U.S. workers still lag Europe in vacation stakes (* takes French like vac)

[sabra]

http://today.reuters.com/business/newsarticle.aspx?type=tnBusinessNews&storyID=nN24625542

U.S. workers still lag Europe in vacation stakes

WASHINGTON, Aug 24 (Reuters) - Americans returning to work from summer vacation ought to feel refreshed, but probably not as refreshed as colleagues in Europe, where minimum paid leave beats that for U.S. workers with even 25 years of service.

A report from the Economic Policy Institute on Wednesday noted that Americans with a quarter century of employment receive just 19.2 days of annual paid leave on average versus 20 days or more in most European countries.

"Vacation is an important part of work -- a time to get away from the demands of a job, to enjoy family, and to rejuvenate. President Bush's extended vacation at his ranch in Texas reflects this need," said EPI.

Bush has been enjoying a five week break on his ranch in Crawford -- a stay away from the office that is positively French in length, where legal minimum annual leave is 25 days.

[Turbineguy]

1. Is our President learnin'?

Vacation. Hey, aint that one o' them Frenchy words?

[TahitiNut]

2. "Fermé Août"

("Closed August") I'll never forget the first time I saw those signs. I've been envious ever since. When I saw the terrific campgrounds I was even more envious.

[bicentennial_baby]

10. Man, I had 3 weeks of that!

Although, the percentage of "fermé" wasn't terribly bad when compared to the "ouvert"s :)

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

3. Chimp's vacations skew the average.

If you take Chimp's vacations out of the equation, Americans average just 3 days of vacation per year.

[sabra]

4. LOL.

good stuff.

[Buns_of_Fire]

5. No, no, no. It's not a "FRENCH Vacation" --

it's a "FREEDOM Vacation!" :-)

[krkaufman]

6. What propaganda..! Comparing US 25 years of service to Euro minimum

(France)... where legal minimum annual leave is 25 days ... and a strict 35-hour work week.

... the (US) average number of paid vacation days to be 8.9 after one year of work, 11 after three years and 16.2 after 10 years.

---

Barely 3 weeks after 10 years here, versus a minimum 5 weeks in France. No wonder BushCo demonizes the French.

[jmowreader]

7. Please don't sully French vacations in this way

There is a difference between French vacations and the ones Bush takes: when a French person comes back after a vacation, he is refreshed and works hard.

Bush hasn't worked hard a day in his life.

[Mokito]

8. And in France

Everyone has a right to that kind of vacationing, not just a coke clogged, Oedipal, rich snot with a temper.

[progressivebydesign]

9. My Belgian friend feels sorry for us!

She is off on holiday after holiday! And. she has government medical care and child care.

[Mokito]

11. I know

I'm Belgian too :evilgrin:

[YapiYapo]

15. Same here.

Seem like huge tax rate are not so bad afterall :)

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

12. Unfortunately...

* is also working on giving us French-like unemployment.

[CJCRANE]

13. Bush even outdoes the French...

his five-week break is just one of his vacations. I bet even the French generally don't take five weeks off in one go.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

14. I remember a relevant episode of Michael Moore's The Awful Truth.

Moore was interviewing European tourists in Times Square and was asking them about the length of their vacations back home.

One woman told him she got five weeks per year, then he asked what she did for a living. She said she was a hairdresser, then Moore mockingly exclaimed, "A hairdresser?! A fucking hairdresser!?! You get five weeks vacation as a hairdresser?!?!"

[trof]

16. I got less vacation than German part-timer.

I'd been with TWA for 10 years, full time (pilot), and still got only 2 weeks vacation. At 15 years I'd get 3 weeks.
This was back in the late 70s.

One day in Stuttgart I was having coffee with one of our gate agents there. She'd been with TWA less than a year and worked 8-12, Monday through Friday.

By German law she had 4 weeks of vacation.
:grr: