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Just read this question:

Is it reasonable for my employer to make me use unpaid time off to drive back after a work conference?

And the first thing that I thought was: why is there so little annual holiday / PTO in the US? 10 days per year for the OP in the thread above. In Germany 30 days/year is typical. (As for unpaid time off, I'd have thought it'd be down to employer discretion.)

Why do workers in the US get so little PTO compared to Europe?

Alex Barber
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    Aren't you making and undue generalization by assuming US gets less PTO than Europe, after reading a single incident from one user? Or why are you so sure your statement is a fact? – DarkCygnus Mar 10 '20 at 19:03
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    The US has a different culture. The country US is much more in favor of employers than employees (compared to Europe). Read a little bit on this site and you will find this attitude also in the US people on this website compared to the European people. – guest Mar 10 '20 at 19:04
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    Americans have very strong sense of self-determination, which includes a strong work ethic, and a desire not to be reliant on the state for benefits which were not earned. I.E. a deeply ingrained understanding that you don't get something for nothing. – Harper - Reinstate Monica Mar 10 '20 at 19:08
  • I cannot speak for all employers, but my current employer grants 2 weeks of vacation time, and one week of personal time, along with 10 paid holidays off. so a total of 25 days off annually. With milestones they add a week. There are people in the organization that have worked here so long they get 6 weeks of vacation and 1 week of personal time along with the holidays off. So a total of 45 days off.. not bad IMO. – Justice Mar 10 '20 at 19:16
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    @Harper-ReinstateMonica Europeans aren't any different to Americans in that regard. – HorusKol Mar 10 '20 at 19:21
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    This question is company specific. I work in the US and accumulate more than your example of 30 days a year PTO. It all depends on the company you work for. – sf02 Mar 10 '20 at 19:22
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    we don't want it, we'd rather be working – Tina_Sea Mar 10 '20 at 19:23
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    Hi Alex. Have you done any background work to investigate your question? I'm not sure it's meaningful to take one question and extrapolate to an entire country. – dwizum Mar 10 '20 at 19:41
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    Hello all, thanks for your comments. Apologies if my post seems rude or insensitive; it wasn't intended. I had previously heard such claims about PTO in the US a few times, though didn't pay much attention, and then the linked question made me wonder why the OP had a mere 10 days/year. I only ask, speaking from experience with the German system where over here it would be unlikely to be given only 10 days a year off. Sorry again if anyone was offended; this was certainly not my intention; my post was perhaps too naive. – Alex Barber Mar 10 '20 at 20:04
  • @AlexBarber I can't speak for others, but I wasn't offended. Just wondering if you've done any research, since it's typical to expect people coming here to ask a question have made an effort to answer it on their own and have failed. I do think it's a legitimate question, but unfortunately it's always hard to ask informed and well formatted questions about a system or culture you're not well versed in. – dwizum Mar 10 '20 at 20:06
  • @Justice I'm not sure what "personal time" means in this context. Probably the OP should add that in Germany the holidays are always paid. So the legal minimum is 10 paid holidays + 4 weeks of paid vacation for everyone - even if you're fresh out of school. In my state 12 holidays + 30 days vacation are normal. (P.S. holidays might fall on a weekend, so the effective days are variable.) – Chris Mar 10 '20 at 21:39
  • @AlexBarber FWIW, I currently have 15 PTO days a year, not counting weekends of course, nor sick leaves...That's pretty standard in my country (in fact, IIRC 15 days is the legal minimum). – DarkCygnus Mar 11 '20 at 00:08
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    @harper, "not to be reliant on the state for benefits which were not earned" - if you have been working, have you not being paying for "benefits" (which is, any case a rather disingenuous word, designed to make them sound unearned? What's the difference from "I put cash in my rainy day fund & took it out when I needed it", other than letting the gubmint hold your rainy day fund? – Mawg says reinstate Monica Mar 11 '20 at 06:31
  • In Germany, you pay quite a significant percentage of your salary towards unemployment insurance. So payment for unemployment is not "benefits", it's your insurance paying out. In the UK, both you and your employer pay a total of about 26% of your salary towards "National Insurance". So if they pay for my medical treatments, that's totally earned. I more than paid for it. – gnasher729 Mar 11 '20 at 12:34
  • Europe is not just Germany! If you want to ask a question about Germany, do. But don't use it as representative of Europe and don't use Europe as synonym of Germany. I've lived in Germany and other European countries. Never did I have so much time off as when living in Germany. Statistics on that are very easy to find on the internet. – BigMadAndy Mar 13 '20 at 20:09
  • @BigMadAndy Yes, indeed! I certainly agree with you that Europe is not just Germany. In the case of Germany, it's not just the annual paid leave but also the number of bank holidays. My boss told me that in real terms we have something of the order of 200 days / year in which to do work (assuming a normal Monday-Friday 40 hour week). So I know well what you mean when you say "Never did I have so much time off as when living in Germany". – Alex Barber Mar 13 '20 at 20:23

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As a frame challenge to your question, I'm not sure that it makes sense to take a (potentially limited) description of one person's PTO availability and extrapolate it to an entire nation's workforce.

