Work life balance in the USA

Sharpshooter

Midfield
I've long considered wanting to move to the US at some point in my life. I recognise it has some serious flaws, but my main gripe about the country is with the lack of annual leave the US (and Canada) both have. Am I right in saying the US has NO guaranteed paid leave whatsoever and it has be negotiated with an employer before hand? I also read that approximately 25% of Americans don't get ANY paid leave whatsoever? I think the average American only gets just 10 days off a year? In Canada its not much better either with 2 weeks only (and wages are also lower than the US).

AUS/NZ appear to have a similar work-life balance to that of the UK by contrast. A minimum of 4-5 weeks plus an extra 10-13 paid days for public holidays which is a pretty good deal, so I'm open to moving there also. But the lack of paid work leave is a bit of a drag about North America. I'd be ok with 3 weeks but 10 days or less would depress me.
 
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The amount of paid leave the yanks get (or don't get) is shocking. So much for it being the "land of the free". NZ or Oz would be a better bet.

My dream is to sell up here, buy a house outright in rural Sweden with the profits, and have 365 days a year off.
My ex lass is from rural Sweden. Lives in Stockholm now.

Loved spending time up there but it would become very boring I think. Hence why you can pick houses and land up for bugger all.
What will you do on leap years?
Don’t have them in Sweden. They have an extra few minutes on every day.
 
The amount of paid leave the yanks get (or don't get) is shocking. So much for it being the "land of the free". NZ or Oz would be a better bet.

My dream is to sell up here, buy a house outright in rural Sweden with the profits, and have 365 days a year off.

This ^^^ the working hours in the US are shocking, crazy place
 
Company I work for are pretty good. But start with 10 days vacation, 15 after five years and 20 after 10. Get about 12 paid holidays and 2 floaters.People tend to make the most of their weekends.

Am I right in saying for jobs with higher salaries in the US your likely to get more days off? Because your considered more of a 'valuable' employee and so have better negotiating rights?
 
I've long considered wanting to move to the US at some point in my life. I recognise it has some serious flaws, but my main gripe about the country is with the lack of annual leave the US (and Canada) both have. Am I right in saying the US has NO guaranteed paid leave whatsoever and it has be negotiated with an employer before hand? I also read that approximately 25% of Americans don't get ANY paid leave whatsoever? I think the average American only gets just 10 days off a year? In Canada its not much better either with 2 weeks only (and wages are also lower than the US).

AUS/NZ appear to have a similar work-life balance to that of the UK by contrast. A minimum of 4-5 weeks plus an extra 10-13 paid days for public holidays which is a pretty good deal, so I'm open to moving there also. But the lack of paid work leave is a bit of a drag about North America. I'd be ok with 3 weeks but 10 days or less would depress me.

why do you want to move there?
 
Am I right in saying for jobs with higher salaries in the US your likely to get more days off? Because your considered more of a 'valuable' employee and so have better negotiating rights?
Im not sure really. My employer is very focused on providing a competitive package for retention purposes so I would expect its a fairly typical in my area.
A lot of people tend to use the sick time like vacation as it typically doesnt carry over year on year.
 
why do you want to move there?

Its not a case of the grass is greener for me, there are many things about the US I'd admire about the country, very diverse, immigrants from all over the globe, fantastic scenery, good weather, very good wages (a good bit higher than the UK for most jobs), I'm big fan of American sports and like America as a country in general.
 

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