Why does Canada lag so far behind Europe in terms of required paid vacation days for employees? (3rd worst, behind USA which is 0 days)

[Taki]

I mean, look at this. Canada ranks 3rd last in nations (10 day mandate), the only ones being worse are Japan and the USA.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/canada-ranks-3rd-last-in-paid-vacations-1.1306523

Canada ranks third last among economically advanced countries in the amount of paid vacation time it guarantees its workers, a new U.S. study indicates.

The country, which for the most part mandates 10 vacation days annually, ranks ahead of only Japan and the United States, which is in last place.

Japan also requires 10 days paid vacation for workers, but unlike Canada has no paid statutory holidays. The U.S. — the "no-vacation nation" — doesn't guarantee any paid vacation, the study says.

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"In the absence of government standards, almost one in four Americans has no paid vacation (23 per cent) and no paid holidays (23 per cent)," says the report, which was published in Washington by the Center for Economic and Policy Research.

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The authors call the U.S. "the only advanced economy in the world that does not guarantee its workers paid vacation."

They don't delve into the economic or health effects of vacation laws.

In Canada, provincial law governs annual paid leave unless the employee falls under federal jurisdiction, the study notes. All provinces guarantee two weeks paid vacation, except for Saskatchewan, which mandates three weeks.

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The best countries for paid vacation are:

• France: 30 days.
• The United Kingdom: 28 days.
• The Scandinavian countries of Norway, Denmark, Finland and Sweden: 25 days.

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I'll repeat, employers in countries such as France and the United Kingdom are required on part of their governments to grant A WHOLE MONTH of paid vacation time to ALL employees.

Why is Canada so far behind in this requirement?

And are most Americans even aware their worker rights are total crap compared to a bulk of European nations?

 

[AnilP228]

Wow, I had no idea how fortunate I am to work and live in the U.K! I get 31 days of annual leave a year (including bank holidays) and my other half, who works at a University, gets 33. Both pretty fortunate.

 

[Taki]

Wow, I had no idea how fortunate I am to work and live in the U.K! I get 31 days of annual leave a year (including bank holidays) and my other half, who works at a University, gets 33. Both pretty fortunate.

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In the USA, # of vacation days is up to the discretion of employers. There is no top-down mandate per the government. According to wikipedia, the situation generally looks like this for Americans:

There is no federal or state statutory minimum paid vacation or paid public holidays. Paid leave is at the discretion of the employers to its employees.[176][177] According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, 77% of private employers offer paid vacation to their employees; full-time employees earn on average 10 vacation days after one year of service.[178] Similarly, 77% of private employers give their employees paid time off during public holidays, on average 8 holidays per year.[178][179] Some employers offer no vacation at all.[180] .[178][181]

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The average number of paid vacation days offered by private employers is 10 days after 1 year of service, 14 days after 5 years, 17 days after 10 years, and 20 days after 20 years

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Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_minimum_annual_leave_by_country

Combine that with your NHS and you're looking at a generally healthier country to live and work in, on average.

 

[SolicitorPirate]

Gotta admit, I kinda assumed 20 days was the default everywhere

 

[Heshinsi]

A lot of our shit is like this; not as bad as the States, but wholly inadequate in comparison to Europe. However, I do think it's easier to get these sort of things changed here. We need to stop looking at the States as a comparison and start aiming to catch up to countries better than us in areas we lag behind.

 

[Malverde]

I keep telling myself I should move to Europe and shit like this makes it more and more appealing. Given that I only speak English and Spanish it seems like Spain makes the most sense.

 

[signal]

Hopefully @PrimeMinsiterTrudeau logs into his era account and answers this.

 

[Calm Waterfall]

Denmark has 6 weeks of paid vacation.

 

[Micael]

Because if we ignore US absolutely political insanity of the more recent times, Canada is kind of US light in a lot of aspects, which is to be expected given their proximity to it, something that ofc also affects EU nations, after all if a few nations are giving great benefits if the others don't they will be at a disadvantage, especially with things like freedom of movement.

 

[ReplacementPelican]

What the fuck? How does as country have no mandatory holiday time? Are you telling me that some people in the States could potentially have no holidays for the entirety of a job? Or is this incredibly rare?

 

[Theodran]

Japan has statutory holidays (around 20 a year including the bank holidays at the beginning of the year) in addition to the 10 paid holidays.

That being said, just because we get 10 paid holidays, it does not mean we take them all...

 

[Hours Left]

This is definitely something Canada can improve upon.

 

[Taki]

What the fuck? How does as country have no mandatory holiday time? Are you telling me that some people in the States could potentially have no holidays for the entirety of a job? Or is this incredibly rare?

