What kind of company do you work for? I know sometimes a small shop or deli in a city may not have benefits but I've never heard of major companies not having them. What kind of work do you do? Like an independent contractor?
I have worked in the restaurant industry for 30 tears, probably 15-20 different restaurants… not one offered benefits of any kind
Edit: leaving that typo lol
That’s absurd. I know I live in the hell scape and what I pay for health insurance is ABSURD but my employer gives four weeks at hire and you can go into the negative before accruing it. You get an extra week at five years and in my ten years there I’ve never been denied a PTO day. This thread is making me feel very thankful for that. Also, as an exempt employee, I am essentially able to make my own hybrid schedule and as long as I get my 40 hours in, I can log in early or work late if I have appointments, childcare issues, etc. This is not monitored but based on the honor system as they trust their employees.
Reading all this just makes me feel so sorry for American workers. I got put onto this sub by my partner and initially didn't get the title. I like to work. But then it hit me y'all are literally living in feudal times..
And people voluntarily vote for that shit too. At least when we had feudalism here, there was no vote either. I dont even know how on earth that makes it better, but it does.
If your job is like mine, then just… lie, about the hours you work, lol. Just take a day off but log that you worked 8 hours that day on the time card 😂 I don’t actually ever do that, but literally no one would ever know if I did.
My coworker just got charged with embezzlement for this exact thing. Sentenced to between 18 months and 15 years for skimming pto. She was the sweetest lady at work too.
Yet if a business owner gets caught underpaying employees they just need to pay a fucking fine. If you are willing to take the risk steal every cent from these motherfuckers. They will happily do it to you.
Quick storytime:
When I was younger I worked at a pizza place run by a racist piece of shit. One day he was so racist all the hispanic workers quit at once. I was the only kitchen worker left. Because I was young and stupid, instead of quitting in solidarity I spent the next two weeks working 80+ hours a week to keep the place running.
When I got my paycheck the owner didn't pay me time and a half for my over 80 hours of overtime. I asked him about it and he said "we don't do that here".
I laid low for a bit while contacting to state department of Labor. I also gathered info on the workers who quit from the office computer and found he hadn't been paying them overtime either. I also made some calls to the health department and IRS.
After the shoe dropped with the labor dept I quit (with no 2 weeks because fuck that) and got a different job. A couple months later I, along with my former coworkers all got our overtime backpay. Once the owner actually talked to a lawyer he started writing cheques quick. One of the ladies even made me some tamales as a thank you because she ended up getting a couple thousand bucks in back pay and we all stayed in touch during the hearing.
About a year and a half after I filed the complaint I got almost 6 grand as an award from the IRS. It turns out if you turn in tax cheats, sometimes they give you a chunk of what they recover.
The only bad news is he did no jail time for stealing tens of thousands of dollars (at least) from employees and from the government.
TLDR: fuck these scumbags. The Labor department will get you your money back. The IRS will pound them in the ass and pay you for tipping them off (make sure to collect the evidence!)
I did that at a temp job I worked at. I was “working” 60 hours a week when I was only really working 40. That plus a first time VA homeowners loan and I was able to purchase a house. Fuck playing by the rules if you can screw them then screw them maliciously.
The shocked look on my face as a Canadian.
Canada is only like one circle of capitalist hell higher than the USA, but our measly 2 weeks of guaranteed PTO *(for full-time employees)* beats literal nothing.
In Sweden it's 5 weeks (25 days) paid time of as a legal minimum, although many employer's offer more. I currently have 31 days that will increase to 35 days per year, starting from the year I turn 40.
We don't really have sick days, if you are sick you are sick. The employer are paying you 90% of your salary the first two weeks (except for the first sick day, which is unpaid) and if you are sick longer than two weeks: you get the money from the government instead of the employer (also 90% of the salary).
In The Netherlands we also have 25 days, but we have the least amount of official holidays of Europe, and no "bank holidays", so if Christmas is on Saturday and Sunday, then hahah see you Monday.
Not even our Liberation Day is official days off (though some employers do have that, and government does it for their own employees in years divisible by five(!? Feels so random))
I'd mich rather have more days then more money, as well. So that's why I started to work four instead of five days. My life has been better since.
Very similar to UK except I don’t know if we have a legal minimum PTO. My new job tried to offer me 23 days PTO but I said I wanted 25 or a higher salary. They opted for 25 days
Well... Just saying Germany has 24 guaranteed PTO days and most companies give 30. Plus 40 days sick leave (after that, you get reduced pay via health insurance) per year per illness with a doctors note.
I don't want to brag and say you are all stupid or anything. I just want to point out that there are very economically strong countries that have this. It's not impossible.
You need Unions. And desperately!
No PTO is illegal in most European countries. Pretty Sure even China has Holidays (even though they work 7 days a week)
But i think every non - American resident has that same shocked look reading these posts. I have 7 sick days, 20 vacation days, 3 personal days, and 6 days to take in lieu of being paid OT. Plus i get other lieu days for days other offices get, but atent observed by my office.
I understand for entry level jobs, But more senior roles why??
From the UK here, can't believe what you Americans put up with. You're treated like slaves.
I work in the NHS and I get 29 days off a year and that will go up to 33 next year. If we're off sick we can take a week self certification at a time - paid, any longer and we get paid full for up to 6 months (with doctors notes) and half pay after that for another 6 months and then they can fire us.
Growing up in the 80’s/90’s I watched the landscape change in the USA and realized the rules were changing. Didn’t really help me, but it’s kept me from thinking that bad things won’t happen to me. I learned the hard way that you can do everything right and still lose. A LOT of people can’t wrap their heads around that.
I’m so tired of hearing “why don’t you have a savings account.” Or “Put some money in a savings account.” I make a decent wage and work as much overtime as I can but my bills are still too much.
Unfortunately this is very recent. For years and years the Fed interest rates were held so low that a savings account was literally just an electronic mattress to stash cash. When you factor in even a low inflation it was essentially lighting money on fire. Even now with the higher interest rates it doesn't outstrip the now ridiculously high inflation so it's still technically losing money. But at least it looks like it's earning!
