Work: Too much or too little?

[Brian Gongol]

This question came up during a conversation I was having with Liz Hayes the other day -- she was saying that the European approach to work makes more sense than ours.

I was pretty sure that if I had to live someplace a quarter of the population was on some kind of welfare and where there were hard-and-fast rules putting an absolute limit on the workweek at 40 hours, I'd go nuts.

Am I the only one who thinks there's something good about the fact we work more than any other culture in the world?

[el]

(Warning-- long post ahead)

I think there should be a compromise between the American and European system. Liz hasn't posted here and I wasn't privy to the conversation-- but I'm familiar with the differences she's talking about. I have lived in German-speaking Europe for going on 4 years.

The vacation time in Europe is nice. My job in Austria (I worked full-time teaching English in a preschool-type setting) gave me five paid weeks of vacation per year by law, as well as lots of paid holidays. I don't know anyone in the States who gets that much vacation, let alone someone starting out in the working world. My contract for full-time work was 38.5 hours/week. If I went over, my employer had to give me back that time in paid vacation time. In Austria, your salary is paid out based on 14 months-- 12 months, plus a month's salary of money without tax withholdings for "Christmas money" (not trying to offend non-Christians-- but that's what it's called and it's given out at Christmastime) and another month's salary in the summer without tax withholdings for "vacation money."

The maternity system in Austria is generous (Germany's is too but I'm more familiar with the Austrian system.) I had to leave my job 8 weeks before my due date and stay out for at least 8 weeks afterwards-- with my salary fully paid. My child is nearly 18 months old and I am still out on maternity leave-- which is paid. They do this because they have a serious problem in western Europe. They have a lot of expensive social benefits to pay out and not enough people to pay into the system. I believe 2004 was the first year in Austria where more people were born than died.

But one pays for these benefits. While I worked, I paid into the system of benefits and I will be paying for it when I return to work at some point. Tax rates here are high! For starters, sales tax is 20% (Liz is in Germany where it's 16%-- but there's talk of it being raised there.)

There are also rules about when businesses can be open. The Austrians like this but it drives me nuts. For example, most shops here (and I live in Vienna-- Austria's largest city, not in some small Alpine village) close by 7, if not earlier, during the week. They close by 5 on Saturdays and they cannot be open on Sundays. Plus many places are also closed for a few hours during the day. For example, banks, pharmacies, and post offices are often closed between noon and 2pm. Some people might think this seems nice but after living in this part of the world for going on 4 years now I think it's a real pain. I know tourists who come here and think it's quaint. I think it's silly and frustrating. They make laws telling me I can't buy fresh bread on a Sunday morning but they don't make laws to make public spaces smoke-free!

Brian, I don't think I _totally_ agree with your end statement. Personally I think the States could learn from the Europeans in terms of vacation time-- several of my friends in the States only got one week of vacation after their first year of work (that's not enough) BUT I think the Europeans could use, for starters, a work ethic and a more liberalized economy. But that's just my opinion.

What kinds of benefits do you all get in your jobs? For example, how much vacation time do you get?

[Brian Gongol]

I've been in one form of sales or another since graduation, so I can take all the vacation I want. Just means I don't have any income, which annoys me.

In reality, I may take a week a year, plus a couple of half-days. I've been filling in for full-time hosts over at WHO a couple of times a year -- maybe five or ten -- and those days, I'll call it a half-day.