during their vacations. It is considered very important, and they find the US situation of one week vacation time unbelievable.

[Dory]

In Alberta the minimum is 2 weeks vacation after one year on the job, and 3 weeks a year after 5 years on the job. That is paid vacation. Most people I know take about 4 weeks worth. Workers are sometimes hard to find up here in the northern part of the province though so they tend to be a little more flexible with vacation time. We take at least a month every year, but we own our business and sub-contract. Sometimes we take more then a month, it depends on how good a year it's been and where we want to go. My best friend takes about a months worth over the year as well.

[Amira]

I think this depends a lot more on wealth rather than culture.

 

Here in Mexico, vacationing is very popular and there are lots of days off.  But that only applies for people who are wealthy enough to take advantage of it.  

 

Kyrgyzstan has the leftovers of Soviet ideas about vacationing, so it's something people care about, but most aren't able to afford it.

[Caroline]

My DH works for a French company in the US. He gets 25 paid vacation days a year. This allows us to go to the beach for two weeks in the summer and two weeks at Christmas. He can also work from anywhere, so we tend to take a fall trip and a spring trip, too. He just works some during them.

[maize]

Western Europe tends to take their vacation time very seriously, many things practically close down in the summer because everyone is gone. I worked as an intern for a UN agency and summer was dead time.

[Melinda in VT]

Twenty plus years ago, I spent a summer working in a grocery store in Switzerland. The cashiers, stockers, etc., I worked with all took vacations. They were upset because their usual vacation spot was Yugoslavia, and that summer (1991) was not a good summer to travel there.

[Crimson Wife]

The problem here in the U.S. is often more of the worker not being allowed to take the earned leave time than not receiving paid leave. My DH had a job where he got 4 weeks of paid leave each year but he wasn't allowed to take any of it. He had the week between Christmas and New Year's formally approved and then right before it was to start, the approval got rescinded by some senior manager at the company HQ in Manhattan :-(

 

One more reason why American corporate culture stinks!

[Laura Corin]

Four or more weeks (including public holidays) is normal in the UK.  I think that many middle class people would consider taking a week abroad, a week somewhere in the UK (self-catering cottage or something) and a couple of weeks for personal business.

 

ETA: in most UK companies, it's considered very rude to call employees when they are on holiday.  Senior execs may get calls, and anyone could get a call in a real, real emergency, but mostly we are left alone.  

 

As an admin in a building firm, I get 29 working days of holidays a year, including public holidays.  The factory shuts for two weeks over Christmas and New Year, so that's 19 days to use at other times.

 

In Hong Kong, it was really hard to get holiday time - people are really very serious workers.  Husband had to take two week breaks by law (he worked in finance and had to give time for any potential fraud to come to light) and he had to fight even for that.  And he was called a lot on holiday.

 

L

[Guest]

My DH works for a French company in the US. He gets 25 paid vacation days a year. This allows us to go to the beach for two weeks in the summer and two weeks at Christmas. He can also work from anywhere, so we tend to take a fall trip and a spring trip, too. He just works some during them.

I want my husband to have this job! :)

[TeacherZee]

Western Europe tends to take their vacation time very seriously, many things practically close down in the summer because everyone is gone. I worked as an intern for a UN agency and summer was dead time.

This. Although most places now have at least a skeleton crew on don't be surprised to find "semester stängt" (closed for holidays) on smaller shops here in July. Daycare centers usually close down several of the rooms, some completely and the kids go to other centers in the summer and hospitals run on skeleton staff and close down non emergency services.

 

I worked as a receptionist at a manufacturing company during July when I was a teen. Some days I would have only one or two phone calls all day (often from Bruno in Austria who I think was as bored as me :)) thank goodness I could read :)

[LibraryLover]

My dh has more vacation than he can take (they don't take it away; we get the vacation in the form of 'extra' salary at the end of the year). The workload is insane right now.

 

The best we can do is get in vacation time with his work travels, plan longer vacations during lulls (which vary- you can't assume it will be in the summer. We caught a 10 day break in March, fi), and try to steal long weekends when we can.  There is much work, and we need to be on this train right now.

 

But. We got it wrong. We do look on in amazement at relatives in Europe who can/are encouraged to walk away from work for 2+ weeks at a time, no matter.

[TeacherZee]

Ops my bad, actually we have 25 vacation days. I got the 20 because we also have a right to four weeks continuous time off in the summer. Many now break that up and take time off during the year as well. But if you want four weeks off during the summer you have a right to it and if your employer refuses to give it to you they are breaking the law (I'm fuzzy on paid vacation because as a teacher I work 194 days)

[LibraryLover]

Ops my bad, actually we have 25 vacation days. I got the 20 because we also have a right to four weeks continuous time off in the summer. Many now break that up and take time off during the year as well. But if you want four weeks off during the summer you have a right to it and if your employer refuses to give it to you they are breaking the law (I'm fuzzy on paid vacation because as a teacher I work 194 days)

 

That is truly a thing of beauty.  My dh has multiple high profile projects running this summer;  not all are US companies.

