About U.S. vacation time..

[Libby1987]

The U.S. taken another beating in the other thread re our societal and corporate attitudes re vacation/personal time off.

I feel like a bit of a fraud to join in that pity party.

I didn't get much the first year back to work but after 1 yr I earned approx 2 1/2 weeks/year and then since my 5 year anniversary, I take three 1 week long vacations and several long weekends per year. This on top of a good income and excellent working conditions. Several of my coworkers have taken 2 weeks without any hoopla for their big vacations but being a single mom I can't afford to take my kids on vacation to Europe, one a week at a time works best for us. If I talked to my manager about needing to take a month next year, they would try to make it work.

I had my babies back in the days of nurses not easy to replace and so my maternity time off was only limited to our financial planning, or lack thereof. I had some sick/PTO time plus my 6-8 weeks of SDI, if my then husband and I had planned better ie if he had a work ethic, I could have taken off as much as I wanted and there would have been a job for me. As it was I took those 6-8 weeks off without blinking.

[klone, MSN, RN]

I feel very fortunate with my current employer. On hire, one accrues 6 hours per 80-hour pay period, which means I get 4 weeks of PTO (it increases after 5 years, I think). My husband and I are planning a 3-week trip to Thailand this fall. We usually take one overseas trip each year, and then a smaller domestic one 1-2x/year.

[classicdame, MSN, EdD]

I am familiar somewhat with the Swedish government as family live there. I have had several Swedes ask about vacations and other tax related issues. What they forget is that you can take all five Scandanavian countries and put them in Texas. Five governments in one state. And Alaska is even bigger. So it is not as easy to mandate for the whole country if the whole country is so big. I like that they get six weeks off. I hate their tax burden. Just hope that since we are now better connected thru technology that all governments can share the good of their system with one another.

[danielle2000, MSN, RN]

So working like a mad person without vacation is okay? NOT!!! We pay the price too. Highest rate of cardiovascular disease, diabetes and etc. of course obesity is a major factor but work no play is a contributor also. I find it asinine to employ individuals with certain jobs and not have replacements when they take vacations. Since when is that the employee's concern or problem? When you were hired it states what the benefits are so I would feel that at least give me my vacation instead placing the burden of realizing there is not anyone who can fill in for me while I am vacationing!!!!

Honestly, I rather get taxed higher and have a nice vacation and have no worries obtaining healthcare than what we are dealing with in the US now.

[KelRN215, BSN, RN]

How long have these international vacations been? Just curious.

One was a long weekend, two were 15 days each (though for both it took a day to get there and back so actually 17 days I guess), the last was meant to be 11 days but ended up being 13 when I got stranded on my way home because of the Northeast Blizzard.

[GrumpyRN, NP]

So working like a mad person without vacation is okay? NOT!!! We pay the price too. Highest rate of cardiovascular disease, diabetes and etc. of course obesity is a major factor but work no play is a contributor also. I find it asinine to employ individuals with certain jobs and not have replacements when they take vacations. Since when is that the employee's concern or problem? When you were hired it states what the benefits are so I would feel that at least give me my vacation instead placing the burden of realizing there is not anyone who can fill in for me while I am vacationing!!!!

Honestly, I rather get taxed higher and have a nice vacation and have no worries obtaining healthcare than what we are dealing with in the US now.

You do realise you are advocating socialism or at the very least, socialised medicine.

You will have the tea-party after you.

[macawake, MSN]

I am familiar somewhat with the Swedish government as family live there. I have had several Swedes ask about vacations and other tax related issues. What they forget is that you can take all five Scandanavian countries and put them in Texas. Five governments in one state. And Alaska is even bigger. So it is not as easy to mandate for the whole country if the whole country is so big. I like that they get six weeks off. I hate their tax burden. Just hope that since we are now better connected thru technology that all governments can share the good of their system with one another.

You mentioned the two largest states, one of them is the second most populous and the other one of the least populous.

You can geographically fit Maryland, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Connecticut and half of Rhode Island into Sweden alone,

a whole lot more states into Scandinavia. Yet neither of them, as far as I know, offer paid vacations to all their residents/employees.

I don't think that this is about square miles or even the size of the population. I think that the reasons that we have very different systems is political.

A law was passed in Sweden in 1938 that guaranteed every employee a minimum of two weeks paid vacation per year. That changed to three weeks in 1951, four weeks in 1963 and finally five weeks in 1978. It's still the minimum amount of paid vacation that's regulated by law, any employer is free to offer more, and many do.