I'll use myself as an example. In my current role, I have 26 days of PTO, 12 paid holidays, 5 paid sick days, and 3 days of paid volunteer time (I'm able to take time off work as long as I do volunteer work for a non-profit on those days). At a prior employer, I had 18 paid holidays, 36 days of PTO, and 5 sick days. I have a life to live and value availability of time off, so when I'm selecting jobs, I'm sure to evaluate employers on that basis. Others may feel differently, and may target employers who compensate in other ways, versus time off (advancement, or salary, or other things).

If we assume your theory is true, and there are (on average) less days of PTO in the US, your question of "why" may have many different answers. While there is less regulation in the US than in some countries around paid time off, this isn't inherently a good or a bad thing, as it essentially means that PTO becomes another point of negotiation when working out the details of a job offer. Some people see this as an advantage, since it means they can push for what they want, rather than having their outcomes dictated by regulation. Other people want to be protected from potentially abusive employers and would rather work under a more highly regulated environment. Unions play a role as well, when they're able to act in a manner where they can collectively bargain with an employer to set certain standards for things like PTO.

Further, Workers in the US also have protections in terms of being allowed to take time off for specific circumstances - for instance, if you have to take leave to care for a sick family member, FMLA protects your job under certain circumstances. And we have programs where people out on disability or for other reasons either have protection for their jobs or may receive (limited) pay while they're out. As such, these special cases don't need to be accounted for when an employer determines how much PTO to offer.

dwizum
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  • I see I've attracted a downvote. Would anyone care to make a suggestion for improvement, or ask for clarification? – dwizum Mar 10 '20 at 20:07
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    It's pretty well known that North American workers have much less time off than European workers in a similar situation.https://www.cnbc.com/2018/07/05/heres-how-many-paid-vacation-days-the-typical-american-worker-gets-.html – DJClayworth Mar 10 '20 at 20:08
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    @DJClayworth okay. Is that an explanation of why this has been downvoted? If we assume that is "pretty well known" then does that change any of the portion of my answer that answers the questions via explaining the reasons why? – dwizum Mar 10 '20 at 20:10
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    It makes your first two paragraphs irrelevant. Also your third paragraph is naive - Europeans are still able to negotiate pay v time off, but they start from a higher base than US workers. And Europeans almost all have the same protections you talk about in the fourth paragraph. – DJClayworth Mar 10 '20 at 20:11
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    Sorry, I'm not sure how. The asker seemed to be assuming that everyone in the US gets less time off. I'm trying to show that the reality is that there's a lot of variability, and that you can't extrapolate from one example (and, also, by extension, that looking only at averages is meaningless because it ignores individual experiences). The variability is important to the rest of my answer, which is why I lead with that. – dwizum Mar 10 '20 at 20:14
  • Also your third paragraph is naive You're reading way too much between the lines. Nowhere did I mention Europe, or Europeans, and I never tried to explain anything about them or what they can or can't do. – dwizum Mar 10 '20 at 20:15
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    You seem to be implying that USians can negotiate PTO because of their lack of regulation. Did you not mean that? – DJClayworth Mar 10 '20 at 20:17
  • Yes, I did mean that. But I thought it would be clear that I am explaining how things work in the US, because that's what the question asks about. I'm not trying to explain how things work in any other specific place. – dwizum Mar 10 '20 at 20:23
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    I think this answer describes the situation very well. Americans just like to negotiate and appreciate less regulations more than a safe standard (at least that's what I'm reading online). The only thing to add from an outside perspective is that US employees are actually in disadvantage and don't realize it. – Chris Mar 10 '20 at 21:28
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    @Chris I think it's really hard to talk about "advantages" and "disadvantages" without considering that people will have different personal criteria - and also without considering a much bigger picture in terms of the whole employment relationship and it's place in a given culture - which is probably well beyond the scope of this question. – dwizum Mar 10 '20 at 23:01
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    Given 23-25 days holidays plus 8 bank holidays typically in the U.K., and 10 days in the USA with the possibility to negotiate, I’d rather take the U.K. days and not negotiate. – gnasher729 Mar 12 '20 at 15:47
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    I'd imagine most don't have any leverage in negotiations and just have to take what is being offered. – Sopuli Mar 14 '20 at 12:23
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    The idea that USians commonly negotiate their vacation allowance is naive and almost entirely wrong. In most jobs the employer simply tells you how much PTO is given and you take it or leave it. In big retail the idea that you might negotiate is laughable. As an in-demand high tech professional I have several times tried to negotiate PTO and received at most 20 days PTO compared with the 25-30 I would have got without negotiating in the UK. Mostly I got nothing. – DJClayworth Mar 14 '20 at 15:20
  • @DJClayworth I'm sorry you've had bad luck negotiating when you've worked in the US. To be clear, I had meant the term in the broadest sense, which would include rejecting an offer and hunting for an employer that offers terms you're happy with. – dwizum Mar 16 '20 at 13:13
  • It's nothing to do with bad luck. Everyone I know has similar experience. And it isn't really 'negotiating" if all you mean is that you are free to reject a job with little PTO and go and interview for another job that also offers little PT like 95% of all other jobs. – DJClayworth Mar 16 '20 at 13:18
  • I'm not sure what to say here except that my experiences have (clearly?) been different than yours. I've had no trouble getting the vacation days I've wanted when job hunting. If you feel you have a different explanation for the question being asked, maybe you can post an answer as well? – dwizum Mar 16 '20 at 13:23
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I can't speak to the European view on this topic but I consider myself an average American and this is my opinion on this. It's not necessarily the opinion held by others.

