Paul_Shepherd

Don't start me on this subject, I love living in Canada, but this is probably my biggest pet hate.....its almost inhumane in this day and age!! Even Canadians think it crap and complain about it!!

Personally I think the worst part is when you have worked with a company long enough to accrue a reasonable level of vacation and then get laid of through no fault of your own and lose it all! I was almost up to 4 weeks....I had no intention of going to work anywhere else, but then the company laid a bunch of us off....so back down to zero weeks for first year of new employment at another company (which rubs salt further into the wounds) then after a year, I get 2 weeks!! whoopie doo!! lol Its tough and I find it hard to deal with, IMO vacation is the key to quality of life, and its just not availabe here. However I knew this before I came here, so I try to deal with it, and factor in the salary I want, so it includes the cost of the unpaid time I will be taking....and also factor the cost of an additional unpaid week in the event of emergencies like your grandfather (whcih I was sorry to hear - I also had a similar experience with a family member) Planning it out, calculating the cost and adding it to your salary is the only way to do it. So yes I can fully empathise.....

I also add a day to stat holidays sometimes to make a longer weekend.....another way of trying to stretch the pittance we get. lol

Almost Canadian

Become self employed. Then you can have as much vacation time as you wish.

Also, when first starting a position, tell them how much vacation time you want and inform them that you are willing to be paid less than your colleagues to obtain it. I have never had a problem with adopting such a position.

zdenka

Honestly, the worst part for me is that nobody back in Europe gets this. I spend all my vacation every year going to visit them and end up sitting on my parents' sofa, with visiting relatives. I do love seeing them all but is it really a vacation? Nobody comes over to visit me because it's too inconvenient, while they sit on 6 weeks of vacation. But god forbid I skip one year, I am the worst person ever.

scilly

The best way is not to get them used to you visiting every year ......

........ we left in 1967, I went back in 1970 because my father died, but our first holiday was in 1973.

We then went back in 1975 on our way to Australia (grandparents hadn't yet seen our child, and we wanted to go to Russia). OH took child back in 1980 when she was still in Kindergarten. I think we had 1 trip some time in the 1980s. Then it was 1995, 2001, and 2008 (the last trip). We had a trip to Europe in 2005 during which we originally had no intention of stopping in England (all parents dead by then), but finally went for 3 days at the end of the trip because a cousin was undergoing chemo for breast cancer.

OH was on an International Committee in the 1980s and went to Europe at least once a year forfr 5 or 6 years, so he would add on 3 or 4 days to visit his mother but no-one else. We added 3 days in England.

My father made 1 trip over here in 1970, the year before he died. In-laws came roughly every 2 years through the '70s and '80s, but their daughter was also over here.

Every single time bar one we went back for at least 4 weeks, sometimes 6 weeks (we had longer holidays than most), and every single time until the 1990s everyone wanted us to visit them. Not one relative or friend was willing to compromise by meeting us half way or coming to us when we thought we might rent a cottage by the sea.

The best trips back were the last 3. In 1995 we had booked 4 weeks, but not told anyone when I was suddenly diagnosed with breast cancer. Within 6 weeks I had been diagnosed and had 2 operations with the last being a mastectomy. One week after that operation I was declared free, and given permission to go on our trip, leaving within 3 weeks.

At that point we told 3 important family members and 1 friend, and otherwise did our own thing. We stayed with a niece living in Scotland, drove along Hadrian's Wall, stayed in Scarborough (where I spent all my childhood holidays), and went down to the friend in Devon .............. almost the whole time bar about 10 days was our own. It was blissful!

In 2001, we wen back for 2 weeks on a business trip, leaving here just after 9/11 ....... saw a couple of relations and a couple of friends for brief periods of time. The trip in 2008 was 6 weeks long (retired), and we did our own thing, saw a couple of friends and a couple of relations but basically had over 4 weeks on our own ............. just like tourists.


The major factor for us was that we were NOT desperate to see the UK or the relations ...... there are too many other places in Canada and the world to see. We have spent holidays in all provinces in this country, including almost every part of BC. The only places we have not been are NWT, Nunavut and Labrador. We've been to several states in the US, but never Hawaii.

zdenka

This is gold. My brother visits every 10 years and yet he is treated like a god. I go almost every year and yet it's never enough.

CanadaJimmy

BristolUK

Perhaps you're seen as deserting them.
I've never been back - nearly 15 years now. I paid for my mum to visit after we settled in the house and again for Christmas in the first year but no visits in either direction since.

scilly

As CanadaJimmy and Bristol have said, this is more of a family situation you are in.

My OH and his sister were in a somewhat similar situation .............. his parents never complained when he said he was emigrating, in fact, "we'd have done it if we were younger".

3 years later his sister decided to leave the UK, she first considered Australia but then thought it might be nice to have a relation on the same continent, so opted for Canada and BC.

She was 8 years younger than OH, and had always been her mother's favourite. Unfortunately, she told her parents that she was coming for 2 years, as that was the visa she got.

She then met "the one", went home on a visit after the 2 years ........ but it was to break the news that she was getting married at Christmas and staying in BC.

Neither OH nor his sister got pressure to visit more often, but the parents did ensure that they came out every 2 years until f-i-l became ill. After he died, m-i-l made a couple of trips by herself, but with the intention of emigrating to live with her daughter up north. Unfortunately there were a lot of major problems with that, not least that she had major health problems that the families here would have had to cover (at around $50,000 a year), and my brother-in-law had died leaving his wife with 3 children under the age of 13.

But what you do have to be wary of is when they start blaming you for leaving them ........... the guilt trip is a big one to lay on anyone.

In our case, it was laid on ME ....... I was the cause of OH emigrating even though we didn't even get involved as more than "just friends" until after he had made all the decisions and got his visa. By extension, I was therefore the cause of his sister emigrating.

Over 25 years after m-i-l died, I still cannot follow her logic!

tweed_wearer

Look for a job with a British/European HQ-d company. I do and get 5 weeks paid vacation time, plus stats and need not use any of that time for medical/other appointments because my employer is flexible with that. Also flexible/remote working is encouraged. This company it seems is stuck with me now for the foreseeable.

zdenka

Wow lucky! I have not heard of this. My friends who work for international companies for sure don't get that much. Well done.

Siouxie

What's vacation or holiday pay / time off? The nearest I come to that as a remote worker is time and a half if I work Christmas Day. I don't get holiday pay, stat days paid, sick pay or time off in lieu. Whilst in theory I can take time off at will the reality is that if I don't work I don't get paid and there's no guarantee that there will be any work for me when I return.

GrandmaLynn

I mentioned to my employer that I need 3 weeks unpaid leave next year and they basically told me they would have to let me go if I did as it wouldn't be fair on everyone else, I'm also used to 5 weeks and really struggling with 2 weeks as I have two children on the other side of
Canada, one in Australia and my elderly Mum in the u.k

scilly

I'm afraid that is what it is in Canada, as you must realise if you have read this thread.

It's a different country with different customs.

If it is any consolation at all, many Americans get even fewer holidays!

scrubbedexpat091

Some employers in Canada like to stay fair and keep all employees on a level field.

Can be the same with raises, I have worked in some places where everyone got the same exact raise so the company couldn't be accused of favoritism, does suck as the worst performing gets the same as the best performer when companies do that.

CanadaJimmy

That sucks, sorry to hear about your situation.

Some companies do offer more vacation. At my work, we do get 4 weeks paid, and one of my co-workers takes a 4 week block off every year to visit family in Asia.

Maybe time to start job hunting. There are some employers who understand the importance of work/life balance, typically larger corporations are better.