 

I'm imagining the work does pile up, but I also assume that it's seen as fine to let it pile up in some places. Not so here.

[Dory]

That is truly a thing of beauty.  My dh has multiple projects running this summer, and not all US companies. Those contractors expect that work to get done.

 

I'm imagining the work does pile up, but I also assume that it's seen as fine to let it pile up.

 

Yeah, with my dh's job he doesn't take that time off in the summer either. We time it around spring break up and the fall lull. Sometimes we get some mid winter time but that's on a lucky year as winter is usually insanely busy.

[TeacherZee]

That is truly a thing of beauty. My dh has multiple projects running this summer, and not all US companies. Those contractors expect that work to get done.

 

I'm imagining the work does pile up, but I also assume that it's seen as fine to let it pile up. For my dh those piles would mean he'd be out on his butt.

Yes it is seen as fine for them to pile up. International companies like the one my dad works for do keep people in every department on during the summer, they have to overlap their schedules so that someone is always working but yes work piles up. For the purpose of vacations summer runs from beginning of June until the end of August. It does help that our biggest trading partner is Germany that has a similar system, and that in Sweden it is expected. When I was growing up the industry CLOSED in July, and anymore manufacturing might still close for two weeks in the middle of July, they simply take from stock to fulfill orders.

 

But it is a privilege. And it is one of the reasons I chose to live here :)

[LibraryLover]

Nothing closes down here.

[Caroline]

I want my husband to have this job! :)

And he works from home. He goes to the office maybe twice a month. It really is an amazing job. He works hard, but he loves his work.

[Mandylubug]

Well. DH works in US and gets a personal day a month in addition to 3 weeks paid vacay. .. we are quite happy with it.

[LibraryLover]

And he works from home. He goes to the office maybe twice a month. It really is an amazing job. He works hard, but he loves his work.

 

Truly, it's the flexibility that helps make it work (as well as some travel perks).

 

[sewingmama]

Well DH is a school principal so he gets a lot more vacation then the average worker...about 12 weeks a year ( all paid).

 

I think a regular full time job in Aus is 4 weeks plus the many public holidays.

 

Part time and casual workers earn their days based on hours worked I think. Although getting to take them can be difficult because full time workers get first choice and a workplace can only have so many people off at one time.

[Spryte]

My DH works for a French company in the US. He gets 25 paid vacation days a year. This allows us to go to the beach for two weeks in the summer and two weeks at Christmas. He can also work from anywhere, so we tend to take a fall trip and a spring trip, too. He just works some during them.

Same here, only a German company in the US.

 

Vacations are viewed as a necessity by his co.

[LibraryLover]

 

One more reason why American corporate culture stinks!

 

Corporate/private sector is rough.  Even in the US, government employees tend to have more mandatory time off/federal holidays/sick leave/personal days they can accrue etc.  Heck, the entire Senate and Congress takes August off. 

 

If a Swiss or German citizen works for an international or private corporation, are they entitled by law to the same vacation packages as those who are government employees? 

[readwithem]

Funny story about different cultures' vacation philosophies - when we were expats dh had several new hires (i.e. just out of university) who had more holiday leave time than he did, with 6-10 years service with the company.  They started with 6 weeks, and at that time he had 4…..

[TeacherZee]

Corporate/private sector is rough.  Even in the US, government employees tend to have more mandatory time off/federal holidays/sick leave/personal days they can accrue etc.  Heck, the entire Senate and Congress takes August off. 

 

If a Swiss or German citizen works for an international or private corporation, are they entitled by law to the same vacation packages as those who are government employees?

 

Swedish but...the law is only true in the country you are based in. So a Swede in a Swedish company hired in the US would not be entitled to the same leave as someone working for the same company who was hired by their Swedish office. Does that make sense? It is 1 am here and I need to sleep. I shall return anon :)

[Susan in TN]

I think this depends a lot more on wealth rather than culture.

 

 

 

This is one question I had for the thread. 

 

Dh has 20 days paid vacation time, plus sick days, plus the entire company (U.S. branch of a Japanese Co.) shuts down between Christmas and New Years (paid time off as well.)  However, we just don't have the money to go on vacation for a week - certainly not to the beach or other "vacation" spot.  Visiting family at Christmas and tent camping in a state park are what we can afford if we plan and budget well ahead of time.  And don't get me wrong - we are certainly not living in poverty, but I guess vacations and trips "away" just haven't made priority status in our budgeting.