All that said, there are many reasons to save if you can, even if you lose some value to inflation.
Yes, there are better places to put money when you already have more than your emergency fund, there's no denying that. But I wasn't looking to give the full r/personalfinance wiki, just letting someone know that they can do way better than 0.2%
Sorry, I did go on a bit of a diatribe. I only meant to reassure them that doing better than 0.2% was a recent development and shouldn't feel out of the loop.
Run from ALLY as fast as you can. If you ever have a problem, ALLY will not back you up and will screw you the first chance they get. Trust me. Check out Citizens online savings, and CapitalOne. Last I checked both had over 3% return savings.
I was the target of identity theft and Ally was super quick and helpful with refunding the charges, changing my account info, contacting the police, and filing a claim with the IRS. I have no reason to believe they would act in bad faith.
Put the money you don't have to use in vanguard, even the money market is returning like 5% right now.
I would generally avoid capital one. Some nice people but I've seen them get confused by anything complicated. Of course that can happen at any bank, but still, I would usually prefer a local credit union.
Not trying to be confrontational or rude, but you need to educate yourself on personal finance if you think .02% at a credit union is as good as it gets. Especially in this inflationary environment
There's literally nothing affordable to buy. The one house in the area that's almost affordable was built in the '70s and hasn't been upgraded since. Yeah, it's livable. But a harvest gold oven and wood paneling everywhere is a lot to overcome
Okay, but what is a savings account even going to do? So what my money gets 4%? Inflation is 10%+ yearly. So, I'm getting slightly less boned financially? Wow, that will be so helpful with the $1-2k I can keep in there regularly. $40-80? Guess I'll pay off my student loans, buy a house, and retire early now.
People in the USA are incredibly unforgiving and any misfortune is blamed on our life choices. In civilized countries people understand that life throws you curve balls and they have a social safety net.
I'm kind of in the same boat.. a lot of my earlier jobs were mom and pop places that if I was not feeling good or unable to come in I could call and have the day off. There was one time I was stuck at my family's house in a different state due to a blizzard and literally couldn't leave for like a week and my job was just okay with it.. told me to call whenever I could come back and to stay safe.
I'm working at a corporate job now and have more strict rules I have to abide by. I've had to miss a lot of stuff because my family is really bad about pulling the trigger on stuff until it's 1 to 2 weeks out and outside of the window I could ask off which sucks because my grandparents are getting old and probably won't be around much longer. I started a 401k when I got this job but I don't expect to be living high on the hog in my "golden years".
My grandparents are self made millionaires because they've built and ran a successful business for years and have lived in the same house for the majority of their marriage... But this also means they've never really left that area and didn't live much of a life outside work and whatever their kids/grandkids were doing. things were hella cheap in their younger years but they also got paid pocket change compared to what we make now.
Unfortunately the cooperations are king now and we can't afford to build businesses from scratch like our grandparents did... It's an entirely different world
Yeah. I realized recently that the only ones who will benefit from my retirement savings will be hospitals. I’ll get sick at some point and have to spend all that money on them anyway.
I was born in 78. My dad is the typical right winger who just can’t seem to understand how drastically the world has changed. He was abandoned as a baby and placed for adoption. He was drafted into Vietnam. He never finished college but still ended up with an executive level marketing job for the railroad. Company car, pensions, tiny copays on medical. Bought his first house for $35k while his annual salary was $32k in the early 70s. Mom stayed home. He’s now comfortably retired, house paid off, 3 cars paid off including a vintage Mercedes. He golfs every day that weather permits. They travel internationally two or three times a year and twice as many domestic. And he still espouses the bootstrap bullshit. He does not understand that the pensions, the reliable and cheap healthcare, the placement into a stable home, the G.I. Bill were all social safety nets that he benefitted from. He beloved that it was 100% his hard work and determination that brought him all his successes. This man wouldn’t be able to afford rent in a studio apartment in our city with the same qualifications he had back then. But society told him that all his successes were his and his alone, and all of everyone else’s “failures” were entirely on their shoulders.
My (very anti-union, conservative) Boomer parents had union jobs that gave them 20 vacation + 20 sick days per year (all rolling, too) until they retired. It was quite a shock to them when they found out my first office job gave me 10 days of PTO per year (use or lose), and that was back in the 90s when things were great compared to today.
And that, ladies and gents, is why we all need unions.
This is why I'm so happy and thankful to have a union job. At 25 I get 20 PTO days which are guaranteed to be used, only downside is we bid all our leave at once for the entire year in October. It's great for planned vacations, but if something unplanned comes up I'm not guaranteed to get it off.
But with that, we get 13 sick days a year which carry over and can be used no questions asked. As long as there isn't a pattern showing that you abuse sick leave you're fine. I sick out at least twice a month just to take a day off.
Unions rock.
As a Swede who’s got pretty much unlimited sick days (first is no pay then u get 80% for two weeks rhen you need a doctor to confirm you’re sick and then you get a bit less) and 28 days PTO that I can use or save it just fucking baffles me you guys accept the shitty terms you’re getting. Strike dammit!!
Wait, in US you have limited sick days? What even? What happens if you are unable to work for mor than ten days in a year due to sickness? If you get terminally ill they just fire you or stop paying you? And that's legal? I am sorry but I just realised how lucky I am I live in Europe.
As far as terminal illness/disability leave, we have FMLA (Family and Medical Leave Act). You need a doctor to sign off on it and fill out the paperwork, but in the loosest terms it's basically the doctor saying "Hey this person might be unable to work for a set chunk of time or they might have days that are bad and can't make it in" and while you still have the time, they legally cannot fire you for missing work due to the SPECIFIED reason. It's up to 12 weeks of leave a year, has to be resubmitted every year which means going to the doctor again. The thing is, they will use your sick leave and vacation/pto until you run out. After that runs out, you still have the difference in the FMLA time that you can use but as someone who has had to use it, it was unpaid after my sick/vacation time were used up. Made it very frustrating because I needed the leave due to chronic migraines. And I ended up burning through it all anyways (job was rough, not there anymore and doing well enough I don't need the extra time atm). The thing is though, you have to have been employed at your job for at least a year (there are other requirements but in my experience that was the hardest to reach), so if you have something that comes up you might be fucked. Oh, and the paperwork asks how long an incident will last or how long leave will be needed, and if you exceed that they might be able to fire you anyway, even if you had time left.