30 days paid vacation seems wasteful of human labor resource. I'm not saying 10 days/2 weeks is enough, but 6 weeks of paid time off is unheard of in American culture and seems quite excessive. Employers are paying you a wage to perform some form of labor. There is no reason that an employer should have to pay an employee for labor that they did not perform. Labor is a product that is being purchased by the employer from the employee. Therefore if one is not working, they should not be paid. The fact that paid time off exists at all in many jobs is due to workers demanding it as a condition for taking the job.

Also in America, PTO is used as a bargaining chip in wage negotiation. Often those with high seniority and/or occupying high positions have "earned" more time off due to their position. It is used to incentivize people to to get promotions/stay at a company longer. American's view PTO as a privilege, not a right.

If American companies were to give that much time off, then they would pay less. Personally, I would rather have 20 days worth of pay than 20 days off.

Pyrotechnical
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user5728491
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  • Thanks for your explanation. I understand the issue or labor-reward and am in no way trying to condone idleness. In Germany we have many laws regarding work time. – Alex Barber Mar 10 '20 at 20:10
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    As you allude to, there is no one "right answer". Many are of the opinion that giving no PTO at all would have a negative impact on productivity due to worker stress/burnout, but at the other end of the spectrum, giving 52 weeks of holiday also has a negative impact on productivity. There's presumably some optimal amount of PTO that would maximize overall productivity, but whether that number is 2, 4, 6, or 10 weeks is an open debate. – Nuclear Hoagie Mar 10 '20 at 20:16
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    This answer doesn't make sense. How do you know that the 30 vacation days are NOT calculated into the salary? Europe still has to compete in the global market, especially Germany which is exporting a lot. – Chris Mar 10 '20 at 21:14
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    I don't consider myself to be a "human labor resource". I would rather have time off to do what I want, to the extent that I intend to increase my leave in the next financial year, and take the pay cut for doing so. – Simon B Mar 10 '20 at 23:21
  • @NuclearWang Indeed, somewhere between 0 and 52 weeks off would be optimal, and that is precisely where America (in practice) disagrees with much of Europe. – user5728491 Mar 11 '20 at 00:28
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    @user5728491 I'd like to point out that while your argument makes sense if every hour yielded the same amount of profit. Unfortunately, it is well known that once a person works past an optimum number of hours, the additional number of hours don't always contribute an additional amount of profit. In some cases, the additional profit is so small that it crosses the line into negative profit (or loss). Yes, that's typically studied in hours per week; but, there are some indicators that longer breaks (or disruptions) follow the pattern too, especially if there's a creative angle to the work. – Edwin Buck Mar 11 '20 at 04:38
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    "30 days paid vacation seems wasteful of human labor resource" - wasteful to whom? If to you, why are you not working weekends? – Mawg says reinstate Monica Mar 11 '20 at 06:32
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    @EdwinBuck I agree that there is some optimal level of working weeks/days/hours. However, the attitude in America on average is that 30 days paid vacation in addition to weekends off is suboptimal in terms of amount and quality of work that can be done. – user5728491 Mar 11 '20 at 19:43
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    "I would rather have 20 days worth of pay than 20 days off." Maybe you'll reconsider when you're older and think back on whether that was all really worth it. – njzk2 Mar 12 '20 at 19:10
  • @njzk2 Perhaps, but I would certainly rather have the chance to decide that for myself than have it regulated upon me. – user5728491 Mar 12 '20 at 19:21
  • I've edited this to just state that it's what you think and that you consider yourself an average American and not necessarily what 'the Average American' thinks. To really address what 'the Average American' thinks, you may wish to edit the whole answer to address the perception from Employers, Employees with Low Paying Jobs, Employees with High Paying Jobs, what Labor Unions think, and maybe include elements of Prevailing Wage for consideration on what the 'Average American' thinks. – Pyrotechnical Mar 13 '20 at 16:50
  • Does the 'Avarage American" (not the average Stadk Exchanger, who probably is the avarage developer) really think of them as a human labor ressource? Workers in supermarkets etc. also?! I am completely stunned. – guest Mar 13 '20 at 17:32
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    @user5728491 Henry Ford famously gave his workers more time off because he understood that workers having free time will be happy workers, and workers having leisure to buy his products. People do not typically have a choice in what they work (except for the small percentage of a few lucky entrepreneurs, or artists and scientists), so work for them is a means to an end. Employers used to have inordinately more power than workers (and we see attempts to return to this), and that's why the regulation kicks in. The hard position of productivity taken, Manchester capitalism were the way to go. – Captain Emacs Mar 13 '20 at 23:40
  • You hit the nail on the head with "it's unheard of in American culture ". In other words it's the way we have always done it, anything else is strange and unusual, and so we don't want to do it even if it seems like a good idea on the face of it. – DJClayworth Mar 14 '20 at 15:27
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There are no laws requiring employers to give any paid time off in the United States. While it is not the only country that doesn't do this, it is not the norm: Wikipedia - List of minimum annual leave by country.

