Pimpbot

I came here and got 7 months off so far.

Duncan Roberts

Not Cleveland Clinic, University Hospitals!

Cykotronic

Like everything else in the US, vacation time varies too. The first job I got here was with the local government and I got a month vacation, unlimited sick days and all those holidays (I think it was something like ten in total). I could also accrue more time off depending on how much OT I worked. I ended up with two months off one year. Not bad. But, sometimes my boss wouldn’t let me take the time off, so even if I had that much paid vacation, it was his discretion on when or if I could use it.

I switched to the private sector and the difference was between night and day: ten days off and sex personal days (that includes sick days), not to mention nine holidays. That’s about average for what people get in the States. For someone who likes traveling overseas, it wasn’t such a good deal!

I had an interview with a university now for an accounting position. The vacation package is much, much nicer. They give four weeks off and five personal days, twelve holidays and unlimited sick days!

So, it really depends on where you work and the industry you’re in. I find that finance and retail are very tight with the amount of vacation they allot. Healthcare, pharmaceuticals, manufacturing, non-profit and academia are more generous. So, try to get a job in that industry!

Of course, absolutely nothing beats working on your own and freelancing! If I could do that over again, I sure would!

GJB

sex personal days.... gotta get me some of those!

hhmaker

Hi

I work for a bank in New York. I get 26 vacation days plus 4 personal days. This is in addition to the various bank/public holidays. I also get unlimited sick leave.

Cykotronic

What bank do you work for?!?! Are they hiring???

Pulaski

Are you sure? Everything I hear about manufacturing in the US suggests otherwise. ....

A factory in the city where I lived before moving to North Carolina, the only factory of any consequence in the city, only gave two weeks leave a year. They were the two weeks when the management closed the plant - Christmas - New Year, and the week that covered 4th July. And I'm not even sure that those two weeks were paid!

I think that it may depend which part of the US you live in - states with a history of unionization tend to have more generous terms of employment, ..... and a greater risk of being laid off in favor of moving production to Mexico or China.

hhmaker

I work for the American Branch of a large German Bank. Which explains the vacation allocation. sorry like most of the german banks we have suspended all hiring

TimFountain

Be careful of the enforced vaccation rules that some companies seem to apply. In essence you are required to take as vaccation the day before/after major public holidays (such as 4th July). I 'lost' 3 days of my huge 17 day vaccation balance last year (and before you ask this was after 15 years with the same co.; in the UK I got 25 days+pub.hols).
I have to say thought I am not sure about the work hard/play hard thing. I notice that some of my colleagues are physically present from 8:00AM to 5:00PM, but there is some 'downtime' during the day, if you get my drift....

- Tim

Pulaski

I was warned about the long hours that are "normal" in American offices before I first visited Chicago on business. While I was there I soon learned that I would be getting lonely pretty quickly after 5pm! Now that I work permanently in US I find pretty much the same thing - by 5.15pm most days the office is close to deserted.

superpat

For the record, I get 16 vacation days + 5 'personal' days + 8 holidays + the week from Christmas Day to New Year's Day inclusive.

Pretty good (for the US!), but for the past few years, there has been a company-wide shutdown for the week of July 4. Also, the only reason I get 16 days is because I was transferred from the UK and have been working for the company since Jan 2000. New hires only get 11 days. Contrast this with the 20 days that is EU law, and the 26 I had before I moved here.

Anyway - getting to my point - there does seem to be more of a tradition of 'stretching' the weekend here - some Friday afternoons, the office is empty as they all drive to Tahoe or Yosemite - and nobody books the half-day off.

Cheers,

Pat