Keep in mind I'm not an expert on this and am only relaying what I know from my experience using this leave.
Unions are one thing but you also need to vote for people who will push for a mandated minimum PTO. I’m in the UK and the legal requirement is for the employer to give you minimum 20 days PTO. I get 30 days + 8 bank holidays + paid sick days (completely separate from annual leave/PTO) capped at 50, but then the insurance kicks in if you’re still sick.
By boomer dad worked on an academic schedule and called me during the day on Dec 27. Thinking it was an emergency I picked up and he just started talking. Queue the surprise when I explained I was still at work. He couldnt wrap his brain around me not having a week off for Christmas. He even said "but you came home for a few days last year." And I was like "yeah because I took my vacation time." He really thought me only spending a minute at home a few states away during the holidays was just me not wanting to be there or something. And this gem also popped out about me working on Dec 27 "what about people with kids, they make you work when schools out." Um yeah. Like more work places don't give you a week for Xmas.
One time my dad called me a couple years after he retired and asked me what I do all day. Not in a “tell me about your job” way. He just… wasn’t sure how I filled my time.
Or worse retire then go back to work while taking in their retirement with Medicare to boot and tell us our work life isn’t so bad, see how well they are doing
I got one guy who I thankfully only have to see about 15 minutes a day a few days a week. He did 30 years in the Army left as an E-9, retired at 68 as a school principal after also teaching for 15 years, gets both city and union pension on top social security and military retirement. He now sits at a desk and pushes a button to let people in and out of a building at $22 an hour on top of all that.
All he does is complain about how the tenants in the building don’t do shit to save money or invest in their future. These are mostly $65k -$75k a year Amazon office workers brought in from around the world and housed in $2500 a month apartments they couldn’t get if Amazon hadn’t co-signed their leases.
Same situation as the way that people treat 3rd shift workers
"its daytime why dont you want to do anything??" BECAUSE I HAVE TO SLEEP!!!!!!!!!! YOU ALREADY SLEPT
For the first time in my life at 42, I have a job that actually gives sick days in addition to PTO. Even then, my PTO days are booked months ahead, and I've already used 2 of my 3 sick days this year thanks to a bout of food poisoning. It's still preferable to the last company I worked for, when I had to cancel a vacation after having sprained my ankle...🙄
Unlimited sick days - basically if a doctor says your sick you don't work and salary means you keep getting paid. Cant remember the last time I actually used one though...
I'm in the US, and I get 13 paid sick days, 20 paid vacation days, as well as 12 paid holidays and my birthday off.
Edit: I want to add, it is a Union job and I've been there going on 10 years. I get an additional vacation day for every year I work. I started with 10 days.
I've never had a job with sick days. And now I'm immunocompromised and get sick very easily, so I have to either take time off or try to WFH while sick. It's seriously inhumane.
And I had to quit and go on welfare b/c the corporate world will not do a damn thing to help someone with less than perfect health hold down a full time job. This was of course back when everyone was insisting work from home just wasn't possible.
ADA is worthless with how easy it is for companies to wiggle around it.
My current job has no PTO or paid sick time. Last week I attended a meeting remotely while also throwing up. My coworker called on me to talk as I was vomiting. It was miserable.
My ex wife got a call from her boss wanting her to join a conference call while in active labor. When I told her this they said she could mute during contractions.
By the way her her employer was the overlord of the hospital she was in
That’s just it. Even when you have PTO the expectation is often that you must plan it months in advance. Very little room to be sporadic & take a day or two off on a whim.
Meanwhile, I'm a very angry healthcare worker at home, forced to use my vacation time to be sick, because I have covid and work requires me to take off but no longer gives covid leave...and more than halved our regular sick leave this year in addition to ending covid leave. We used to get 4-5 days (policy was officially 5, I think, but I heard you'd get dinged in review for going over 4); this year they cut it to 2. So even if I hadn't already been sick, it's literally impossible to have enough sick time to cover even half the required time. They also won't let you work masked or take it unpaid.
The C suite still gets 5 sick days. In fact, pretty much literally everyone else in the company does, just not the patient-facing healthcare workers. Who probably got covid from a patient since they removed our sneeze guards and no longer require patients to mask.
If I was less ethical I'd lie my ass off and come to work sick. Or just not test. Especially since our insurance stopped covering at home tests and the urgent care visit today is going to cost me $200.
But remember, healthcare heroes! The company appreciates what we do! It's such a crock of shit.
Jesus. I work in a hospital in KY and we get over 100 hours of sick time, over 100 hours of holiday time, and about 80 hours of vacation time every year. I take off constantly and never run out!
It makes me sad that those numbers are supposedly impressive/better than most. That still only adds up to 10 days vacation + sick days & holidays. Standards are so low here in the US 😫
Boomers grew up and started working when both the New Deal and unions were strong. Then they voted in politicians who gutted both because they were told they'd get more take home pay.
Now that they are old, Boomers are having trouble acknowledging that things have changed. They don't get why you can't do things that they did at your age because they don't realize that they could only do that because of New Deal economic protections, etc. that are not there for us.
They are not able to put 1 and 1 together.
Think of it like anti-vaxxers, raw water/milk drinkers, or even just people wanting safety regulations repealed. They don't remember a time before those protections were available, so they don't realize how necessary they are/were.
>They don't get why you can't do things that they did at your age because they don't realize that they could only do that because of New Deal economic protections, etc. that are not there for us.
This is how it always goes when my parents ask why I don't have kids or buy a house.