Relevant data from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics - Employee Benefits Survey:

Access to Paid Holiday in 2019

  • Civilian** Employees: 78%
  • Private Employees: 79%
  • State and Local Government Employees: 68%

Access to Paid Vacation in 2019

  • Civilian Employees: 76%
  • Private Employees: 79%
  • State and Local Government Employees: 61%

Access to Sick Leave in 2019

  • Civilian Employees: 76%
  • Private Employees: 73%
  • State and Local Government Employees: 91%

BLS also has several PDFs on how much leave employees get:

Amount of Paid Vacation at 1 year (Mean/Median)

  • Civilian Employees: 11/10
  • Private Employees: 11/10
  • State and Local Government Employees: 13/12

Amount of Paid Holiday (Mean/Median)

  • Civilian Employees: 8/8
  • Private Employees: 8/7
  • State and Local Government Employees: 11/11

Amount of Sick Leave at 1 year (Mean/Median)

  • Civilian Employees: 8/7
  • Private Employees: 7/6
  • State and Local Government Employees: 11/12

How much a specific employee is likely to actually get in paid time off will vary with the job/industry/location/employment type.

**Private industry workers and state and local government workers combined.

BSMP
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    The OP is incomplete therefore it's not comparable. In Germany holidays are always paid (8 - 12 working days per year), 4 weeks of vacation are the legal minimum (the norm is 28 - 30 days) and sick leave is paid for 6 weeks in a row (if you recover and get sick again another 6 weeks in a row will be paid, so theoretically the maximum is huge). – Chris Mar 10 '20 at 21:50
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    I question the accuracy of these numbers in this answer. It claims less then 80% of Federal and State employees don't have access to Paid and Holiday leave. I find that inaccurate, I know for a fact all federal employees, have all holidays recognized by the US Government as federal banking holidays. They might have to work on those days but they are paid a premium if that happens (those cases are not the majority either). I understand these numbers are from the US BOLS but it isn't clear how they come up with these numbers. Specifically it's unclear what a "civilian worker" is exactly. – Donald Mar 10 '20 at 22:16
  • @Donald They have a glossary but I can’t do anything about you thinking the Department of Labor or BLS is an untrustworthy source. – BSMP Mar 10 '20 at 23:23
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    @Donald "I question the accuracy of these numbers in this answer", then edit the WIkiPEdia page or inform the U.S. Bureau of Labo(u)r Statistics that they are posting inaccurate data. – Mawg says reinstate Monica Mar 11 '20 at 06:33
  • @Donald I could not find a reference to federal employees on the BLS site for benefits. The numbers I quoted are for state and local employees. – BSMP Mar 13 '20 at 16:32