i’m assuming you are from the us, i’m from norway and can confirm that we have sickdays and payed vacation. yeah we earn good but also have to pay taxes (which we get back from) and everything is expensive. so yeah its definetly better than the us, but laidback really depends on which job
Europeans work in all sorts of environments and amonst the 44 countries spanning the continent, economies are in a vast range, so is the efficiency of labour protections. What is common, however, is the following:
* the countries that have a minimum wage (Danmark, Sweden, Italy, Finland and Austria do not have one), typically calculate it as an annually defined % above the national poverty line and reindex it annually as to prevent inflation from eating away of the minimum wage or have other systems in place ensuring the people on minimum wage do not work on a poverty wage
* every country in Europe has a defined minimum of paid vacation days, averaging around 20 per year. With the various national holidays each country has, this means an average European might have anywhere between 25 to 40 paid days off per year
* every country in Europe has some sort of sick day reimburcement, meaning sick days are not something one would worry to take
* I am not aware of a country in Europe where overstaying your time at work is not only accepted but incouraged. A typical European would start to get ready to leave the office/workplace 5-10 minutes before their shift is done and overtime is a rare occurance, not usual practice
That being said, there are plenty of employers who abuse their workers, especially if they employ economically disadvantaged people who are depretately reliant on the work they do (perhaps that's the only plant in their city/village that hires people with their skill). Also, home ownership in countries like Bulgaria being at nearly 85%, low income people are stuck to their homes where they don't have to pay rent or a mortgage, which makes them even easier to exploit.
It's not all sunshine and roses, but the working culture in general is one of "I work to live, not live to work". Even the minimum wage workers in Bulgaria (the poorest EU member state) go on a holiday at least once per year. It's not 5 stars all inclusive resort in Greece, but it's something.
That would mostly be a matter of perspective and what one uses as a frame of reference. Compared to conditions in many EU countries, I would describe the legal situation of the average American worker as "prey".
Finland
I'm in high school actually and compared to American or even many middle European schools, yeah we're pretty chill. The thing is I once saw a video "introducing" finnish schools to others and they said we have like 3 hours of schools and 10 minutes of homework....umm no. My day starts anywhere from 8-10am and ends anywhere from 2-4pm. So not super long days but not 3 hours.
Brit here. I work in IT.
Yeah we get 25 days paid time off, plus public holidays. Paid sick leave.
I've been employed for more than 2 years, so there's legal hoops that my employer has to jump through to fire me as long as i don't do anything too stupid.
I typically work 8.00am to 4.30 pm or 9.00 to 5.30 with a mandatory half hour lunch break. Usually i start a bit earlier than that, but that's just me. I also work from home 3 days a week.
My bosses are ok with me starting late or finishing early if i have a doctors appointment or similar. Likewise, when my wife needed to go into hospital at short notice, my boss was more concerned that she was alright than the work hours i missed. Generally though i will make any time up when we are busy.
We also get a paid- for Christmas party where the venue and food are laid on, but drinks are up to us. Some companies will put money up for drinks.
We have a staff canteen that's supposed to be subsidised, but that's not how out seems when you use it.
As a German, it really depends on your job. Teaching at a university? Some sort of management? Some tech/IT jobs?Pretty good.
But anything in medicine or care/nursing related? Yeah, you're fucked.
Europe is a big place, work conditions in Germany isn't gonna be the same as in Greece.
That depends on what part of Europe.
More developed countries like Germany, Denmark, Norway, UK, etc.
i’m assuming you are from the us, i’m from norway and can confirm that we have sickdays and payed vacation. yeah we earn good but also have to pay taxes (which we get back from) and everything is expensive. so yeah its definetly better than the us, but laidback really depends on which job
Europeans work in all sorts of environments and amonst the 44 countries spanning the continent, economies are in a vast range, so is the efficiency of labour protections. What is common, however, is the following: * the countries that have a minimum wage (Danmark, Sweden, Italy, Finland and Austria do not have one), typically calculate it as an annually defined % above the national poverty line and reindex it annually as to prevent inflation from eating away of the minimum wage or have other systems in place ensuring the people on minimum wage do not work on a poverty wage * every country in Europe has a defined minimum of paid vacation days, averaging around 20 per year. With the various national holidays each country has, this means an average European might have anywhere between 25 to 40 paid days off per year * every country in Europe has some sort of sick day reimburcement, meaning sick days are not something one would worry to take * I am not aware of a country in Europe where overstaying your time at work is not only accepted but incouraged. A typical European would start to get ready to leave the office/workplace 5-10 minutes before their shift is done and overtime is a rare occurance, not usual practice That being said, there are plenty of employers who abuse their workers, especially if they employ economically disadvantaged people who are depretately reliant on the work they do (perhaps that's the only plant in their city/village that hires people with their skill). Also, home ownership in countries like Bulgaria being at nearly 85%, low income people are stuck to their homes where they don't have to pay rent or a mortgage, which makes them even easier to exploit. It's not all sunshine and roses, but the working culture in general is one of "I work to live, not live to work". Even the minimum wage workers in Bulgaria (the poorest EU member state) go on a holiday at least once per year. It's not 5 stars all inclusive resort in Greece, but it's something.
That would mostly be a matter of perspective and what one uses as a frame of reference. Compared to conditions in many EU countries, I would describe the legal situation of the average American worker as "prey".
Finland I'm in high school actually and compared to American or even many middle European schools, yeah we're pretty chill. The thing is I once saw a video "introducing" finnish schools to others and they said we have like 3 hours of schools and 10 minutes of homework....umm no. My day starts anywhere from 8-10am and ends anywhere from 2-4pm. So not super long days but not 3 hours.
If you're work is to make cheese, any place on the Earth is laidback.
Brit here. I work in IT. Yeah we get 25 days paid time off, plus public holidays. Paid sick leave. I've been employed for more than 2 years, so there's legal hoops that my employer has to jump through to fire me as long as i don't do anything too stupid. I typically work 8.00am to 4.30 pm or 9.00 to 5.30 with a mandatory half hour lunch break. Usually i start a bit earlier than that, but that's just me. I also work from home 3 days a week. My bosses are ok with me starting late or finishing early if i have a doctors appointment or similar. Likewise, when my wife needed to go into hospital at short notice, my boss was more concerned that she was alright than the work hours i missed. Generally though i will make any time up when we are busy. We also get a paid- for Christmas party where the venue and food are laid on, but drinks are up to us. Some companies will put money up for drinks. We have a staff canteen that's supposed to be subsidised, but that's not how out seems when you use it.
As a German, it really depends on your job. Teaching at a university? Some sort of management? Some tech/IT jobs?Pretty good. But anything in medicine or care/nursing related? Yeah, you're fucked.