That does not magically appears in Europe, but the victories thanks to strong unionism and revolutionary unionism. The same that was directly attacked by the US government in the 1920’s
The biggest reason to knock off working on vacation or after hours is that it creates a false expectation on the the workload. If you can’t get it done during regular office hours, than that means your company needs more people or a process improvement.
If you are working these extra untracked hours, you are the problem. If you get rewarded for doing so, your company is toxic and will only expect more as you move up the ladder.
I told a manager that, if you work 60h a week, you don’t know how to do you job. I slipped in that hourly payment isn’t terrible either if you do so.
He never bothered to try to make me work “for free” ever again.
No one on there deathbed will say they wish they worked harder. They will regret all the other moments they missed because they were working too much.
Time is more than just money, it’s your life.
I’ll put my hand up and say that I will wish I worked harder. My job is simple and i work remote. If I was willing to work harder, I could either move up in the company or move to a competitor. That would get me more money. More money would help me to pay rent on a nicer place to live. And then with the new nice place, I could get the rest of my head in order. So I will absolutely go to my doom wishing I worked harder, put in more hours, and showed a high degree of dedication.
I’ve worked at plenty of places which have made it fairly clear that the only way you can progress up in the company is to work out of hours. Extremely illegal business practice but they did it anyway.
One of the places was a law firm, because lawyers always think that they know how to break the law.
I work for a company with both European and American employees. Even the European employees didn’t know how bad it was, and we work for the same employer. I hope I can live till retirement and not get diagnosed with cancer the day after like my Dad. Would be nice to do something those last years if there’s a planet left, I have some money and my body isn’t broken.
I felt even more like I was getting a raw deal when I realized the Germans and French were largely taking the entire month of August off.
They what? Why didn’t any of my fellow Germans tell me?
Most jobs, at least the better paying ones, include 6 weeks of vacation. However, you can use them all at once.
I never take august because of this. EVERYONE and their mothers take august so everything is crowded and extremely overpriced.
I prefer getting some time in september and then spread the rest of my days the rest of the year.
Best to spend vacation in April and October. You want 6 months(or less) between your vacations to not hate your job. Summer is already good, winter also has it’s charms and you don’t want to contrast to much. But it’s not the season in my favourite resort! Well it’s a bad resort, go to Asia, spend a bit more on the tickets, much less on the ground, enjoy foreign culture. Doesn’t work for Asians though.
Germans and French vacations are a lot more spread out than this.
In Italy instead it’s pretty much mandatory to take vacations in August, as whole industry sectors close down for 2-3 weeks. Factories go on a hiatus beginning from the second week of August to the start of the fourth week, or the end of the month.
Sometimes it’s surreal when you stay home in August and the whole city is deserted, no one to be seen, no traffic, no noise, just scorching heat. At least in the North, in the south it’s the exact opposite, with everyone going to the sea and the population doubling overnight at the start of August.
June and July instead are pretty much taken by the Germans, especially around the lakes of the North.
Trump is gonna make it all better. And by better I mean worse. FAR worse.