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It's up to the discretion of the employer. But because the Government sets no minimum baseline, you can guess what ends up happening....

"In the absence of government standards, almost one in four Americans has no paid vacation (23 per cent) and no paid holidays (23 per cent)," says the report, which was published in Washington by the Center for Economic and Policy Research.

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The average number of paid vacation days offered by private employers is 10 days after 1 year of service, 14 days after 5 years, 17 days after 10 years, and 20 days after 20 years

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So it takes Americans on average 20 years in the work force to accrue "almost" the same # of paid vacation days (28 days) that the United Kingdom government requires employers to grant employees as a baseline.

If you're a skilled worker in a field in demand, your bargaining power will be greater. But less skilled workers are obviously at a disadvantage.

 

[ReplacementPelican]

It's up to the discretion of the employer. But because the Government sets no minimum baseline, you can guess what ends up happening....

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That's absolutely disgraceful. Those employers should be ashamed of themselves, I honestly couldn't imagine living like that. Hopefully it changes soon.

 

[-PXG-]

America was never great...

But yes, we don't get have government mandated vacation time. Like L O L...Wait...What? What is that? Excuse me? Government mandated what you ask? Yeah, nope. No sir. We ain't got that.

Must be fucking nice to have that. Y'all get about month, in Europe, you say? Shit. I was always aware of this but it's always a nice to remind myself just how backward we are.

Hell, I haven't been on a proper trip since 2012. Before that, I couldn't tell you.

 

[Zip]

Canada is like this due to proximity to the U.S., and our crappy election system giving majorities to regressive conservative parties off a minority of votes.

 

[3bdelilah]

I think in the Netherlands it's four times the amount of hours you work weekly. So if you work 36 hours a week (or have a contract that specifies 36), that's a minimum of 144 hours paid vacation days (which is 18 weekdays). That's the bare minimum that everyone has to get by law. That's not counting holidays like Christmas and other national holidays, which usually always count as a paid vacation day (or a 200% compensation), regardless of how many hours you work. Depending on the place you work at, there are also tons of ways to increase your vacation days, like working 38 or 40 hours despite having a formal contract of 36 hours, that way you build up an additional 5 weeks a year, with a total of around 40-45 week days of paid vacation

 

[Punjabi_Hitman]

Well it's because there's this viewpoint by people that live here that in order for our businesses to be competitive with US businesses we have to give up social programs.

The reason the US govt doesn't mandate because both their parties believe in less government involvement than the rest of the world.

 

[dark494]

40 hours a week, 8 holidays, 10 PTO, no sick days.

That's the standard on the "high end" in the US. Conservative values or some such nonsense.

 

[Micael]

I think in the Netherlands it's four times the amount of hours you work weekly. So if you work 36 hours a week (or have a contract that specifies 36), that's a minimum of 144 hours paid vacation days (which is 18 weekdays). That's the bare minimum that everyone has to get by law. That's not counting holidays like Christmas and other national holidays, which usually always count as a paid vacation day (or a 200% compensation), regardless of how many hours you work. Depending on the place you work at, there are also tons of ways to increase your vacation days, like working 38 or 40 hours despite having a formal contract of 36 hours, that way you build up an additional 5 weeks a year, with a total of around 40-45 week days of paid vacation

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Yeah these sort of differences are the reason why when comparing salaries between countries it is usually better to compare a full year salary, since details like this tend to get lost in monthly comparisons, like in Portugal you basically get paid the equivalent of 14 months, since you get a vacation subsidy and a christmas bonus both of which are equivalent to 1 month wage.

 

[Goda]

Hmmm I started my position with 15 vacation days (Toronto). My ex's father had 10 weeks paid vacation but now most companies cap you regardless of how many years you've worked there.

 

[Cass_Se]

US legislation regarding paid vacation is always so crazy whenever I stumble upon it. In Poland you get 20 days baseline paid vacation, which increases to 26 days if you have worked for 10 years... that is, unless you're college educated, in which case you get 26 days after 2 years of employment. Working 20 years to get barely 20 days off is insanity.

 

[Deleted member 26697]

So in the UK you're entitled to 28 days, but some employers usually cut 3 of those and use them over the xmas/new year break or something.

So, I know a lot of people usually have about 25 days holiday and then about 7-8 days worth of public holidays. So you end up with about 32-33 days off a year outside of weekends. Short-term sick leave laws are pretty lax too which is good.

I've been working in Japan for just about 2 years now and as a public worker you get a good amount of leave (23 days paid vacation, then like 12-15 days worth of public holidays too). However the sick leave laws/culture sucks and Japanese workers usually use their personal leave for when they are sick with the flu or a minor injury etc...