[regentrude]

If a Swiss or German citizen works for an international or private corporation, are they entitled by law to the same vacation packages as those who are government employees? 

 

If the employee is working in Germany, then yes - the company has to abide by German law.

If the German employee works in another country, no.

 

[LibraryLover]

Thanks!

[Butter]

Corporate/private sector is rough.  Even in the US, government employees tend to have more mandatory time off/federal holidays/sick leave/personal days they can accrue etc.  Heck, the entire Senate and Congress takes August off.

 

Congress is so not representative of the average federal employee.

 

My husband works for the federal government.  He gets 10 paid holidays, 2 weeks of sick leave, and 4 weeks of vacation a year (that'll go up to 5 weeks and 1 day per year once he hits 15 years worked).  The sick leave can be saved to no maximum.  Vacation days can only carry over 240 hours (6 weeks) at the end of the year (pretty much they can't say no to vacation at the end of the year if you have Use or Lose time at that point).  Benefits like these are one of the major reasons he works for the government.  Pay (when we lived in the DC area) was much, much lower than if he went private sector (it's only a little lower here in Texas).

[Heather in Neverland]

Well, here in Malaysia they certainly know how to take a day off. There are more public holidays than I can count, about 20 I think. They also get about 4 weeks worth of sick time and at least 4 weeks worth of vacation time.

 

They also travel a lot which is easy to understand when you can get to lots of different countries in a short plane ride.

[PeacefulChaos]

This is one question I had for the thread. 

 

Dh has 20 days paid vacation time, plus sick days, plus the entire company (U.S. branch of a Japanese Co.) shuts down between Christmas and New Years (paid time off as well.)  However, we just don't have the money to go on vacation for a week - certainly not to the beach or other "vacation" spot.  Visiting family at Christmas and tent camping in a state park are what we can afford if we plan and budget well ahead of time.  And don't get me wrong - we are certainly not living in poverty, but I guess vacations and trips "away" just haven't made priority status in our budgeting.

This.

I think DH gets reasonable PTO - 12 hours per month that accrues right now.  If he works here 5 years, it will be 15 per month (next February will be 5 years).  

BUT time off doesn't equal the money to take a vacation.  It just equals paid time off.  

[LibraryLover]

If the employee is working in Germany, then yes - the company has to abide by German law.

If the German employee works in another country, no.

 

 

 If that company is in a boom cycle, which is our current situation, and a long employee leave would cause a hardship for the company or employee, would they be in compliance w/ German law if the employee did not take all days, but was financially compensated?  

[Garga]

nm

[regentrude]

 If that company is in a boom cycle, which is our current situation, and a long employee leave would cause a hardship for the company or employee, would they be in compliance of German law if the employee did not take those days, but was financially compensated?  

 

All I know is that the employee is not required to take the vacation he is owed.

 

I have not found anything in the Federal Vacation Law that regulates whether you are allowed to pay the employee extra money for not taking the vacation. You might want to consult legal counsel.

[MiMi 4under3]

In my home country EVERYBODY vacations - rich or poor. It's a standard part of life at least once or twice per year. 

[FaithManor]

The problem here in the U.S. is often more of the worker not being allowed to take the earned leave time than not receiving paid leave. My DH had a job where he got 4 weeks of paid leave each year but he wasn't allowed to take any of it. He had the week between Christmas and New Year's formally approved and then right before it was to start, the approval got rescinded by some senior manager at the company HQ in Manhattan :-(

 

One more reason why American corporate culture stinks!

This happens all the time. When dh worked for Hewlett Packard he rarely worked less than 75 hrs. Per week and some weeks were 90‘s.During the 7 years he worked there, though he had three weeks paid vacation time each year, every.single.year. management rescinded two of three. We learned not to buy any trip without cancellation insurance because the company did not refund the loss.ever.

 

General Motors has been much better. Dh worked all last night and today on an emergency IT problem. His manager thanked him profusely and put three more days of vacation into his vacation hours and told dh too schdule them for whenever he wanted. So instead of taking my oldest boy to NJ to help dd and hubby move to their new place, dh is coming too and we get to take some extra time and go into Philadelphia to see Independence Hall and the sites...all of the boys get to go. Mini-vacation for the whole family. Woot!

 

Economically though, I think that vacations in this culture are luxuries many cannot afford and that holds true for workers in a lot of countries.

[LibraryLover]

 

 

I have not found anything in the Federal Vacation Law that regulates whether you are allowed to pay the employee extra money for not taking the vacation. You might want to consult legal counsel.

 

:) I was curious about the law; I have no actual need to know.

[JumpyTheFrog]

I would guess that a significant portion of US workers have no paid vacation at all. Do retail and service workers in other countries get paid time off? I worked in high school, college, and a bit after college graduation and never had any paid time off. I bet about half of all workers are hourly, which probably means no paid vacation or sick dats, and for many, no unpaid vacation days either.

