Let me tell you a story. It is not one that usually resonates with the typical US-focus but reading the stories on this sub I think you might enjoy it.
Every now and then those images go around with the amount of (paid) annual leave countries have. US are usually at the bottom. The top countries have 25 days or so. I live in one of those.
What people don’t realise is that 25ish is usually the legal minimum. Few employers actually offer that. It is usually more, typically 28-32 days (plus paid national holidays of course if they are on a workday).
Why? Companies would of course always offer the minimum if they could get away with it. It is higher because unions have consistently, over years, pushed up paid annual leave from the minimum. Regardless of sector. And kept it there.
But, you see, 28-32 days are still what I would consider low. First job kind of thing, at a decent sized company or an established sector. A long time ago, with a university degree type job, I started at 40 days (at my 3rd job, with roughly 5 years’ experience).
I have a skilled and somewhat rare profession. 40 is considered high and good, but not uncommon. (I also want to add that this applies to my whole workplace, regardless of if you have a degree or not – once our union negotiated it, it didn’t take long for other unions to also get it.) – Basically, our cleaners got 40+ days of annual leave too.
Now, I say “started”. I actually have 45 days paid annual leave. Why? My union, long before I even graduated, negotiated a rule with my employer. For every full year after your first, you gain an extra day of annual leave. So after my 6th year with my employer, I now have 45 days. 9 glorious weeks at 110% of my pay (extra 10% courtesy of another negotiation…).
Me and my wife normally take 5-6 weeks over summer with some shift in weeks between us, so we each get a week or two each with the kids and maybe 4 weeks together. Then we take 2 weeks over Christmas (which, with national holidays typically turn into 3ish weeks). Then we have an extra week to do whatever with.
This is rather good. This is what you could have. You are only so many years behind in the fight, but as another common Reddit meme says, the best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago, the second best time is now.
Don’t give up, organise. And fight. And fight.
As for another story.
Now, one of my senior colleagues got 67 days of annual leave. Rare for sure, but not unheard of. Most people I meet have a story about someone like this they know. In my colleague’s case, he was also at 45 days, but the company had to renegotiate his contract and offered him a trade-off between extra salary in exchange for overtime and the extra work or extra annual leave. He chose the latter, and ended up with 13 extra days indefinitely.
Now, a few years later, they had to renegotiate his contract again (because they can’t change them without going through the union). Part of the issue was that he now had to drive to one of our other locations. They could not force him because the change of location was not in his contract, so renegotiation was the only option. He ended up with being compensated with full pay for all travel hours, plus twice travel time in lieu to be taken out as annual leave. So 4 hours extra drive every week turns into one extra day of annual leave every 2 weeks. All said and done, once a year was done, he had 67 days of annual leave (and efficiently gets paid for 40-hour weeks despite working 36). He is the master of finishing at lunch on Fridays.
What is the point of this story? That in negotiations is power. That once your employer can’t rule over you, and everyone else on the market, there is a balance, there is negotiation. And it makes things better. You can fight for every inch. You can fight for options.
So what I’m trying to say, start and join unions. It costs money and effort and time, but there is a reason why employers fight tooth and nail against them. Because they can guarantee you a working life worth having. And protect you against the vast power imbalance that exist.
I pay about 25-30 dollars a month for my membership. And a bit more for various kinds of insurances that come with, another 7-9 dollars. I have no idea what it costs in other countries. Honestly, I don’t get much out of it except a good deal on my house insurance for some reason.
I sometimes wonder what I would pay – the double? More? I’m well-off so it is not really an issue but the value I place on my 45 days of annual leave always makes me wonder what I would be willing to pay. What would I have been willing to pay for the chance of the working life I have, to avoid the internal scream, the internal rage that I feel when I see Americans talk about 10 days of unpaid leave (and no damn sick pay).
I get to reap the benefits for those that came before. People who fought. And so will many other people in my life.
Are all unions good? And always good? Of course not, but they are far better than the alternatives. Power balance matters and it needs to be adjusted, your employer can’t have full control over you. And you can always get involved yourself, to make certain, to fight for not only yourself, but those that come after you.
Trust me and my colleague with our 45+ days of annual leave – it will be appreciated.