america, why the no vacation?

[MrColin]

Government workers are the only people who get vacation and health care anymore.

The marketplace is responsible for this. As long as there is some schmuck willing to take the job, businesses will incrementally suck more and more. Its a race to the bottom as workers lose bargaining power.

 

[highland145]

Government is responsible for employer paid health care, vacation, too, possibly.

 

[fstime]

Because the average Americans are morons compared to your average European. Hell, some of our most patriotic members will call the French and Italians scum and think how dare they get 5 weeks vacation, or how dare they get universal healthcare!. How will their businesses ever make the record profits like they do here with that thinking and afford to pay their CEO over 200x the salary of the average employee's wages!

American's have been brainwashed in this country to slowly become legalized slaves. They have forgotten what it is like to live, aside from their routine go out to the bar every weekend or stay in some shitty all-inclusive hotel vacation where you don't even leave the resort.

The answer to your question is, because giant corporations run this country control and how your average person thinks.

To see clear evidence of the brainwashing, look at the attack on the public sector. Because these people have pension plans, great health care, earlier retirement options, and so on, the brainwashed look at that and say they are getting too much instead of we all should be getting these benefits which have been slowly been disappearing from the private sector over the past 35 years. The people with that kind of thinking are doing the elites work for them without even realizing it.

 

[ViviTheMage]

That is actually low, I thought most got like 1-2 MONTHS....haha.

Every job i've had gives me 4 weeks of PTO ... shrug, I demand it, haha. But then again, I still take unpaid if the 4 weeks don't cover it. That includes all holidays, even good friday, LOL....6 sick days, and 2-3 floaters a year....I work for a fortune company too.

 

[max347]

Why do people think they should be able to take more than a week off at a time? Vacation is definitely necessary, but if you are in a position where taking 2+weeks off has no effect on the company- you are not critical, sorry.

 

[ViviTheMage]

Why do people think they should be able to take more than a week off at a time? Vacation is definitely necessary, but if you are in a position where taking 2+weeks off has no effect on the company- you are not critical, sorry.

I love taking 2 weeks off at a time...don't care if I am critical, I make plenty and am not 'critical' :whiste:

 

[fstime]

Why do people think they should be able to take more than a week off at a time? Vacation is definitely necessary, but if you are in a position where taking 2+weeks off has no effect on the company- you are not critical, sorry.

Wow, you must be a very special fellow. To think your company can not find anyone else of the millions of candidates in the workforce to cover your job for an entire 2 weeks!

Are you the lead scientist at the Large Hadron Collider by any chance?!?!

 

[ch33zw1z]

Why do people think they should be able to take more than a week off at a time? Vacation is definitely necessary, but if you are in a position where taking 2+weeks off has no effect on the company- you are not critical, sorry.

Work to live, don't live to work. If your company can't cover for you for 2 weeks, then they're not doing something right.

 

[WilliamM2]

Seems most American workers get time off:

http://smallbusiness.chron.com/average-paid-vacation-time-workplace-22507.html

I get 5 weeks vacation (one at a time usually). I've never had a job without paid vacation, even when I worked at a grocery store in high school.

 

[brianmanahan]

my plan is to just save as much as i can so i can hopefully make up for it later

saving %50 a year or so, hopefully gets me to a point where i can semi-retire around 50, and then have some time to do some longer trips/cool stuff that i want to do

 

[brianmanahan]

Why do people think they should be able to take more than a week off at a time? Vacation is definitely necessary, but if you are in a position where taking 2+weeks off has no effect on the company- you are not critical, sorry.

lol, ever heard of something called planning and delegation?

imho being "critical" sucks more than it doesnt. you are the on call, on demand person to get a job done, whether you like it or not. you want to do something new and exciting? tired of your old critical routine? too bad, you are critical so you are staying put where you're at. sometimes companies will pay better as a result, but most of the times the amount of extra pay doesnt make up for the amount of headache.

 

[ViviTheMage]

shit, I am salary, and get paid OT!

 

[LunarRay]

I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Bears from the top of my Father's shoulders, looking up at the largest tree on earth holding his hand. All those moments on vacation will be lost in time, like tears in rain. Time for the last of us humans to die replaced by heartless batteries.

Ah... the joy of doing what one enjoys so much that a vacation away from that joy is misery, I imagine...

I remember though.... looking up at the tallest of buildings and bears at the zoo... but then I was young and had to learn just how much real joy can be found shaping minds and lunch with the banker...

I guess I can see the benefit to the worker for vacations... Six weeks a year is about right, I figure... Yeah! I guess it depends on what you really enjoy and you should pursue that if only a few weeks at a time.

 

[WhipperSnapper]

my friend just got a new job. pay is decent, but the guy in charge doesnt like taking vacations so he doesnt give any vacation time to his employees. other than federal holidays, you have to work every day. he says he might allow a week off every few years if they get low enough on work.

It's part of our nation's slow transformation into a third world country where a small percentage of the people will be very rich and the rest will slave away for them. Since upper middle class jobs and even merely middle class jobs are hard to come by (since we shipped much of our economy overseas), people will be willing to slave away without a vacation or free time.

In contrast, people in those evil excrement grubbing socialist "people's states" like France, most of Western Europe, and the Scandinavian countries will enjoy more vacation and more overall free time.

But we're "smarter" than they are because we have the wisdom needed not to succumb to their socialist tendencies.

 

[WhipperSnapper]

I'm underemployed, but I work for a Fortune 500 company and even though I've only been here for 1 year, I'm getting 20 paid vacation/holiday days this year and I only have to work about 45 hours/week and don't have to bring any work home with me. I'm poor because of my student loans, but I do enjoy my free time.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

i hate, hate taking vacations or vacation time off.