[LibraryLover]

What are we calling vacations?  A break from work doesn't have to be all the bells and whistles of  the Hamptons, Disney World, or a timeshare in Spain.

[Aelwydd]

This happens all the time. When dh worked for Hewlett Packard he rarely worked less than 75 hrs. Per week and some weeks were 90‘s.During the 7 years he worked there, though he had three weeks paid vacation time each year, every.single.year. management rescinded two of three. We learned not to buy any trip without cancellation insurance because the company did not refund the loss.ever.

 

General Motors has been much better. Dh worked all last night and today on an emergency IT problem. His manager thanked him profusely and put three more days of vacation into his vacation hours and told dh too schdule them for whenever he wanted. So instead of taking my oldest boy to NJ to help dd and hubby move to their new place, dh is coming too and we get to take some extra time and go into Philadelphia to see Independence Hall and the sites...all of the boys get to go. Mini-vacation for the whole family. Woot!

 

Economically though, I think that vacations in this culture are luxuries many cannot afford and that holds true for workers in a lot of countries.

 

Yeah.  I theoretically have 17 paid vacation days a year, plus 6 paid holidays.

 

I haven't been on a full fledged vacation since 2009.  I was supposed to have gone to So. Cal for the last week of May.  Turned out I got a transfer to a new department, and they started training (the week of Memorial Day) on the 27th.

 

I haven't bothered to reschedule yet.

[JumpyTheFrog]

Okay, a quick search shows that only 25-35% of PT workers get any paid time off. About 20% of people work part time (defined as under 35 hours). I bet a big chunk of FT workers only get five days per year of combined vacation/sick time.

[Aelwydd]

Oh, and FTR, hockey tournaments do not count as vacation.  <_<

[Ausmumof3]

Aus reqs are 4 wks annual leave, 10 public holidays, 10 days sick leave, long service leave after 10 years. As Sadie pointed out companies get around the rules by employing casuAl employees. They are meant to be paid 12pc extra and can only be casual for so long before being made full time but there are all kind of loopholes. Lots of companies try to use sub contractors as another way around the rules. Dh hadn't been able to take it due to understaffing but recently things slowed down and we had eight weeks accrued. We took a caravan and free camped. It was absolutely amazing.

[FaithManor]

I agree there is a difference between breaks from work and travel. However, lower income workers typically do not work jos in which breaks of any significant length are earned or allowed and in our experience with middle class workers and large companies if you don't get away, away from your employer, ie. take a trip, they will attempt to keep you from taking consecutive days off and will try to bug you with work, complaining gets you a big red target for the next round of cutbacks.

[Joker]

We are in the US and just finished a five day vacation. We will take a three day one next month and a two week one at the end of the year. Dh is paid for all the days he misses. It seems he's always had at least ten working days vacation in addition to holidays. Right now he has 20 and he's never been denied the time of when he asks. Actually he doesn't ask; he just puts it down on the calendar enough in advance and they've never said no.

[Arcadia]

I would guess that a significant portion of US workers have no paid vacation at all. Do retail and service workers in other countries get paid time off?

Hubby gets paid time off as well as sabbatical here for semicon industry.

Back home in Singapore, if a part timer works at least a certain number of hours per week, they get prorated paid time off and benefits. Below that number of hours, they become counted as temp workers. My former full time secretary has 27 days of paid time off on top of the public holidays. I had 15 days when I first started work with the increment of 1 more day per year with the company cap at 30 days.

For Singapore, it is easy to spend the weekend in Malaysia (1hr drive north) or Indonesia (1hr ferry south). People tend to go on holidays to Japan, Hong Kong, Australia and Europe. They tend to go during school holidays in June and Mid November til end December.

[SproutMamaK]

OP here. :)

 

Re: vacations vs. travel. I was wondering about both, I suppose. If time off work is given, and what people in general do with that time. My husband, for example, gets 3 weeks off, but we usually can't afford to actually take that time down. (If he doesn't take time off he gets both the vacation pay and his regular pay.)  When he does take vacation time, we can't afford to actually go on a vacation, it's mostly just sitting at home.

 

I see all these threads about people asking where they should go for their "yearly vacation" and I feel a little out of place in what seems to be a culture where going on a family trip every year is just assumed, as that's SO far from my reality that I can't quite fathom it.  Not that it's a bad thing at all, I just can't reconcile that idea with real life, lol. It made me curious if other cultures in the world view travelling for a vacation each year as stereotypical Western abundance/extravangance, or if other cultures places a higher priority on travelling and seeing the world and think that only having a week to travel (and possibly not even travelling with that downtime) would be strange to them.