American Boss Can’t Comprehend European Annual Leave Rules, Gets Put In Her Place

This c**p happens in Canada too. In a one year period I had to use 8 sick days (for a combo of our children's illnesses and my own. I was called into my boss's (who also happened to be the VP of HR) office and berated for taking " too much time off". When I asked if she was still happy with my work she said yes. When I asked if she had any concerns with my results she said no. When I asked why, if that was the case, there was a problem, she told me the "optics" weren't good. Apparently it was more important that the rest of the department saw me at the office than it was for the work to get done. Same reason I wasn't allowed to WFH. She was evil in a lot of ways but this one really rubbed me the wrong way.

It's the final day of a week of holiday for me. By the end of March I have to have used all of my yearly days off and my annual hour counter must be no more than +/- 14 hours. So a week of pottering around in the garden, reading, drinking lots of tea...and being paid to do so. 😀

So I'm in Eastern Europe. I have applied for a government gig, a 9 month contract because the job seemed cool. During the interview process, it turned out, they wanted to pay me 600 USD (which is the minimum wage in our country) to go to Australia on MY money (as in I'm paying for everything) AND volunteer the day offs I'm legally entitled to. It took a lot of self control not to laugh in their faces but considering my face comes with subtitles, I think they knew exactly what it is that I'm not saying. We agreed I was not the right person for the job. EDITED: to add that yes, that's not a typo. Australia. Land of the kangaroos, where rent is 4 figures and half a kilo of chicken breast costs 50AUD. The government would have paid me 600USD for the pleasure of working 20 days without pay + being on call at all times.

Evil cannot comprehend Good, tha same way American employers can't comprehend European and South American labor rights.

I need to move to Europe. I work for an assisted living community, routinely work more than 40 hours a week, have to clock out for lunch, and get five days of leave after working six months.

One of the many reasons I LOVE Europe: employees have rights, and they are actually respected 😎

In my company we get get an email from my boss if we have PTO left by November, telling us to please take them all by end of the year 😊

My husband works for an American company in Australia. When they first took over the brand my husband had recently come back from 6 weeks leave. The American boss was surprised that the leave had been approved and said that it would be "looked into"

It's a cultural thing for sure. I'm an American working in Canada. I used to feel a weird guilt taking my vacation days. Now (8 years in Canada) I'm much more accustomed to just taking my vacation. I did switch from a job where I could just pick vacation days (because I made sure it worked with other people's vacation, work commitments, etc.) to a job where I have to put in a request and wait for an okay. I think it would not have annoyed me 8 years ago but now it does.

Why we have to allow those uncivilized attitudes to pollute our social system is beyond my understanding. The us social system is lagging 100 years behind. After all there has been progress in all areas of labour. Production has increased exponentially and yet hours worked haven't diminished and real wages are stagnant. Women have to work to make ends meet and pensions get later and later. BUT, there are so many new billionaires and sycophants.

I fault the company. They either (a) didn't train this manager on what European labor laws require or (b) didn't notice that she wasn't getting it and wasn't going to.

This is why I work for myself in the states. I couldn't handle someone telling me what's too much time off. If I'm sick, I'm sick. If I need a mental health day, that's my business. This is a good reminder that companies are not family, their for profit business that want your blood.

All these European employee rights (and other social care regulations) did not fall out of the Eurpoean sky. People and Unions (which are an entirely different thing than in the US) put effort in this since 150 years. In big lines, they are comparable in the E Uand EU-affilliated countries like Norway or Switzerland. In sme areas, they differ massively, e.g. official pension age. It varies between 60 and 67, with the Netherlands aiming for 70 for people born after 2000

If you are a team leader and you are managing an international team you need to know their work culture . Each country has different work policies

As a teacher, during a beginning of the year training, I had to attend an “induction training” for new teachers. However, this was my third full-time year at my current district and had three part-time years prior. So I wasn’t coming in like an average first year teacher. The guest speaker who was a principal from a different district said directly— “ everyone generally gets 10 sick days and three personal days. But don’t take them. It’s a hassle for us to find a replacement for you, and it’s inconsistent for your students. And also, there’s no such thing as mental health days. I don’t understand how anyone in the workforce can think it’s OK for a mental health day, and just take the day off from work “. For someone like me who has a lot of physical issues and has mental health problems as a result of those physical issues, I wanted so badly to tell him just how real a mental health day could be!