Never have children. Ever.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

It's part of our nation's slow transformation into a third world country where a small percentage of the people will be very rich and the rest will slave away for them. Since upper middle class jobs and even merely middle class jobs are hard to come by (since we shipped much of our economy overseas), people will be willing to slave away without a vacation or free time.

In contrast, people in those evil excrement grubbing socialist "people's states" like France, most of Western Europe, and the Scandinavian countries will enjoy more vacation and more overall free time.

But we're "smarter" than they are because we have the wisdom needed not to succumb to their socialist tendencies.

Remember this when people complain about US life expectancies being lower and then blame health care. We've known for quite some time that stress kills and that we're dying due to it. There's good reason to believe our suicidal tendencies are successful.

 

[HeXen]

Never have children. Ever.

Irrelevant. I like to work, am a workaholic and have had always had a job of some sort since i was 13. Vacations are expensive and to me they are nothing but fading memories as apposed to spending that money on something constructive. I'd rather buy new wood and build something than drive many hours and go wherever.
My wife finally talked me into a couple different vacations a few years back, i don't really find laying around on a beach, walking, shopping, driving any fun at all. All the other actual entertaining things like canoeing, boating, tours..etc are short and scattered between the aforementioned and quickly become a memory without anything to show for it...i need something to show for it, usually i'd rather be at work making money than out wasting it on building a memory of me being bored on a freaking beach with nothing to do but stare at chicks in bikini's paying way too much for a freaking margarita..not me, don't judge.

I'm the type i just have to always physically be doing or interacting with something. I can't even stand to watch TV which is why i like construction work so much and am lucky to have found one in particular i can work year round and sometimes 6 days a week.^_^. Laziest i can get is computer related stuff but it's interactive, unlike TV or sitting in a beach chair or sit here and there..how do you people sit so much and watch stuff? crazy it seems.
i really don't know how lazy people can stand to live the lives they do honestly.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

Irrelevant. I like to work, am a workaholic and have had always had a job of some sort since i was 13. Vacations are expensive and to me they are nothing but fading memories as apposed to spending that money on something constructive. I'd rather buy new wood and build something than drive many hours and go wherever.
My wife finally talked me into a couple different vacations a few years back, i don't really find laying around on a beach, walking, shopping, driving any fun at all. All the other actual entertaining things like canoeing, boating, tours..etc are short and scattered between the aforementioned and quickly become a memory without anything to show for it...i need something to show for it, usually i'd rather be at work making money than out wasting it on building a memory of me being bored on a freaking beach with nothing to do but stare at chicks in bikini's paying way too much for a freaking margarita..not me, don't judge.

I'm the type i just have to always physically be doing or interacting with something. I can't even stand to watch TV which is why i like construction work so much and am lucky to have found one in particular i can work year round and sometimes 6 days a week.^_^. Laziest i can get is computer related stuff but it's interactive, unlike TV or sitting in a beach chair or sit here and there..how do you people sit so much and watch stuff? crazy it seems.
i really don't know how lazy people can stand to live the lives they do honestly.

It's completely relevant. Your priority is your work. Mine is my family. Vacations are a key in building memories for all of us. It's not a punishment. It's not being lazy. It's about those you are responsible for. Children aren't a footnote, they're the thesis, your immortality, the only thing of real value once you die. Don't have "he was a great paycheck" carved on your tombstone.

 

[Murloc]

Why should the government dictate how a business is run.

They interfere enough with other regulations and paperwork.

Vacation is a benefit that the company provides to the employee

because low vacation time and dishumane working hours create damage to all society through medical expense and lost work-time.
Holidays is a necessary interfence in business just like forbidding child labor is.

@HeXen, some people just don't know what to do with their vacations and that's fine, but it's a fact that you are part of a minority and that most people do get stressed out at work and need a period of time longer than a week-end to disconnect from it.

Also for families holidays are absolutely necessary, hayabusa is right on. During normal weeks they see their teacher more than their parents.

Anyway your problem is maybe that you're trying the wrong kinds of vacation.
Trips should be about discovering different cultures, food, cities, architecture, cool buildings and landscapes. If you're a very physical guy you could also do rough like backpacking etc., something that is not so easy.

If you just don't care about this stuff, you can always use the time off to do some hands-on hobby you like.

 

[Incorruptible]

The government has no right to interfere with a business like this. How about we obey the Constitution?

This must be a really small company, OP your friend should find a new job and could probably get a better one.

 

[Paratus]

Why do people think they should be able to take more than a week off at a time? Vacation is definitely necessary, but if you are in a position where taking 2+weeks off has no effect on the company- you are not critical, sorry.

If you leaving for two weeks effects your company they are poorly managed. They need train at least one other person to do your job. If you leave or are hit by a bus a healthy company would be minimally affected.

If you can prevent this by hoarding work/knowledge then they need to fire you stat and replace you with multiple people.

 

[Murloc]

Why do people think they should be able to take more than a week off at a time? Vacation is definitely necessary, but if you are in a position where taking 2+weeks off has no effect on the company- you are not critical, sorry.

plenty of business people who run their own small or medium enterprise do 2+ weeks long vacations.
Sure, they'll spend most of their idle time on the phone, but still.

It can have an effect on the company. So does letting employees not work on Sunday, how comes that this laziness is acceptable?

 

[ichy]

Why should the government dictate how a business is run.

God forbid that we place some slight value on people's quality of life.

 

[ichy]

Your friend must have Stockholm Syndrome to work at a place like that. Nobody ever ever laid on their deathbed thinking "I wish I'd spent more time at the office."