Paid Time Off

[lanejudy]

I’m just surprised at the lack of mandatory vacation time.
I thought that was kind of a given in all first world countries.

The US is well behind other countries with regards to vacation or paid time off requirements.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I’m just surprised at the lack of mandatory vacation time.
I thought that was kind of a given in all first world countries.

I think your point was made several comments back...we get it already

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

The US is well behind other countries with regards to vacation or paid time off requirements.

It's not a comparison to every country but generally the U.S. is considered a more productive country. It can also be hard to do business with certain countries when they have breaks so getting a hold of people in Germany or France, etc can slow down projects and other things. There's always upsides and downsides to how things go.

 

[barkley]

States and/or individual businesses can set "better" rules than the federal minimums for any of these as well - such as some states pay higher minimum wage, some states require xx sick days, etc.

yup, our state's minimum wage (including tipped jobs) raises to $17.13 January first.

The counter point is by not encouraging those who are sick to stay home, HR is instead further impacting and reducing productivity by spreading the sickness throughout the employees. Bring on the next pandemic.

YES-THIS. I remember getting into a 'spirited' discussion with my manager when he said that I was going to have to start tracking my staff's sick leave usage and if it exceeded (best of my recollection) 60% of their monthly/annual allocations then have a conference with them which could lead to a write up. I was AGHAST-first they were union and there was no way a write up would ever fly when they were using what the employee handbook and their union contract said they rightfully earned and accrued, second (and my bigger point) was that we worked with the public who were often Ill, or the children they brought in were (back when Medicaid did'nt issue traditional insurance cards but monthly paper perforated 'stamps' to get services we got dozens of people daily who needed replacements) and it was better if one of my staff felt a 'tickle in the throat' to take a day or two off vs. hacking and sneezing and exposing everyone else in the unit. I asked if he was going to cover if myself and my entire unit ended up all out with a virus that then toggled to our kids which kept us off longer but still not exceeding our allocations (large banks in some staff's case) of sick leave. I think my reaction was not isolated b/c I never heard it brought up again.

 

[disneychrista]

The counter point is by not encouraging those who are sick to stay home, HR is instead further impacting and reducing productivity by spreading the sickness throughout the employees. Bring on the next pandemic.

My current employer basically tells employees who come in visible sick that they are given sick days to use them when they are sick and to go home. Of course there is always going to be a someone who will call out when they aren't sick. It is hard to completely stop that.

 

[kdonnel]

My current employer basically tells employees who come in visible sick that they are given sick days to use them when they are sick and to go home. Of course there is always going to be a someone who will call out when they aren't sick. It is hard to completely stop that.

So much of the work culture in the US is fearing you will be fired or first to be laid off if you take any time off.

 

[sam_gordon]

Are you sure about this? As far as I know, having worked in HR for a number of years previously, there is no requirement that holidays be paid at anything other than straight time. Many employers will pay OT or DT but there is no requirement. This could have changed as I haven’t kept up on all the law changes in the past several years since HR is no longer part of my current job.

There is no legal requirement that holidays be paid extra. BUT, at least at my past employer, everyone got 8 hours for a holiday, whether they worked or not.

If you worked a holiday, you got your base rate in addition to the holiday pay (so DT if you will). Not everyone was required to work on a holiday, but there were positions that had to be filled on holidays (usually less than a "normal" work day).