Work life balance in the USA

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.
It’s a no from me. Mate of mine worked in Chicago for 5/6 years. Didn’t have any time off in all that time other than weekends.

Was frowned upon if you left the office on time by all accounts. Said he regularly worked till 9/10 when deadlines were needed to be completed.

Whole country seems to be built on who works the most amount of time.
 


90 hours a week in London and 2 hours commute per day on top.
I rarely have less than 12 weeks off a year. Been down here 37yrs. If a firm kicks off about it fuck em, others are available. As my marra says: No one ever lay on their death bed and said they wished they’d spent more time at work.
It’s a no from me. Mate of mine worked in Chicago for 5/6 years. Didn’t have any time off in all that time other than weekends.

Was frowned upon if you left the office on time by all accounts. Said he regularly worked till 9/10 when deadlines were needed to be completed.

Whole country seems to be built on who works the most amount of time.
United Saddoes of America.
 
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It was Christmas Eve babe
and I'm still at me desk
An old man said to me, you're here till 1 am
And then he sang a song
The Rare of London Jew
I turned my face away
And dreamed about the tube
Got on a lucky one
living in an eighteen to one
Im near the ceiling
In my bedroom
So happy Christmas
I love you Hackney
I can see a better time
When no one stabs you
They've got tubes for tubes
They've got rivers of shit
But the blade goes right through you
It's no place to live
When you first took my wallet
On a cold Christmas Eve
You promised me
A&E was waiting for me
You were hudded
You were nasty
Queen of old Hackney
When the bloke finished stabbing
They howled out in pain
Sinatra was swinging
And the streets they were minging
We ignored on a corner
Then went underground …
 
It’s a no from me. Mate of mine worked in Chicago for 5/6 years. Didn’t have any time off in all that time other than weekends.

Was frowned upon if you left the office on time by all accounts. Said he regularly worked till 9/10 when deadlines were needed to be completed.

Whole country seems to be built on who works the most amount of time.

One of the big selling points about the US is wages are the highest in the world. Engineers get paid £100k, doctors get paid £250k, nurses £70k, teachers £50k etc. Taxes are lower as well.

But what's the point earning so much money if you haven't got any time to actually f***ing spend and enjoy it?
 
It was Christmas Eve babe
and I'm still at me desk
An old man said to me, you're here till 1 am
And then he sang a song
The Rare of London Jew
I turned my face away
And dreamed about the tube
Got on a lucky one
living in an eighteen to one
Im near the ceiling
In my bedroom
So happy Christmas
I love you Hackney
I can see a better time
When no one stabs you
They've got tubes for tubes
They've got rivers of shit
But the blade goes right through you
It's no place to live
When you first took my wallet
On a cold Christmas Eve
You promised me
A&E was waiting for me
You were hudded
You were nasty
Queen of old Hackney
When the bloke finished stabbing
They howled out in pain
Sinatra was swinging
And the streets they were minging
We ignored on a corner
Then went underground …

Put down the white spirit and call the mental health team
 
One of the big selling points about the US is wages are the highest in the world. Engineers get paid £100k, doctors get paid £250k, nurses £70k, teachers £50k etc. Taxes are lower as well.

But what's the point earning so much money if you haven't got any time to actually f***ing spend and enjoy it?
Annual leave is about 12 days but you get all of the 46 f***ing bank holidays they seem to have.
 
One of the big selling points about the US is wages are the highest in the world. Engineers get paid £100k, doctors get paid £250k, nurses £70k, teachers £50k etc. Taxes are lower as well.

But what's the point earning so much money if you haven't got any time to actually f***ing spend and enjoy it?
My mates is an architect. Salary was unreal but pension, time off etc was shocking.

Teachers are not paid well at all over there. My missus auntie is a teacher over there as well. Salaries aren’t great at all. She’s been there 30 odd years mind you.
Put down the white spirit and call the mental health team
:lol:
 
Tumble out of bunkbed
Thats located in the kitchen
Pour myself a cup of ambition
And yawn and stretch and try to come to life
Join the queue for the shower
And the blood starts pumpin'
Out on the streets, the muggers are jumpin'
For folks like me on the job from 9 to 23
Workin' 9 to 23
What a way to make a livin'
Barely gettin' by
It's all takin' and no givin'
 
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.
Let's hope they'll have you then.
 
There's also no automatic right to paid sick leave and if you are sick, you take it from your already pitiful PTO (personal time off) allowance.

The people who worked for me in New York were nominally offered 10 days holiday and 5 days sickness at starting, rising to 17 days holiday and 5 days sickness with long service, which was more generous than most.

We eventually rolled it all up to avoid penalising those who were rarely sick so it was 15-22 days PTO each. One of my staff who was always off sick and always burned through her PTO from sickness would have to take a week or two of unpaid leave late in the year every year.

I was on a UK contract so got my 25 days regardless :lol:
 
When I lived in the states most people had 2 jobs, the lad who worked in the wine shop also had a job at Nissan., when I told the lads I worked with the amount of leave I had I the UK they were stunned.
 
their annual leave is shocking mind. I know everyone seems to think (and push the narrative) that the UK and the USA are similar politically and in general day to day life, but its such a lazy and dangerous comparison.

People havent got a clue about how bad it can be in the US, and how expensive it can be to do the things we take for granted here. Healthcare, leisure the lot.
 
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.
I used to want USA but full of nutters and crap healthcare. Go to Bilbao or calgary
 
I used to want USA but full of nutters and crap healthcare. Go to Bilbao or calgary

Am I right in thinking a lot of the criticisms of healthcare in the US are not based on quality but on rather on coverage and who is entitled to it? If you can afford the healthcare its as good as any other country in the world I assume, but if you're poor and can't afford it, well your fucked then really.
 
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Got family in Canada, lots of good things about living there but generally they have to take unpaid leave from work to go on holiday, OK if you have the money and your boss is understanding but nightmare otherwise. Have heard a few say that people in the states are made to feel guilty for taking time off. One thing I did notice in Canada was that working weekends was not common, certainly rarer than it is here.
 

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