One of the few things I miss about my old job is that I had more vacation time than I do now (15 days vacation, 2 personal days, and 3 floating holidays before, vs. 10 days vacation and 2 personal days now, and floating holidays only if a national holiday happens to fall on a weekend). If I were considered an exempt employee on my current job, I’d get 20 days of vacation rather than 10, but I wouldn’t get paid for overtime, which would suck in its own way.
So sometimes I yearn for the European vacation model (5+ weeks of vacation). Two weeks just isn’t enough - my job can be very high-stress, and I find myself feeling burned out again within a few weeks after I get back from vacation (like right now, for example). Two weeks is really only enough for 1 week of actual vacation, assuming that (like most people) some of it gets used up on family obligations and such. One consecutive week a year to actually relax really bites. I have no idea what salary for a comparable job to mine would be in Europe (though given higher taxes, maybe it’s more sensible to compare overall standard of living than straight salary), but would I be willing to take, say, a 15% pay cut to have an additional 4 weeks of vacation and perhaps work fewer hours per week as well?
How many of you occasionally yearn for the other side of the work/life balance fence? Where do you live/work? Have you ever lived/worked anywhere else besides where you are now? What kind of tradeoffs would you find attractive (and not so attractive) about working in a different labor market than the one where you are now? Would you ever seriously consider picking up and moving to another country for work opportunities?
vacation days, no argument. i agree it is impossible to relax when you have to use up your vacation days to get anything personal done, and god save you if you have the temerity to get sick and have a vehicle die on you …
Also, the ability to either flex your schedule or telecommute.
Personally? I think you should get 2 weeks vacation, 1 week sick time, 1 week personal days that can only be used for car repair, appointments and the like and federal holidays. I think you should also be able to sell them back to the employer if you havent used them at the end of the calendar year. Sort of like an attendance bonus program =)
Oh, I didn’t count sick time. We also get 6 days regular sick time, plus short-term disability for serious issues (length and percentage of salarry during STD vary depending on seniority), and long-term disability insurance can be purchased.
I will take the money. I am the master of short vacations coordinated with holidays so I never feel like I don’t have enough time to travel. I can leave work Friday on a week with a Monday holiday, board an overnight flight to Paris, stay the weekend and return late Monday night or early Tuesday morning in time for work. That opportunity presents itself all the time in various ways. The first few days of a vacation are the only ones that count to me anyway. Tomorrow night, I am flying to Austin, TX and will return late Monday night. That is a whole trip and counts for one day off.
I can take that money and invest it or put it towards something worthwhile for my kids. However, I don’t really think that is sacrificing anything.
Money. I get an embarrassing amount of time off. (How much? Well, okay: 5 weeks vacation + 11 sick days + 11 holidays). The trade-off of working in the public sector is lower salary. Since I get way more time off than I can use in a year and still do my job, I’d definitely take the moolah.
Time, no question. I’m not exactly rolling in dough, but I don’t spend every day wishing I had more money. I *do * spend every day wishing I had more free time, or at least a more flexible schedule.
More vacation time. I so love time off work that when work is slow and they go around asking who wants to go home early, I always jump at the chance, even though I’m losing money on it.
And this is with already getting 4 weeks vacation and 8 sick/personal days.
I’m an independant consultant so I don’t get vacation time per se. I bill for my time and I’m used to not getting paid for the time I take off. So I’ll take a higher rate anytime because that just means I can afford more time off.
I don’t know. I don’t really take much time off (we get about 10 days a year at my regular job, plus I usually work a part-time job on Saturdays), and I’ve gotten pretty used to it, so I’d probably go with more money.
To be honest, 4 weeks of vacation in exchange for 15% of my annual income doesn’t sound that great a deal. To make it worthwhile, it should be in exchange for 15% of my annual workload (about 7-8 weeks).
I’d take the money. I get 3 weeks vacation, a handful of “personal holidays” which are basically holidays where you get to choose when you take them, and as many sick/personal days as I need, as long as I get my work done. I usually wind up with a day or two left over at the end of the year anyway.
I also just bought a house, so the finances are a bit more important than the number of days I get off.
I decided to come out here around 1993, when I was a senior in college and the job prospects in the States didn’t look all that hot (plus I’d changed my major from physics to history and was left with no clue what I wanted to do with my life). I figured I’d work overseas for a couple of years then come back when I’d figured out what I wanted to do. I went in '95, taught for a couple of years, and then realized what I wanted to do was stay there. I still don’t know what career I want, but at least I’m where I’m happy.
Now, would I move back to the States for a job? My wife would probably be thrilled at the idea, but for me that’d have to be a damn good job. Like one of those sweet expat packages that the spoiled gaijin executives get when their companies transfer them, including house, car and a huge salary.
My job’s policy is you can take time and a half in cash or double time in time for overtime–either they pay you time and one-half or you can take double time off.
