I currently get 5 weeks a year working for a major corporation with 25 years of service. It's progressive so someone just starting out will only get 2 weeks at this company.

Just depends on the company.

MikeyB

 

The Corps gives me 2.5 paid days for every month I'm with them. Plus, we got loads of holiday time off.

I think I've got 45-ish on the books?

 

Noobies get 1 week for the first year then two weeks after two, the third week comes in after 7 years, the forth after 15 years and the fifth after 25 years.
The excused holidays are the same regardless of years.
Federal holidays are 'freebies" and not counted as 'vacation days"
An "associate" with three years service makes the same hourly wage that I do with 29 years.
.....Gotta LOVE unions............

 

In Canada its regulated by what province you are in. In Alberta a company is required to give 2 weeks holidays per year(80 hours based on a 40hr work week) or equivalent pay. Meaning that if they cann't do without you for two weeks they have to pay you out two weeks extra.

Most companies though to be competitive start off at three weeks and go up from there as years of service grow. It can vary vastly from job to job and company to company, union/non-union.

I'm a HD tech for the Calgary Airport. Its a union position and starts with 3weeks paid vacation, at 5 years goes to 4 weeks, 12 years goes to weeks 5 weeks and at 18 years goes to 6 weeks. Sick leave is 40 hours per year(an absence of more than 5 consecutive days requires a Dr's note), I also get 40 hours per year of "family time" to be used in case of family sickness(kids with flu etc), take the wife to the doctor that sort of thing.

I interviewed for a job at a local Dodge dealership(non-union) as a HD mechanic working on CTDs. Paid $2 more per hour(flat rate) than I was currently getting and it was 4 blocks from my house vs the 45mins each way I do to the airport. They offered me 2 weeks vacation(NEVER increases), NO sick time and no family time. Needless to say I'm still with the airport.....

My wife works for an oil and gas company(non-union) in downtown Calgary. They start at 3 weeks vacation but also get 12 "flex" days a year(one per month) that are for doctors visits, family appts etc but if not used can be accumulated and used for vacation. There is no "set" amount of sick days, if you are sick you stay home and they are tracked and anything excessive must be explained but no one seems to abuse it. Vacation time goes up as years of service goes up.

My wife's vacation time and mine are pretty comparable, but her benefit package is MUCH better but thats the oil/gas sector, no other sector can compete with them.

It seems around here you have to have good benefits to attract and keep employees. The provincial standard is pretty low and is mostly there is protect the lower paid/unskilled sectors. Anything requiring training or experience demands that companies exceed that to retain employees.

Also a lot of companies allow you to bank your overtime instead of taking it in cash. So if I stay late one day or come in on a Saturday its overtime rate is 1.5X, Sunday is automatically 2X. So if I get called in on a Sunday for 8 hours I get either 16hours of pay or I can bank it and get 16hours(2 days) of extra vacation. Because of our tax structure I usually get taxed heavily on any extra hours I work so I bank it. Over a winter I usually bank an extra weeks worth of vacation. Some guys I work with typically bank two weeks worth, add this to the 6 weeks they get because they are long time employes and I don't see them for two months straight in the summer.

Oh yeah the Federal gov't has a bunch of days that are regulated as paid holidays, Xmas, Easter,Rememberance Days etc. that we get on top of everything else.

 

My old job, it was accrued by how much time you work. Each week's paycheck we got like 1.6 hours of vaca, and you could save it. When I quit there I had like 90 hours vac. saved up at the time, and since it is "earned time off" they paid me for it. The job I have now goes by how many years I have in.

 

I think by law we have 20 days for vacation a year. In case of sickness, after 3 days you have to show a doctors note. But there´s no "family time", so we have to take these days from our vacation time. But it´s quite interesting how to see how you handle this in the US and Canada. I often visit rv.net just to read a little bit and it seems you guys would get more days for vacation. I could live with 10 days a year if the job is great. Though more would be better (more is always better)

Kris

 

your paid to work, not paid to holiday. There are times I get so frustrated working with a the brits over them always being on holiday.


Im on the same schedule except 5 weeks is max.

The other side of that coin is I can acrew 1.5 times my annual vacation time and Im always bumping along maxed out, too much going on to take more than a couple days off, two days isn't enough time to go anywhere. so vacations aren't much more than an extra day off work. I work with guys that are in the office 10 to 12 hrs a day, 6 days a week and have been maxed out on vacation for years.

 

Most of the places i have worked for you were lucky to get a few days a year vacation. Sick leave was officially allowed but if you were sick you were more or less simply considered to lazy to work. Many companies seem to have an attitude of bring it in & share it there.
But then I have never had a job that made over 25,000 a year & 15,000 a year has been the norm most of my life.

 

I find this ironic-I want to work in Germany. I work for the state/city and we get NOTHING. No paid anything. I honestly feel that the worker here(the USA) is unappreciated as a whole.

 

Im salary exempt. when Im sick, I go to the office and try to convince my boss Im fine and should be there until he makes me go home.
No, europe is just lazy.
I have talked with asians that consider a 72 hour week normal.
If you really want the easy life, look at Norway. 40 hours is a long week, anything over 32 hours is grounds for comp time.

 

Its not the easy life that I'm wanting(but would be nice) It's part, I really like it over there, and the possibility that just maybe my work ethic and skills would be appreciated
My perception of the workplace over there may be way off-but, if it resembles anything like the people, and the way I was treated, It would seem like a step forward for me

 

Ive only spent a week in Germany, but a couple months in Norway.
Norway, it seems everytime you look for someone, they are on break, but things still get done. You never see them "busting butt" running around trying to get things done, but they do accomplish the task eventually (but takes about 25% longer to do it).
The impression I had of the germans is they are very meticulous.

 

I work for a company that has a progresive scale.
0-1 year nothing but the normal paid holidays(Xmas, 4th of July and such)
1-3 years 1 week(5 days or 40 hours)
3-5 years 2 weeks(10 days or 80 hours)
5-? years 3 weeks(15 days or 120 hours)
I forget the next step up but it comes in at somwhere around 15 years and it is almost a slap in the face at that point. I think its somthing like 1 extra day.
All these also include 3 days sick pay. So there is realy 3/5ths of anouther week on top of all these times I posted. I curently am at 12 years so I have 3 weeks and 3 days. We can roll over 80 hours threw our anaversary date and I usaly do so I can have as much as 224 hours if I work it rite, just not every year. I usaly only take 1 week vacation and then a bunch of long weekends. My wife works for a company that no matter how long your there you only get 2 weeks. She has been there 11 years and she has to take a bunch of time off every year unpaid so we can go on our vacations.

 

At the RR the vacation time is
After one year - One week
Year two - Two weeks
Eight years - Three weeks
Seventeen years - Four weeks
Twenty Five years - Five weeks
You get that plus 11 holidays and a couple personal days per the contract.

When my grandpa was at the steel mill he had Thirteen weeks of a vacation before, at one point the mill was rotating every few years the thirteen week vaca.

 

Thx again for your replies. I guess I´m lucky to have so many days for vacation (plus holidays).

I guess you won´t have to pay 35% of your income for taxes and healthcare? 19% tax on almost everything (except food -> 7%) and $ 8 for a gallon of fuel
In comparison to Scandinavian countries this is cheap, at least their taxes are even higher (luxury tax) and you certainly wouldn´t want to buy beer there.