Re: Could we please instigate a ban???
 

Actually what I think is annoying is the concept of "newbie" and that somehow if someone is new to a forum that they are some lower class of individual. It's an unpleasant term because of how it's used.

Re: Could we please instigate a ban???
 

It's all about context. I've seen a fair few newcomers identify themselves as newbies. I initially found the term "Brit" a bit offensive but that's because I remember it being daubed on walls in Belfast. Even the mainstream news reporters here use it. Mark Kelly used while reporting on the Queen Mother's funeral. And he was paying a compliment.

Re: Could we please instigate a ban???
 

A good point. It is all about context but so often I find the word "newbie" used negatively and deliberately so.

Re: Could we please instigate a ban???
 

Hi,

After reading this thread I asume 2 weeks is the norm then!!!!!!!;)
What ever you say about it, it is crap.That is my opinion and obviously some people do not agree.
Some people decide to opt for australia on this basis and I can`t blame them.

Re: Could we please instigate a ban???
 

NO two weeks is not necessarily the norm.

Two weeks is the government mandated minimum.

Can someone tell me what the government mandated minimum is in England?

Is it that much more?

There really is no norm per say it all depends on the employer and in some cases the arrangement you can mutually agree on.

Re: Could we please instigate a ban???
 

UK workers are entitled to a minimum of 20 (working) days annual leave, but must rely on the generosity of their employers for entitlement to the UK's eight bank holidays.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/2210307.stm

Edit: that article's 5yrs old, just noticed. Not sure if it's up to date.

2nd edit: this link is better, and it seems entitlement's due to increase to 28 days? ---> http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Employme...ff/DG_10029788

Re: Could we please instigate a ban???
 

Thanks.

I just had a quick browse of the article and it states that bank holidays (Statutory Holidays as we call them) can be included so they are really not much better than the two week minimum you get here.

So why all the whining.:confused:

Re: Could we please instigate a ban???
 

I don't think it really matters how many days you get. In Canada it is poor form, what they call a "career limiting move" to take your vacation (unless you work for the government), in the UK taking vacation is sociably acceptable. It's the difference in attitude that matters rather than the strict legalities.

Re: Could we please instigate a ban???
 

I've never worked anywhere that didn't include the bank holidays as paid leave - I think I got 37 or 38 days in the NHS, and 40 days private company - inc. all bank holidays.

Re: Could we please instigate a ban???
 

Can we please insigate a ban on all bans.

Democracy, freedom of speech and all that, innit.

Rich.

Re: Could we please instigate a ban???
 

Getting paid on bank Holidays is the norm here(you may get very few exceptions).Thats the difference."20 days is the minimum (many jobs get 25 days +)plus Bank holidays.

Re: Could we please instigate a ban???
 

I spent the majority of my working life with the Government here in Canada and started with 26 days, 15 annual leave and 11 lieu days for stat holidays. We had to work the stats as the job is a 365 day a year operation. ;)

If I were still at work I would be getting 41 inclusive of stats. ;)

Prior to that I worked for Shell Canada for five years and got three weeks (15 days) plus stat holidays when I started there too.

Re: Could we please instigate a ban???
 

"I don't think it really matters how many days you get. In Canada it is poor form, what they call a "career limiting move" to take your vacation (unless you work for the government), in the UK taking vacation is sociably acceptable. It's the difference in attitude that matters rather than the strict legalities."

WHAT???

I don't know where you work but I have never, ever heard the taking of holidays being called a career limiting move! I worked for 30 years in Canada and everybody took holidays every year. Everybody took the stat holidays off.

Whatever amount of holidays a person gets in any country, I think it would be a rather trivial unimportant reason for not moving there.

Re: Could we please instigate a ban???
 

I'd agree that basing a major life change on holiday entitlement is a bit silly. However, I think dbd has a valid point. Before I moved to Canada, I spent four years with the Canadian government (at the High Commission in London). I was essentially told that I was expected to not take any annual leave during the first year. I was also on probation for the first year. No-brainer.

Re: Could we please instigate a ban???
 

The average number of vacation days in Canada is 19 (in 2006, it was 21 in 2005). 24% of employed adults in Canada do not usally take all their vacation.

www.vacationdeprivation.com/survey_results.pdf

I suggest that most people could find 19 days of self amusement in the course of the year, they don't take it because they are concerned that, if they take a day off, someone will get ahead of them at work.

I cannot recall anyone else at work taking a vacation (and I've been involved with this firm for twenty years) though some people do send their wives and children away in the summer. My "frequent" vacations, averaging a bit less than a week per year, are a constant source of resentment and friction in the workplace.

It's a cultural thing, Americans build their lives around their homes, Brits build it around the pub, for Canadians it's the office that is important. I think they're a miserable bunch, they deserve their weather.