Also, its more common to use your holiday here on an hour by hour basis, as opposed to taking an entire day off. So a lot of coworkers will take a few hours off in the morning to afternoon (for like emergencies, visiting health clinics or other small commitments). But since they work a lot of unpaid overtime anyway they ultimately lose out. I don''t see them taking long vacations like we do in the west.

 

[Dingens]

Because if we ignore US absolutely political insanity of the more recent times, Canada is kind of US light in a lot of aspects, which is to be expected given their proximity to it, something that ofc also affects EU nations, after all if a few nations are giving great benefits if the others don't they will be at a disadvantage, especially with things like freedom of movement.

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That's why the EU mandates a minimum of 5 weeks (=25 days), which the article fails to acknowledge

 

[Kittens McMittens]

So, I'm currently unemployed for the next couple of years while I'm back at school, but when I did have a job I had 40.5 paid days off a year including the 8 public holidays here in the UK.

Further proof that trade unions are lit and that if you don't have a union contract, you're missing out big time!

 

[cupcakeunicorn]

Canada ends up being more like the US than Europe in many respects, unfortunately.

When I was in the US I got two weeks paid vacation per year, plus paid holidays. The hourly employees at my company got zero days their first year, and only one week after that.

So in the UK you're entitled to 28 days, but some employers usually cut 3 of those and use them over the xmas/new year break or something.

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The minimum in the UK is 5.6 weeks (28 days for full-time work), but this can include bank holidays. Any employer with more than that is offering more than what is legally required. Which doesn't seem too uncommon, thankfully.

That's why the EU mandates a minimum of 5 weeks (=25 days), which the article fails to acknowledge

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The EU minimum is four weeks, not five. Some member states have higher minimums.

 

[Dan Thunder]

Wow, 10 days sucks!

UK here and where I work we get 25 if full time plus all the bank holidays too. So this year we'll end up getting 33 paid holiday days.

 

[Rice Eater]

I've worked a lot of blue collar jobs the past 17 years. Most of these kind of jobs in the US will give you a week after working a year and 2 weeks after 2 years. After that you better really like the place if you want to see that 3rd week lol. The company I worked at before required 8 years for 3 weeks and 17 years for 4 weeks. My current job takes 4 years for 3 weeks and 10 years for 4 weeks.

I've never worked at job that gives more than 4 weeks nor did they have a less than 10 year requirement to reach that 4 weeks. This is all blue collar jobs though like working in a warehouse or a assembly line. I know white collar jobs can be much better and also much harsher depending on what we're talking about.

 

[Deleted member 2809]

Because communism bad !
Got 25 paid vacations here and 9 extra days.

 

[DryCreek]

.

 

[Bard]

Brasil has 30 paid vacation days too, though you can sell 10 to the company and take only 20. You can also me more flexible and choose to take like 14 days, then the other 16 later or divide that up to two separate 8 day vacation as well. Just gotta organize it with the manager.

 

[Deleted member 31104]

In the UK my wife who is a social worker has 35 days (she started at 28 days and earns one extra per year to a maximum of 40), plus up to 9 days (can only take one a month) of flex time (which she accrues at the rate of 45 minutes extra hours worked per day)

I'm self-employed so I normally take most of December and the first half of January off, and 6-8 weeks in the summer (finances dependent), don't really take anything apart from that and I work away Monday to Thursday most of the time.

 

[Dandy]

My dad worked for the provincial government(Canada) and had 5-6 weeks of paid vacation by the time he retired, plus he had paid sick days, every holiday off, medical/dental benefits, paid/banked over time and worked flex days so he had every 2nd Friday off.

I get the minimum vacation allowed, no sick days, no benefits, no overtime, and have to work 6 days a week every other week because we have been understaffed for 2 years!

 

[Kemono]

Got 30 days paid vacation, 11 bank holidays and additional 3 days per year paid leave (office is closed).

Oh and 6 weeks paid sick days (100% paid) and additional up to 72 weeks (about 70% of my paycheck (not from my boss but from my mandatory health insurance (everybody gets this)) if it's the same illness. And for every new illness it resets and i start at 6 weeks paid in full again.

Germany by the way.

 

[SixPointEight]

We had 3 weeks mandatory in Ontario before. But thank god it's now FordNation and they reversed those rules because we are now open for business!

 

[Deleted member 26526]

Isle of Man - 27 holiday days and 8 Bank Holidays so 35 total.
(And free health care)
LOVE IT

 

[Puroresu_kid]

Brexit scares me. There are tory ministers who want to take us down the US route.

 

[Blue Ninja]

Belgium. Get 35 days, though this includes a few holidays that fall on weekend days.

Usually manage to take at least another week off with my overtime hours, too.