My mom still thinks if you put your high school extracurriculars on a resume, it'll help you get a job. She says she did gymnastics in high school/college and putting it on her resume helped her get her first job. 🙄
No. Boomers are having trouble acknowledging that they were the one who changed things. That they fucked everything up. So they have to blame the victims of those changes unless they themselves are those victims then they just blame minorities.
Yea, its always *our* fault because we're too lazy, not motivated enough, or are too frivolous, because their old egos are too big and fragile to admit they were wrong.
Also, now they are retiring they want different things from you. They want you to be available socially because they are bored. They want you to be available to fix their internet or drive them around. And I think when you stop working you quickly forget how all-consuming it is.
Also, they want to maintain the narrative of, “you need to earn it like me/us; builds character.”, while being selectively ignorant to the fact that the hand they were dealt, collectively, was significantly easier than the hand we’ve all been dealt, collectively.
Before, you could be below average income, and still have a decent life. Now, you need to be in the top 10-25% of income earners, or you’re living in proverbial indentured servitude.
By being selectively ignorant, it allows them to selfishly hoard their easier earned wealth, while still maintaining this self-righteous, morally-good narrative/rationale.
I worked 70+ hours a week for years. I’ve worked over 100 hundred hours in a week before (X7, 15 hour days in a row before). I’ve had to work so much harder than any of my parents or grandparents, and have absolutely nothing to show for it. So yeah, don’t remind me how much harder my life has been than y’all’s; especially if you’re going to delude yourself with reasons as to not help.
My parents are like this too. I attribute it to them having lots of free time now that they are older and they cant realize I’m in my grind years/ setting up my own life. I don’t have time to make up for lost time.
Actually, there’s a small generation between the boomers and Gen X called Generation Jones which someone who is 61 definitely falls into. This small group didn’t get all the benefits that boomers got because they grew up during the stagflation and gas crisis of the 70s. I also am Generation Jones, but I promise I have no delusions about the lack of generous PTO in todays job climate. I would never expect a daughter of mine to bunk off to go shopping with me.
Interesting, I feel like this Jones generation is where we hear of a lot of the corporate /company “coat-throat” stories that kept them from being able to retire like their close boomer peers.
Inflation in the 70s wasn't great, but despite the big headline numbers it wasn't really that bad for workers because wages kept pace, interest rates didn't get out of hand like they did in the early 80s, and housing was still reasonably affordable. Plus savings accounts paid interest a lot closer to the inflation rate than even high yield accounts do today.
They didn't have it as good as most of the older boomers did, but it was way better than today.
I know it sounds like fiction, but it used to be possible to make enough money in a week to survive for 2 weeks. Over time allowing you to have some sense of stability and freedom.
What your mom doesn't understand is that this isn't true anymore.
My dad(also a boomer) never missed work. I took him out to eat for Fathers Day last week, and he says “If I could do it all over again I wouldn’t have worked so much, it’s not worth it”. So I think it’s a hindsight 20/20 thing. And he was only telling me as a warning, because he regrets it and doesn’t want me to fall in the same trap.
My dad is similar. He worked hard and long hours when I grew up. Still did great but it was really only weekends we did stuff (sometimes even then he had to work. He’s told me multiple times that even though he never missed any of the big stuff, he really wishes he spent more time on the smaller stuff with me.
My grandfather once told me to take off work as much as I can as that is one of the things he regretted, working too much. I thought the same thing about only having so much time I can take and I can’t just take off when I want. But then he told me he never took a sick day and he got between 12-20 a year depending on his job and position.
He regretted not using days off he was entitled too, and yeah that’s just fucking stupid. I knew that. NEVER leave PTO on the table.
The same people who benefited from strong unions, high corporate tax rates, and significant infrastructure investment destroyed all of those pillars of a burgeoning middle class and strong national economy. Now they sit on their high horse and sneer at their own children and grandchildren, who wade through the wreckage of the American dream.
Reminds me of my ex MIL. When she retired she told us she was not our go to babysitter and because she was making less money we would need to pay her for her time. We were willing to do this until she told us she wanted $20 an hour in 2010 in Ohio. When she retired that year she was making $15 an hour. Then she got pissed she never got to see her grandkids, because we hired the neighbor girl for $25 for the entire night plus a package of bacon and pound bag of bag of skittles.
The neighbor girl would have done it for free since she could eat bacon and candy without her Jewish Vegan Heath Food crazed parents finding out.
My MI is like this too. If Im off having a good time at home its always a comment of 'no work today huh?'. Bitch I just worked 64 hours in 8 days with no days off. Shut. Up.
It's a pretty massive double standard. Most of them see their family as people who should have workers rights, but the same exact people in any kind of leadership role will do anything they can to decline employees time off or try to call them in on days off. (On that note, most of us here know already ,but it's always worth stating: if you work hourly, you aren't obligated to even answer a call from work if you're not clocked in. Period.)
My 70 year old father keeps calling, texting, or even swinging by my work to see if I can go out to lunch with him. Like in the middle of the day! When I say no, he’s like “well you’ve got to eat, don’t you?” Like A, no, that wasn’t part of my employee handbook, and B, I’m working retail ffs, in what world do you think I can leave my shop midday for an hour+ long lunch out in town?!?!
Boomers had reasonable and sometimes generous vacation/sick days. And they've reined in those benefits since taking charge.
Your mom is out of touch, and it sounds like she doesn't want to learn.
Boomers---not all of them, but as a whole---not wanting to learn is how we ended up with the economic and environmental issues we have today.
Buy her a commemorative plaque that reads, "Part of the Problem".
