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konfusion666
Jul 8th, 2007, 12:30 PM
nice article from the Star today. talks about vacation time in various countries, something i've always wondered but never really knew the details about.

link here (http://www.thestar.com/News/article/233523)


Want more vacation? Move to Finland

Canada ranks near the bottom for holiday time
Jul 08, 2007 04:30 AM
Patricia Hluchy
Toronto Star

Which country has the most generous vacation policy?

According to a report from the Washington, D.C., Center for Economic and Policy Research, which canvassed the 21 richest nations in the world, that distinction falls to Finland.

The Baltic nation allots a minimum of 30 paid vacation days a year to all employees after their first year of work, plus 14 paid statutory holidays.

A survey of 49 countries by Mercer Human Resource Consulting also places Finland at the top.

The runner-up, according to the CEPR, is France, where all workers – including those in their first year of employment – are entitled by law to 30 days of vacation, but with just one paid holiday.

Next in line are Norway (25 paid vacation days, two holidays), Sweden (25 vacation days) and Germany (24 vacation days, between 9 and 13 holidays).

No European country provides fewer than 20 paid vacation days a year; nor do Australia or New Zealand.

Near the bottom of the CEPR's list of 21 are Canada and Japan, with a legal minimum of 10 vacation days.

The lowest spot is occupied by the United States, which does not require employers to provide any paid vacation, and where, typically, large companies allow for 15 vacation days and 10 paid holidays for full-time employees of 10 years, according to Mercer.

Within Canada, vacation allotment is a provincial jurisdiction. According to the federal department of Human Resources and Social Development, Saskatchewan is the exception to the 10-day policy, giving employees with a minimum of one year's service 15 days of paid vacation.

Paid holidays range from five days in Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland to 10 in the Northwest Territories. Ontario has eight statutory holidays, plus the August civic holiday, which employers aren't obliged to honour.

Ipsos Reid reported in May that 36 per cent of employed Canadians consider themselves to be "vacation-deprived," and that two in 10 employed Canadians do not take their full vacation entitlement.



I bolded the interesting bits... "lots of vacation" is not a strictly European phenomenom as New Zealand and Australia do it too, and I'd say they're more North American-like than European.

dark169
Jul 9th, 2007, 03:25 PM
work for a better company. If your company doesn't treat you right your free to find one that does.


20% don't use what they have now, why expand it?

f00kie
Jul 9th, 2007, 03:44 PM
work for a better company. If your company doesn't treat you right your free to find one that does.


20% don't use what they have now, why expand it?

Lifestyles are different in Europe than here in the West. Things cost a lot more over there, and overall its more crammed, etc., so I'm with you on this one.

Asun
Jul 9th, 2007, 04:11 PM
The whole country of Finland practically shut down in the month of July. It's just the way it is over there, according to a Nokia engineer that visited us recently.

We need to start a culture of taking/using up all the vacation days. How many times have you been rejected / pressured not to take your vacation days because of deadlines, etc?

rfdrfd
Jul 9th, 2007, 04:19 PM
Like someone said, their living expenses, auto, etc.. are extremely high and costly.

And don't even talk about their healthcare system. Also, their lax smoking laws, etc.

After touring around Europe, and Asia countries, I can definitely say, Canada is the BEST place to live. For its healthcare, relaxation, jobs, cars, houses, entertainment, food, healthy living style, and general acceptance of other cultures.

konfusion666
Jul 9th, 2007, 04:20 PM
work for a better company. If your company doesn't treat you right your free to find one that does.


20% don't use what they have now, why expand it?

I think this study shows that Canadians on average are "overworked" moreso than other countries' citizens, but our productivity rates don't show it. For example, the productivity rates of Britons are higher than that of Canadians YET; Britons in my 2 industries (I.T. and banking) tend to start off with 6 weeks of vacation rather than 3 weeks.

Vacation time is pretty standard across all companies in a particular industry. For example, among large financial institutions in Canada (big banks) they all start you off with only 3 weeks - with the exception of HSBC (which isn't even in the top 5).

Another trend I can see is that companies which originated outside of North America tend to be more generous in terms of vacation (HSBC, CapGemini) while companies that originated inside North America are less generous (IBM, Microsoft, Royal Bank, BMO, American Express).

The oil & gas sector is a bit of an anomaly and since it's only accessible to a slim percentage of the total population of Canada... if O&G is giving Canadians more "european-style" vacation allotments, that's good, but really only helps a small number of people.

rfdrfd
Jul 9th, 2007, 04:22 PM
I think this study shows that Canadians on average are "overworked" moreso than other countries' citizens, but our productivity rates don't show it. For example, the productivity rates of Britons are higher than that of Canadians YET; Britons in my 2 industries (I.T. and banking) tend to start off with 6 weeks of vacation rather than 3 weeks.

Vacation time is pretty standard across all companies in a particular industry. For example, among large financial institutions in Canada (big banks) they all start you off with only 3 weeks - with the exception of HSBC (which isn't even in the top 5).

Another trend I can see is that companies which originated outside of North America tend to be more generous in terms of vacation (HSBC, CapGemini) while companies that originated inside North America are less generous (IBM, Microsoft, Royal Bank, BMO, American Express).

The oil & gas sector is a bit of an anomaly and since it's only accessible to a slim percentage of the total population of Canada... if O&G is giving Canadians more "european-style" vacation allotments, that's good, but really only helps a small number of people.



I have no idea where they keep saying Canadians are overworked. Most of the time, they work overtime by choice. Or by stupidity. Meaning, if they only were more efficient or ppl stop BSing all the time, they would have gotten their project done by 5pm instead of 8pm.

Also, isn't like more than half of us here on rfd right now at work? I know I am ! Overworked?

konfusion666
Jul 9th, 2007, 04:29 PM
I have no idea where they keep saying Canadians are overworked. Most of the time, they work overtime by choice. Or by stupidity. Meaning, if they only were more efficient or ppl stop BSing all the time, they would have gotten their project done by 5pm instead of 8pm.

Also, isn't like more than half of us here on rfd right now at work? I know I am ! Overworked?

unionized Canadians have it good, i'll agree to that much....

those of us who work for private companies? not quite to the same extent!

beerbaron105
Jul 9th, 2007, 04:44 PM
government workers have it good too

pretty sure my mom has about 100+ sick days this year, she wont use them though because it knocks her off the overtime list

dark169
Jul 9th, 2007, 05:40 PM
unionized Canadians have it good, i'll agree to that much....

those of us who work for private companies? not quite to the same extent!

of course "having it good" has done wonders for the north american auto industry, having it so good will soon have them so unemployed, but thats another issue.

If you want more vacation time be more productive. If your more productive you can take more time off, not the other way around. More productive people end up with more time off, not people with more time off end up being more productive.

If I have everything I need to have done by Thursday night what needs to be done by Friday night, why not take a long weekend? Get a job that pays you to do something, not pays you to show up and take up space for 40hours a week regardless of workload or lack there of.

A prime example of this would be contractors and trades that get paid piece work, where you get $X every time you complete Y, so if you can work smarter and/or harder to get more Y's finished you can make your annual income with time to spare at the end of the year, at the point you have a choice to either make more or sit on the beach in Mexico.

f00kie
Jul 9th, 2007, 06:01 PM
I think this study shows that Canadians on average are "overworked" moreso than other countries' citizens

Which doesn't include the States. They work, on average, something like 4 hours more per week than Canadians do. They are overworked.

There was an article about this in either Time or Macleans within the last 2 months. The conclusion was that while Canadians earn less than Americans, we are happy with our lifestyle (of working less, but having more free time).