 

[Kain-Nosgoth]

it's 20 mandatory days for switzerland, 25 days for people under 20

but a lot of companies give 25 days anyway, sometime more

If you count the holidays it's more obviously

 

[DavidDesu]

Another one of these threads. I honestly do not know how you guys do it with a week or so off A YEAR! I usually have a week every 2 to three months and the few times I've needed 2 weeks off together and had a longer stretch of 4 months between breaks I start to feel like a fucking slave. That and worrying about healthcare (another story) and I would have capitulated by now. The stress would have probably lead me to suicide, since my job is pretty shitty (retail betting shop FML) that not having some paid time off to myself every now and again would really push me to breaking point in my mental health.

 

[Puroresu_kid]

Are there no politicians in America, unions, employment activists calling for change? It seems crazy that paid vacation isn't guaranteed and at that a decent amount of paid vacation.

Also I assume teachers in North America are paid when it's holiday time?

 

[BassForever]

I thought I was doing pretty well with 17 days of paid leave at my current job (can get up to 27 if I stay long enough). That is without the firm mandated closings which gives another dozen or so paid holidays.

 

[Br3wnor]

What the fuck? How does as country have no mandatory holiday time? Are you telling me that some people in the States could potentially have no holidays for the entirety of a job? Or is this incredibly rare?

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25% of American workers have no paid vacation or holidays. Many in this 25% work hourly jobs in the service or retail industry. Of people with paid vacation the average you get (I believe) is 10 days. I'm in a union so I'll eventually max out at 27 days (add one day per year, started at 20) along with 12 paid holidays (Christmas, thanksgiving etc.)

It's a mess overall in the US, surprised Canada only requires 10 days.

Are there no politicians in America, unions, employment activists calling for change? It seems crazy that paid vacation isn't guaranteed and at that a decent amount of paid vacation.

Also I assume teachers in North America are paid when it's holiday time?

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Union membership has continued to decline over the past 40 years. One of the Republicans most successful propaganda campaigns has been to demonize unions, public polling on unions in the US is embarrassing. You're told here that unions will just take your dues to line their pockets and are full of corruption. I think at this point 10% of US workers are in unions? Something crazy like that.

Teachers get paid a salary and choose to get paid the months they work or have pay withheld so they get a check over the summer months (In NY at least). Problem is teachers make dick in a lot of the country so they aren't paid as well as someone who doesn't get summers off. Many teachers who don't get paid a lot in the south or mid west will work other jobs in the summer to supplement their income.

 

[cupcakeunicorn]

Are there no politicians in America, unions, employment activists calling for change? It seems crazy that paid vacation isn't guaranteed and at that a decent amount of paid vacation.

Also I assume teachers in North America are paid when it's holiday time?

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Unions in the US (and Canada I suppose) tend to be weaker and less politically powerful than in many European countries. Unions only cover about ~10% of the US workforce, compared to 2/3 in Scandinavian countries.

I have family who work in the US public school system; from what I understand teachers in the US are typically contracted to only be paid during the school year. They usually have the option of spreading their paycheck out over twelve months instead of the 9-10 that they work, but this obviously means a lower monthly income.

 

[stormplyr]

I have to work at my current employer 5 years before I get 10 days PTO. Oh and no paid holidays. We're open Monday thru Saturday and everybody gets Sunday off and other day in the middle of the week. So if Christmas is on a Tuesday that just becomes your day off in the middle of the week. Shitty if you ask me.

 

[Shelbyville Milhouse]

No offense, but America sounds like fucking hellhole of a country

 

[Deleted member 2809]

No offense, but America sounds like fucking hellhole of a country

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yeah but they got guns and bacon, yeehaw

 

[Puroresu_kid]

No offense, but America sounds like fucking hellhole of a country

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The employment rights or lack of them amaze me. Just seems crazy that it's allowed to happen yet as someone above posted no unions makes it a lot easier to do.

I would have thought though there would be some elected politicians trying to get more rights for employees.

 

[Proteus]

Yup. I used to think we were lucky to have 10 days compared to the US and then I learned about Europe.

I started getting fifteen days after five years with my organization and I was supposed to get 20 days at 10 years but they moved the goal post to 15 years. I am still upset over that. It's under review.

 

[Kill3r7]

What the fuck? How does as country have no mandatory holiday time? Are you telling me that some people in the States could potentially have no holidays for the entirety of a job? Or is this incredibly rare?

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More or less true. We have National Holidays, which are paid days off (for some). Certain states also have 5-10 paid days off that an employee earns by working a certain number of hours. The work life balance in the US is absurd. Even folks who get 20+ days off (not including holidays) still end up working 2400-2500 hours a year.