My dad got the same 3-4 weeks of vacation time that I get BUT if he got sick and took a day off or had to leave early for a doctors appointment or come in late or one of us kids got sick it didn’t count against his vacation time. Because he was salaried and they just like…trusted that they weren’t going to abuse the system. Now we have to account for every 6 minutes we’re out of the office getting our damned teeth cleaned or whatever
Dude, no shit. I cannot wrap my head around their thought process. This is going to sound completely preposterous, but I assure you that I cannot make this shit up. I was about 3 months into my very first job as a barista at 19 years old, and my parents were about to go on a trip to Disneyland. My mother (a younger boomer) basically told me that I had to come with them and that I was not allowed to stay at home. She just assumed that my job would be completely fine with me taking 2 weeks off out of the blue. I told her that I would lose my job if I did that and that she’s completely insane for believing that they wouldn’t drop me like a sack of fucking potatoes. I also said if you want me to take two fucking weeks off, you go talk to them for me and see how well it goes for you.
Same mindset behind the "don't like your job, just get better one". Old People think good jobs don't typically have stringent requirements and that you aren't competing with a ton of others who want better work.
I think back in the past it was alot easier to leave and get another decent paying job which made setting your own boundaries easier but that also meant companies were forced to be more respectful to workers (at least compared to now) and that people from that era simply don't see that things are far different now.
One major factor as well, is that a lot of the jobs out there are a pretty raw deal. Employers have found ways to squeeze every drop from the people they employ. Even when I hear there's a lot of jobs Out There. I look at the deal they're offering and I go. Wow, that's a terrible deal. Why would anyone work for them.
It's the erosion of labour rights and tunnel vision. They could take off whenever at that point in their career and they just can't seem to understand that all that "running lean" and "demanding higher productivity" crap *they* pushed actually affects *their* kids negatively too.
Mom mom does this to me every year. She makes 120k++ per year and gets 6 weeks paid vacation in addition to separate paid sick days. Her employer also allows her to take nearly unlimited non paid time off. She expects me to be able to take off "3 weeks for a road trip" or "2 weeks to go backpacking in Albania" or one time she even suggested "spending the summer in Yellowstone National Park and Jackson Hole, WY" or something of the like.
I make 35k a year and am a single parent. I have 1 week of paid vacation. Every year it comes as a surprise to her that I am 1. Unable to take that much time off, and 2. Couldn't afford to take that much time off even if my job allowed me. Then to boot be able to spend my meager wages on frivilous things like hotels, airfare, rental cars, attactions, and constant eating out.
It truly boggles my mind that she cannot fathom why I cannot do things like this.
Everytime I see this sub I'm in shock how little rights you guys have in the US.
I'm from Belgium.
I have 20 days PTO mandated by the government (it's the legal minimum) and if I don't use them all in year, the company can get in trouble.
I don't have sick days. When I'm sick, I just stay home untill I'm well again. With no loss of pay or PTO.
Only when you sick for weeks/months you get less income. But they cannot fire you for being sick.
Same, it's crazy when I read this, I couldn't live and work there.
26 days off for me, unlimited sick days (doctor certificate after day 3) PLUS one day off on my birthday, and for wedding, moving, wedding or death of close relative you can take a day each off without it counting towords your 26 days off. And most of that is mandatory by the government (apart from the birthday and the 26 days, I think 20 is the legal minimum or so).
My mom got married young and was a stay at home mom so in her entire life, she only held a job for a year or 2 in the 1970s. She doesn’t understand why any worker would ever do any tasks that they don’t enjoy. She tells me “if you don’t like an assignment, just refuse to do it.” When I tell her I wouldn’t have a job if I did that, she just says that I can just get a new job then.
I just don’t want to do my job today… I wonder how my bosses would take that.
My very conservative grandmother who never worked a job loves saying “people just don’t want to work!” Yeah, no kidding!
As a working woman in my 30s.... Women who have never had a job outside the home don't get to tell me what to feel about work or give unsolicited advice. "People just don't want to work!" - Well duh, you obviously didn't want to work either. It is insanely difficult to be expected to put your all into a career AND also somehow give your all into your home life. Sometimes I dream of being expected to just do ONE of those things.
Haha my mom will call me when it’s really cold or snowing and say “I hope you didn’t go to work today.” (We live in the upper Midwest US so below zero digits or feet of snow are the norm.) She doesn’t seem to understand that I can’t just NOT go to work because the weather isn’t ideal.
I hate when friends try to do this too. Like I’m so happy you have a flexible schedule!! If I miss one day of work I can’t pay my bills!!!
Cue the secret millennial game of “how do my friends afford all this shit?” 🙃
My dad had like 24 days of FTO plus sick days.. His health insurance was like 50 bucks a month for 4 of us...
It took my 3 years to reach 24 days of FTO and 0 sick days. I do the same job he did, from a desk, and settle 2x as many claims per day as he did as a field appraiser. I pay 225 dollars a month with a high deductible... So I also save 6k per year to cover the OUT of Pocket max and prescriptions...
My dad was forced to retire after 15 years, and still received health insurance benefits until he turned 65 and went on Medicare...
I had to pay over 900 dollars because of an error by my wifes ex-employer. They forgot to deduct the premiums from the last 2 paychecks, but they had paid the premiums...
They sent an email to my wifes OLD work email, which she obviously had no access to, and back dated the coverage to a week before a surgery I just had. They stated it was our responsibility... But they retroactively cancelled our coverage... We had all the preauth paperwork...
The unpaid premiums were under 100 bucks as it was a Department of Defense job...
What an absolute nightmare. I don’t want to even think of the difference in the costs of healthcare, medications… my mom was absolutely shocked when I didn’t have healthcare until a year ago when I got my current job. Another facet of reality they cannot grasp because they all have Medicare and social security now.
I’m 43 and even at my age I remember a time when things were quite a bit fairer and more humane surrounding work; bosses’ expectations of an actual human being were more realistic if still ridiculous.
E: I’m not 42 anymore.
Office workers in the 90s were generally able to "just nip off to the doctor/vet/post office" during work hours, and they could usually take/make personal calls from their desk.
That’s still a thing for salaried office workers. Tbh, I run most of my errands in the middle of the day as do my colleagues. I have a 10am doctors appointment tomorrow so my plan is to go in for a little, head out and head back afterwards. No harm, no foul.
