When I started work with the company that I'm with now, I was informed that due to my age I would get 'an additional week of vacation'. Objectively, I thought that was not fair, but subjectively - sure, fine. When they informed me that this meant that instead of three weeks, I would get four, I was astounded. Was it truly possible that people had only three weeks off for the entire year? Apparently, yes, and common, too.
Every so often I will see an article in The Economist or the Washington Post about how odd it is for this country to persist in this practice -- after all, the Europeans routinely take six weeks off, or more -- and how it would really be better for all concerned if we did that as well. I think the concept of vacation misses one point, though, and that is that if you truly love what you do, you're much less likely to need or want vacation to refresh your spirit, because the job itself supplies that emotional need. You might not wake up thinking Thank God, Its Monday, but you're happy at what you do, and you don't feel the need to leave. Most people don't feel that way about what they do. I think that until that becomes a financial problem, more company managers won't feel the need to address it.
1 comment:
I say be selfish .. take ALL four weeks you have coming to you. :)
I say this because my hubby had to go two years with no paid holiday, just to keep his seniority when he first started his current job working for the school district, no less. It sucked!
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