Before reading the article I would have assumed the people who planned a banquet cooked and served the food themselves, rather than having it done professionally.
I also only found out within the last couple of years that many US citizens only get 2 weeks' paid holiday! And I thought our legal minimum of four was bad!
(Can't remember now if particularly mean employers are allowed to include the eight Bank Holidays in that four weeks, or if they have to tack them on as extra. Also no time to Google it.)
We're a Puritan country, Cat. Work is good for the soul.
Sadly it's bad for the body - and I know which I'd prefer to nurture!
When I started in travel the jargon for hotel board plans (now almost extinct except amongst those of my generation) was:
AP - American Plan MAP - Modified American Plan BP - Bermuda Plan EP - European Plan
From memory, AP was all meals and accommodation included; MAP was dinner, bed and breakfast; BP was bed and breakfast; EP was room only. To my mind the terms had a certain elegance that their modern equivalents seem to lack.
Richard English
Posts: 8038 | Location: Partridge Green, West Sussex, UK
(Can't remember now if particularly mean employers are allowed to include the eight Bank Holidays in that four weeks, or if they have to tack them on as extra. Also no time to Google it.)
As Kalleh said, vacation is a benefit in the American system, not a law. Some folks do not get any vacation. Some also do not get paid holidays off. Though the business they work for may be closed on said holidays, theirs is a holiday without pay. Also, health insurance is a benefit under our "system", too. At my previous job as a software engineer, we were required to take a week off around July 4th. Whether we deducted it from our paid vacation or logged it as non-paying time off was up to us. Some of our friendly politicos are trying to abolish the minimum wage, which in California is actually higher than the federally mandated one. Bleh!
In the UK (and other EC countries) workers have a statutory right to at least 5.6 weeks paid annual leave (40.8 days). Those workers who only work a 5-day week are entitled to 28 days paid annual leave.
Workers do not have a statutory right to paid leave on bank and public holidays and if paid leave is given on a bank or public holiday, this can count towards the 5.6 weeks minimum holiday entitlement. However, many (most?) employers will provide paid leave on bank and public holidays in addition to the annual leave entitlement.
So generous is the EC leave allowance (now over a month) that I suspect that many workers do not use all their entitlement.
Richard English
Posts: 8038 | Location: Partridge Green, West Sussex, UK
I suspect that many workers do not use all their entitlement.
I don't. For the past three years now I've carried over leave entitlement from previous years, and in some cases lost entitlement because only a certain number of days can be carried forward.
Build a man a fire and he's warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life.
Not taking benefits extended to you makes management assume their offer is either not appreciated or not necessary. In either case, that presents them with an excuse to cut back or remove entirely what has been given. It's equivalent to saying, "I'm being paid too much. Here, take some of my pay back. Use it to buy yourself a better condo."
I agree. But they can't cut back on leave entitlement; that is a statutory right and any employer who refuses to grant the minimum paid leave period is guilty of a criminal offence. Similarly, any employer who doesn't pay the statutory minimum wage is gulty of a criminal offence.
Whatever one might say about Government interference in the free market, there are some things that are better for a modicum of legislative control.
Richard English
Posts: 8038 | Location: Partridge Green, West Sussex, UK
As Kalleh said, vacation is a benefit in the American system, not a law. Some folks do not get any vacation. Some also do not get paid holidays off. Though the business they work for may be closed on said holidays, theirs is a holiday without pay.
I didn't say it in this thread, but probably elsewhere. It's just another example of our UK/US differences. And it all depends on the company or the job as to vacation time. While academia doesn't pay as much as business, teachers and professors do have more time off. I was able to raise my kids because of academia, attending their school events, conferences, sporting events, etc.