I used to manage a team of guys, we all had 31 days annual leave. I spent some of my time reminding them all that their leave is part of their package they earn. It’s theirs to use as they see fit and the company doesn’t own it, they do. You wouldn’t return a chunk of you wages each year so why would you give your company your annual leave?

It happens the other way around as well. A friend of mine worked for a Swedish company that opened a facility in Virginia. They are completely clueless how things work in the US and pretty much refuse to listen when someone tries to explain it. She finally had enough and quit. They had to hire 3 to replace her and last I heard, can't keep workers for long. To top it off, they receive a lot of product on pallets....custom made pallets. Pretty much no one wants them because they're non-standard sizes and often made from materials that other users don't want. They had so many piled so high, the county officials got after them and told them if they didn't get them down to a safe height and also get rid of them, there'd be fines and possible revocation of their business license. Friend told me, I told some people I know that want any pallets. On the second load they tell my guy they want to paid for them, more than the pallet company was going to charge to take them back. Nope, he left.

Bryn

Bryn

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If you're going to have employees in another state, let alone another country, you need to know the laws & rules for that place. There are going to be many rules and such things that are different than the ones you are used to, and getting mad at employees for not following them when they don't apply where they live is childish & shows a lack of understanding.

I really think this sort of thing is one of the reasons the current American administration is so anti-Europe. Europe aptly demonstrates that workers don’t have to be slaves to companies in order to have a well-functioning economy. Workers knowing it _can_ be better is a threat to our oligarchical rulers

Meanwhile I had to get FMLA to be off UNPAID for 8 weeks for a csection and have to have FMLA approved every year to be off for chronic illness. I hate this place.

I just started a new job, I get s whole 40 hours of PTO this first year, and have to use it on 4 hour increments. I miss 1 hour to go to the doctor? They dock me 4 hours off of my time. I'd think of moving overseas, but the orange face demon has made foreigners hate me and other Americans, so I'm kind of stuck.

Kind of the law really, you get a certain amount of time off as annual leave, they don't pay you for it and if it's not used you lose it. As long as you use the exact amount of days you're contractually entitled to and don't take the p**s, what's the problem? Demand to be paid for the days this idiot is thinking about not authorising - as that's not a thing in the UK they will soon back down.

Dear Americans, I have 28 days paid leave, can buy a further 10 (out of an additional 5% salary for goodies so could instead buy a laptop etc for nothing), work 37.5 hours a week for a liveable wage and get 3 months full salary sickness a year (with doctors notes obviously)

Had a lead at tsa they tried to write me up for being off sick and trying to claim excessive. When I asked her when was the last time I called in sick. Her answer 4 mons prior. Yeah I don't call that excessive. You got written up if you called in more than 3 times in a 3 month period. But there was 4 mons between my call ins. She couldn't write me up. USA is bad about people calling in sick to the point one coworker came to work with strep throat and it spread like wildfire with me catching it first.

Ge Po

Ge Po

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Just to make things clear, for those who do not have such arrangements: Our obligatory holydays/days off (usually around 25 day for a fulltime employee) or not free. When a contract is made, your salary is a certain amount-before-taxes. Depending on you personal situation, taxes are often deducted from this salary by your employer. Your wages are then usually paid out with a fixed amount every month. Your employer usually also safes up a certain percentage from this amount-before-taxes every month. If you take some days off/holidays, you still get paid your steady monthly wages, because your employer already saved up the difference from your monthly pay. So basically, what you get paid every month is, say, 1/13,5 from your full salary-before-taxes, minus 1/12 of your yearly taxes. The surplus on this will usually be paid out in June, as extra holiday-money.

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All these people sound incredible lazy with zero work ethics, how do they ever get any thing done?