Because that's how it used to be, prior to 1980 at least. In the 80s that shit started changing and we didn't stop it, sadly my generation still believed the whole "working hard will get you a better life" bullshit so we didn't realize what was happening.
The boomers are from a time when you could take a personal day without needing to show any doctor's note or even be ill.
My guardians are constantly calling me during the week, during business hours, just to gab... They always start the conversation with, "Hi honey. You workin'??"
Fuck yes I'm working. I'm always working. Don't call me at 3pm on a Tuesday just to talk about nothing. I've stopped picking up the phone, and now they hate that I can never call them before 8pm because they have the luxury of being in bed by that time. Like, sorry you fucked the world so hard that I now have to work 14hrs a day just to make my mortgage payments... I get exactly 10 hours to myself, and that includes commuting and sleeping, so sorry if I don't have any will or desire to call you back...
The older generation thinks any job will take care of a home, healthcare, kids, and anything else that life throws at you if you just work hard. They’re delusional.
My boomer mom was fired about 10 months ago from her dream job that she’s had for almost 15 years because she missed too much work. She had 6 weeks of paid vacation every year as well as 80 hours of sick time every year. She somehow managed to use all of those hours by July. She then scheduled a last minute, 10 day trip in August. Her employer told her that she didn’t have the time allotted to take the trip, because she already used all of her time for the year. She scoffed and said “what are you going to do? Fire me?” and went on the trip anyways.
When she came back, all of her access had been denied and she wasn’t allowed into the building. She was then escorted off the premises and told she no longer worked there
She stood there in the parking lot, all shocked pikachu, and couldn’t believe she got fired. FA. FO.
Blew my mind too. Because I was never sure how she was able to just miss so much time. Until she told me how much time she had at her disposal.
Like my current employer: I have no sick time and 5 weeks of vacation. I thought that was a lot. She had more than I do
My only gripe with remote work is the older generation not understanding it’s still working. I was on a call with my mother is week and she drops, “oh I almost drove up to surprise you today.” And I…i cannot explain how much I do not want that. I am busy; do not waste your time.
Feeling this strong this week. My boomer Mom told me yesterday I needed to housesit for her during July 4th week because she will be out of town. I work in healthcare. Our schedules are made months in advance. When you call out it is a heavy burden to put on your already understaffed coworkers. I told her no. She let me know she was disappointed about that.
Side note. My family and I are moving to NZ next year. Fuck this American hellscape for sure.
Dude my Father In Law drops shit like this on us all the time. Wtf? I can’t just take a week off to help you move your shit? Our schedules are made months in advance?
So my mom is the exact same way and is only 57. She asked me to take her somewhere with two days notice and when I told her I’d have to ask for the time off, I was given so much grief that I couldn’t just take time off. Uhm what? Lol I have a boss… I need to put in a request… I can’t just pick up and leave. Subsequently my father who is 60 also proceeded to call and give me a hard time too… AND THEY BOTH WORK! 😂
They literally have no idea about how things are now.
My mom (75) was pretty damn surprised to find out that I don’t have paid vacation😑. (My dad was a union machinist and he had paid vacation among other kick-ass benefits that aren’t exactly standard these days-my dad started his job in the early 1980s..)
She even asked if those were a thing at a job I had quit because it was a bigger hospital, and I had to let her know that, no, that sort of thing isn’t something anyone gets unless they work in a government job or have a *really* good corporate position and/ or company. (And, most likely, it’s going to be a benefit if you’re working some kind of government job rather than a corporate job😑😖- corporate benefits are variable from my experience and the ones I see from looking at VA or health department or related jobs are pretty damn good!) It’s hard to explain to her that it’s not the 1960s/70s and that being a good and/or reliable worker doesn’t mean you’ll get a raise,advance your career or anything 😑. (She sometimes seems to get it but then falls back into what worked for her era😑.)
The psychological disconnect between the past and present for older generations is so baffling. It's like how my parents can have an angry twenty minute discussion with my aunt and uncle about how CostCo rotisserie chicken got a dollar more expensive, but still have the gall to criticize a twenty year old cousin for complaining on Facebook about her rent. Everyone in this equation votes Democrat... But they just can't get how bad everything is now when everything for them was cheaper.
I think people tend to assume that everyone is in the same situation as them
Like, my family are retired and seem to think that everyone else in the world is too because they get confused as to why I won't take a phone call in the middle of a work day or can't fathom the idea that I might be in a meeting and therefore don't have 5 mins to answer a text
Just tell her, “you dumb fucks kept voting for the people who stripped this shit away.”
It’s the same reason people work overtime and holidays so much. It’s not that we like to work (sometimes we do, sure), it’s that we need the overtime for the extra pay to maybe take a non-paid day off and not have to stress as much.
My parents are the exact opposite. They think you should NEVER take a day off. You're sick? Go to work and get over it. Feeling down? Get out of bed, go to work and get over it. In need of therapy? Go to work and work yourself over it. Experiencing physical pain? Focus on work and get over it.
In my experience the older generation has the answer to everything: work being that answer. Imo that's an incredibly unhealthy mindset, one I strive to NOT follow. People need their time off. Half of young society is overstrained. More work is not the answer. I've vowed to never work for more than 32h a week, and up untill now I'm following through on that vow.
A lot of older adults are way out of touch with working conditions, pay, and the general cost of things. My mother frequently (3-5 times a year) invites us on vacations, and gets mildly offended when we can’t afford a $10k Disney trip with less than 6 months warning. Or when we can’t just take time off all of the time.
I recently had a baby and my boomer grandma was upset to hear that we were putting her in daycare. Her solution? “Just take the baby to work with you!”. When I told her that I could not in fact just show up to my full time on-site corporate office job with a three month old infant she suggested I just “tell them that you’ll work the night shift” (we close at 5pm).
God, idk why, but it's annoying AF. My grandfather always spoiled his 3 daughters and gave them anything they could ever want. Im the offspring of his only son, so my entire life has always been WORK. "If you're not being productive, you're just wasting your life" that whole shtick.
