A example of a Canadian job
 

My girlfriend had worked as support staff in a local health care facility. She has had various different jobs in this facility. They are allowed to bid on jobs that are posted and if they go to the new job and don't like it, they have three months to decide and then they can go back to their old job if they so choose!

She did this once. Tried the job for a week. Hated it. Went back to her old job. Now, the admin person sitting next to her has taken a new job. Only been gone a couple of weeks. Hates it. Is coming back to her old job.

In the private sector/real world that never happens. I always worked for lawyers. I suppose in a law firm you could try to return to your old job but if they had hired a new person, I don't think they would kick her out just because you had made a mistake.

My friend has now decided to take early retirement. She has I don't know how many sick days accumulated so she decides which day she wants to retire, then she deducts her accumulated sick days and can probably retire a couple of months earlier, depending on how many sick days she has accumulated.

I don't know if this happens a lot in the UK, but having worked in the private sector all my life, it sounds pretty cushy to me.

In Saskatchewan we get 3 weeks holidays after a year's working in a job. We were usually told "use them or lose them". You could not accumulate holidays and then take 3 months off! If you didn't take them it was too bad - you didn't get paid for them.

Re: A example of a Canadian job
 

Sounds like a typical Canadian public sector set up I agree. Would be extremely unusual practice in the business world here or in UK! Having said that, my first Canadian employer (a one time crown corporation) did have grandfathered vacation rights similar to those you describe. I had a guy working in my dept who retired a year before his official date on the basis of accumlated vacation. Those days have long gone in that organisation now.

Re: A example of a Canadian job
 

In Canada based on the Labour Standards Act you are entitled to the vacation time and or pay . If you do not use take time off the employer does not have to allow you to roll the vacation time over to the next year but they must pay you out the vacation pay by the fiscal year end they can not refuse to pay you the vacation pay which is usually 4% for two weeks and 6% for three weeks ect...
So many employers take advantage of a new employee's lack of knowledge of the Labour laws in Canada it is really dreadful.

Island Girl