Corporate America has a very powerful lobby, I don't get the sense that worker's rights are very high on their agenda. I've read many posts here on AN that shocked me. I think that the fact that an employee in many states can be let go/fired for any or no reason is scary. If I understood some of the posts I've read an employee can be sent home due to "low census". Such a concept is unheard of here.

About the taxes. I genuinely don't find them to be a burden. On my nursing pay I'm able to stick 20% of my NET income (after taxes have been deducted :)) straight into savings. Last year I went on two two-week trips, to Italy and Australia and two four or five-day weekends to New York and Paris. I live a comfortable but not extravagant life.

If I was offered a tax reduction and that meant fewer services/benefits/social security programs for me and everyone else, I'd actually decline that offer. I realize some might not agree with me or believe me, but that's how I feel.

I feel comforted knowing that if I was in need of example open heart surgery or an organ transplant, the hospital stay would cost me $10 per day. Ten dollars for every 24-hour period no matter what medications, surgery/procedures I needed. And if I didn't happen to have the ten dollars, I'd of course get the healthcare I needed anyway, as would any citizen. I like this system and I don't want to trade it for anything. I would also be secure in the knowledge that my employer wouldn't be able to fire me just because I was a little worse for wear and not as productive, after my surgeries.

[madwife2002, BSN, RN]

Other countries can bash us all they like. One of the main reasons this country has had the largest economy in the world is because our population doesn't forgo productivity for multiple weeks at a time on a regular basis. The countries with generous government-paid vacation time also have huge tax burdens, small economies, and usually scream at US when someone needs international aid. Because we have the money and the industry to churn it out. I'm not usually one of those to crow "Murica!" but this is one case where our international critics can pound sand, frankly.

I am sorry but don't think that the UK needs financial aid from the US, yet they have a much better PTO system than ours. Better paid maternity leave-I pay as much tax in the US as I did in the UK-in fact I spend more because when we take into consideration the amount of money we pay into health insurance and co-pays.

I am a 25 year RN and I get just over 6 hour per pay period PTO and sick leave-not generous at all

I only get 60% pay if I am off sick longer than 40 hours and I pay each pay period to make my salary up to that amount

[Tenebrae, BSN, RN]

Other countries can bash us all they like. One of the main reasons this country has had the largest economy in the world is because our population doesn't forgo productivity for multiple weeks at a time on a regular basis. T

Actually China is giving the US a run for their money in terms of richest economy

The countries with generous government-paid vacation time also have huge tax burdens, small economies, and usually scream at US when someone needs international aid.

The government doesn't pay my leave. My employer does. As for tax rates, they arent the lowest however if I had to calculate your US tax rates and include the obligatory insurance for basic healthcare, I'd bet I still come home with more money in the pocket. And the reassurance that should I have an injury or illness I will get the treatment I need without having to be concerned with deductables and copays and be able to focus on the business of getting well and getting back to work is priceless

[klone, MSN, RN]

You do realise you are advocating socialism or at the very least, socialised medicine.

You will have the tea-party after you.

Not all Americans are tea-partiers who think socialism is of the debbil.

[danielle2000, MSN, RN]

I know lol!!! God forbid if they do not get their cut!!!!

[brandy1017, ASN, RN]

I make sure to take my vacations, 1-2 weeks in the spring, summer and fall and maybe 1 week in the winter. I use all my time even if it's just a staycation. It is a good stress reduction strategy. For many years as a new nurse I didn't take any vacations and that was a mistake. It really helps to take time off. Granted I have to put in a year in advance because they restrict vacations so much where I work, but it is worth it to take time off! I feel rested and refreshed after time off.

[babyNP., APRN]

Our vacation time sucks, but the pay is better. If I worked in the UK (and I do have a UK nursing license), I would literally take a 50% pay cut. My health care premium was only $20 a pay period, so not too expensive, although admittedly the UK take it out of their own taxes anyway. My taxes are slightly higher than they are in the UK, but not by much, not when you consider that sales tax over there is 20% (yowsers!).

You can't beat the vacation time, though...5 weeks and a paid maternity leave would be very nice. A couple of states have mandated paid maternity leave, California among them. I'm curious how it works in European countries if you have multiple babies though- if you keep having a kid right before your maternity leave is up, or only work for like 2 months and you have 4-5 kids, that's 4-5 years of not working, but still getting paid your full pay. I guess I don't understand how a company can afford that.