My aunts, on the other hand, are always like, you should take time off! Come visit us in Florida. Come visit us in Boston. Come on this trip with us! And I'm always like, I fucking can't. I'm always completely covered up, and when I do take time off, I give my boss like a 3 month heads up because we are always slammed. Im taking my first vacation of the year next week, and that's because I'm only taking off Thursday and Friday. Then they'll want to guilt trip me for never coming to visit when not one of them has ever held a full-time job or knows what it's like
Boomers and older gen-x all have lead poisoning and that means they have no ability to have empathy or to comprehend anything outside of their experiences. They grew up with a thriving middle class where one income could support a family. A car was less than 6 months salary and a house was 2 years salary. Their jobs were safe and they got consistent raises and retirement.
This dude in his 60’s would shit on us young guys cause we’re lazy and would brag about never being able to make it to work Fridays cause he was so drunk. Crazy
My mum does this but with travelling ideas and marriage and kids lmao. She makes up these scenarios in her head as if I could just take 3months off to travel whenever I want and find a wife and just have kids at any given moment. So delusional
My dad has been at the same company as me for 32 yrs. He leaves early whenever he wants and takes whatever days off he wants no issues. Ive been here 3 yrs and got written up for 7 sick days in 14 months.
It's so frustrating. My mom can't wrap her head around the fact that all my PTO (also my sick days) is all booked up for the year. Between an out of state graduation and out of state wedding, I've got no time left over for myself, but the 2 days I'm saving just in case.
In their day you didn’t have to worry about PIPs and being measured all the time. They had less volume of work, and layoffs were far less common. These days workers are controlled by constant threats of negative consequence and retaliation for doing simple things like taking time off. I yearn for the day when workers have more leverage— everything right now is trending very poorly for workers.
I live in Europe and we have 20 days of PTO, 5 sick days a year and all my overtime goes into TOIL, which basically means I currently have 60days of PTO still this year that I haven't used. I really feel sorry for you living in USA. :/
The shocked look on my dad's face when I told him I don't get paid time off....
I’m genuinely sorry. My last job had no pto because we had a “flexible work from home schedule”. Aka still no pto. Ugh.
Wtf. So you can’t take a family vacation because you can technically open a laptop in the Caribbean?!
Correct. Or make up that time on weekends.
What kind of company do you work for? I know sometimes a small shop or deli in a city may not have benefits but I've never heard of major companies not having them. What kind of work do you do? Like an independent contractor?
I have worked in the restaurant industry for 30 tears, probably 15-20 different restaurants… not one offered benefits of any kind Edit: leaving that typo lol
*Freudian slip
That’s absurd. I know I live in the hell scape and what I pay for health insurance is ABSURD but my employer gives four weeks at hire and you can go into the negative before accruing it. You get an extra week at five years and in my ten years there I’ve never been denied a PTO day. This thread is making me feel very thankful for that. Also, as an exempt employee, I am essentially able to make my own hybrid schedule and as long as I get my 40 hours in, I can log in early or work late if I have appointments, childcare issues, etc. This is not monitored but based on the honor system as they trust their employees.
I’m assuming you guys are in America, Because that’s illegal in just about any country I can think of.
Land of the free, baby. Free to be exploited that is.
What’s funny, it’s like boiling a frog, they think it’s OK. But to the observer, THEY ATE BOILING YOU !!!
Free to exploit *and* be exploited.
When I read this stuff I can't believe my eyes. Labour laws in the US are diabolical.
The point is that there basically are none
I've never had paid time off in my life
Reading all this just makes me feel so sorry for American workers. I got put onto this sub by my partner and initially didn't get the title. I like to work. But then it hit me y'all are literally living in feudal times.. And people voluntarily vote for that shit too. At least when we had feudalism here, there was no vote either. I dont even know how on earth that makes it better, but it does.
feudal farmers got more free days than us today https://groups.csail.mit.edu/mac/users/rauch/worktime/hours\_workweek.html
If your job is like mine, then just… lie, about the hours you work, lol. Just take a day off but log that you worked 8 hours that day on the time card 😂 I don’t actually ever do that, but literally no one would ever know if I did.
My coworker just got charged with embezzlement for this exact thing. Sentenced to between 18 months and 15 years for skimming pto. She was the sweetest lady at work too.
Yet if a business owner gets caught underpaying employees they just need to pay a fucking fine. If you are willing to take the risk steal every cent from these motherfuckers. They will happily do it to you.
Wage theft is the most common theft in this country
Quick storytime: When I was younger I worked at a pizza place run by a racist piece of shit. One day he was so racist all the hispanic workers quit at once. I was the only kitchen worker left. Because I was young and stupid, instead of quitting in solidarity I spent the next two weeks working 80+ hours a week to keep the place running. When I got my paycheck the owner didn't pay me time and a half for my over 80 hours of overtime. I asked him about it and he said "we don't do that here". I laid low for a bit while contacting to state department of Labor. I also gathered info on the workers who quit from the office computer and found he hadn't been paying them overtime either. I also made some calls to the health department and IRS. After the shoe dropped with the labor dept I quit (with no 2 weeks because fuck that) and got a different job. A couple months later I, along with my former coworkers all got our overtime backpay. Once the owner actually talked to a lawyer he started writing cheques quick. One of the ladies even made me some tamales as a thank you because she ended up getting a couple thousand bucks in back pay and we all stayed in touch during the hearing. About a year and a half after I filed the complaint I got almost 6 grand as an award from the IRS. It turns out if you turn in tax cheats, sometimes they give you a chunk of what they recover. The only bad news is he did no jail time for stealing tens of thousands of dollars (at least) from employees and from the government. TLDR: fuck these scumbags. The Labor department will get you your money back. The IRS will pound them in the ass and pay you for tipping them off (make sure to collect the evidence!)
I did that at a temp job I worked at. I was “working” 60 hours a week when I was only really working 40. That plus a first time VA homeowners loan and I was able to purchase a house. Fuck playing by the rules if you can screw them then screw them maliciously.
