Holiday in the USA

[hsjvorster]

To all the American friends
This has nothing to do with aviation but..

I am from South Africa. I had a nephew doing a post doc at Purdue University. Tonight he told me that holidays is not a American thing and that the norm everywhere is 14 days per year. American however are to scared to take holiday on account of being not having a job when they return.

Could this be true?

Hannes Vorster
South Africa

[vigilant104]

Right, not strictly aviation related, and could easily verge into the political.

Here's a survey http://www.marketwatch.com/story/expedias-2014-vacation-deprivation-study-americans-and-asian-workers-lag-well-behind-europeans-in-vacationing-2014-11-06 on vacation days workers take in the US vs some other countries. On average, Americans earn 15 paid vacation days per year, and take 14 of them. Americans are likely to use the term "vacation days" for days they take off when other members of their company/office are still working. The term "holiday" is often used for a day when the office is closed (we have 10 national holidays in the US, five of them are scheduled for Mondays, which makes for a "three day weekend." Many workers get these as a paid day off in addition to their "vacation days". There are no federal laws requiring that workers get these days off, but most do).

Some pontificating: The American workforce is among the most productive in the world, and they produce the among the world's highest GDP per capita. The labor force is highly dynamic-- private companies are free to cut and add positions or particular workers with far fewer restrictions than exist in many industrialized countries. Membership in labor unions among private employees in the US has been declining for decades. We can debate the pros/cons of this and the reasons for it, but one of the results is that American private-sector workers are highly incentivized to perform well on the job.

Every situation is different. I'd say that among the people I work with, most of us would have said that if we didn't use all our vacation days (i.e. sold some back) it was because "I didn't want to leave important work undone," or "with the work I had, I couldn't find a good time to take all my vacation days" rather than "I was afraid I'd get fired if I took vacation". The end result is maybe the same, but the distinction is important. There are undoubtedly cases where workers are "afraid" to take a solid month off--"if they can do without me for a month, maybe they'll decide they should eliminate my position entirely". Or "if my replacement does a better job than I did, maybe he'll get my job." But, even if that happens, finding a new (better fit?) job is easier in the US than in many other industrialized economies.

[Klimek]

Hanns,
The term "Holiday" in South Africa, and a lot of other countries, usually means two different things. Holiday here in the U.S. generally
means one of several days set aside by the various entities, (local, state or federal governments, etc.) for a break from work.
Examples would be Christmas, 4th of July (our Independence Day) Thanksgiving Day (Pilgrims and all that.. Generally for the working class stiffs, like I used to be, there usually were 5 in a year and most employers let workers off for these or kept a skeleton crew on if the business is a vital one. I know of no one who would be scared to take these usually paid days off.
In your case, "holiday", I think, means "vacation" here in the U.S. Most companies, let employees off a week (paid in most cases)
and increases the time off with each year employed. In most cases this is two weeks off, max. In my case the max paid "vacation" was three weeks, not counting time off for yearly military service, which was also paid time off, which I think was law later on. In my wife's case it's 8 weeks off, all paid.
I know of no one that is scared to take paid time off, however, I'm sure there are some. Some employees that take the pay and keep on working, which some companies allow. I was one of these when raising kids, part time military and not making much in my early career.
I hope this helps.
Frank B. Klimek
ONEX090

[Bryan Cotton]

I have known people to not take their vacation because they are so driven and career focused. In my company we get up to 4 weeks/year depending on years of service. Our vacation is use it or lose it each year. I can't imagine anybody fearing for their job because of taking vacation.

[Critson]

I left South Africa in 94 and have been working in the US since 95. The company I work for standard vacation starts at 3 weeks but increases with time up to a max of 5. We also get an addition 8 holidays. I manage a number of direct reports and they are all encouraged to use all their vacation as it cannot be carried over.
I have not encountered workers not taking extended vacations in fear of loosing their jobs.

BTW I spent 3 months back in SA last year and loved been a tourist.

Cheers
Craig
Sonex, TW Jab 2200, 225 hours and counting

[hsjvorster]

Thank you to all the people who responded to my email. I think I had a good revue on this matter.

Regards

Hannes Vorster
South Africa