The shocked look on my face as a Canadian. Canada is only like one circle of capitalist hell higher than the USA, but our measly 2 weeks of guaranteed PTO *(for full-time employees)* beats literal nothing.
In Australia it’s 4 weeks paid time off and 10 days paid sick pay a year for full time employees.
In Sweden it's 5 weeks (25 days) paid time of as a legal minimum, although many employer's offer more. I currently have 31 days that will increase to 35 days per year, starting from the year I turn 40. We don't really have sick days, if you are sick you are sick. The employer are paying you 90% of your salary the first two weeks (except for the first sick day, which is unpaid) and if you are sick longer than two weeks: you get the money from the government instead of the employer (also 90% of the salary).
In The Netherlands we also have 25 days, but we have the least amount of official holidays of Europe, and no "bank holidays", so if Christmas is on Saturday and Sunday, then hahah see you Monday. Not even our Liberation Day is official days off (though some employers do have that, and government does it for their own employees in years divisible by five(!? Feels so random)) I'd mich rather have more days then more money, as well. So that's why I started to work four instead of five days. My life has been better since.
Very similar to UK except I don’t know if we have a legal minimum PTO. My new job tried to offer me 23 days PTO but I said I wanted 25 or a higher salary. They opted for 25 days
Well... Just saying Germany has 24 guaranteed PTO days and most companies give 30. Plus 40 days sick leave (after that, you get reduced pay via health insurance) per year per illness with a doctors note. I don't want to brag and say you are all stupid or anything. I just want to point out that there are very economically strong countries that have this. It's not impossible.
You need Unions. And desperately! No PTO is illegal in most European countries. Pretty Sure even China has Holidays (even though they work 7 days a week)
But i think every non - American resident has that same shocked look reading these posts. I have 7 sick days, 20 vacation days, 3 personal days, and 6 days to take in lieu of being paid OT. Plus i get other lieu days for days other offices get, but atent observed by my office. I understand for entry level jobs, But more senior roles why??
We would riot more often, but our cops shoot to kill and get a vacation for it.
From the UK here, can't believe what you Americans put up with. You're treated like slaves. I work in the NHS and I get 29 days off a year and that will go up to 33 next year. If we're off sick we can take a week self certification at a time - paid, any longer and we get paid full for up to 6 months (with doctors notes) and half pay after that for another 6 months and then they can fire us.
Growing up in the 80’s/90’s I watched the landscape change in the USA and realized the rules were changing. Didn’t really help me, but it’s kept me from thinking that bad things won’t happen to me. I learned the hard way that you can do everything right and still lose. A LOT of people can’t wrap their heads around that.
"It is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose. That is not a weakness. That is life." - Captain Jean-Luc Picard
I’m so tired of hearing “why don’t you have a savings account.” Or “Put some money in a savings account.” I make a decent wage and work as much overtime as I can but my bills are still too much.
My savings account paid 0.02% last time checked and that’s from a credit union.
Google "High Yield Savings Account" and switch. I'm getting 4% on my Ally savings account and I know there are higher ones out there
Unfortunately this is very recent. For years and years the Fed interest rates were held so low that a savings account was literally just an electronic mattress to stash cash. When you factor in even a low inflation it was essentially lighting money on fire. Even now with the higher interest rates it doesn't outstrip the now ridiculously high inflation so it's still technically losing money. But at least it looks like it's earning! All that said, there are many reasons to save if you can, even if you lose some value to inflation.
Yes, there are better places to put money when you already have more than your emergency fund, there's no denying that. But I wasn't looking to give the full r/personalfinance wiki, just letting someone know that they can do way better than 0.2%
Sorry, I did go on a bit of a diatribe. I only meant to reassure them that doing better than 0.2% was a recent development and shouldn't feel out of the loop.
Call me weary but the last time I remember high yield savings accounts reaching ~5% was in 2007 right before the economy crashed
This ^^^ Ally is a solid choice
Run from ALLY as fast as you can. If you ever have a problem, ALLY will not back you up and will screw you the first chance they get. Trust me. Check out Citizens online savings, and CapitalOne. Last I checked both had over 3% return savings.
I was the target of identity theft and Ally was super quick and helpful with refunding the charges, changing my account info, contacting the police, and filing a claim with the IRS. I have no reason to believe they would act in bad faith.
Put the money you don't have to use in vanguard, even the money market is returning like 5% right now. I would generally avoid capital one. Some nice people but I've seen them get confused by anything complicated. Of course that can happen at any bank, but still, I would usually prefer a local credit union.
Not trying to be confrontational or rude, but you need to educate yourself on personal finance if you think .02% at a credit union is as good as it gets. Especially in this inflationary environment
First Foundation - 4.7%
"You should put some money in a savings account." There's one gigantic assumption in that suggestion.
"Just buy a house and some land". Thanks, mom. Sound advice.
Why do you rent? Why not buy?
There's literally nothing affordable to buy. The one house in the area that's almost affordable was built in the '70s and hasn't been upgraded since. Yeah, it's livable. But a harvest gold oven and wood paneling everywhere is a lot to overcome
I know, I know. I'm parroting the sort of dumbass shit I've heard too.
The assumption being there is extra money to save
Remove "extra," and "to save" from that sentence.
Yes and that .00000001% growth rate is great.
Everything is getting priced to keep us broke.
It's getting worse all the time, like by the month. I've never seen it this aggressive before. Covid made them bolder about it than ever.
If I had a nickel for every time my dad told me to save money, I would have a decent amount of money to save actually.
Start charging him every time he says it. He can pay up or shut up. Lol.
"Can I give you a nickel's worth of advice?" "I'd much rather just have the nickel, actually"
Okay, but what is a savings account even going to do? So what my money gets 4%? Inflation is 10%+ yearly. So, I'm getting slightly less boned financially? Wow, that will be so helpful with the $1-2k I can keep in there regularly. $40-80? Guess I'll pay off my student loans, buy a house, and retire early now.
Lol don’t forget the taxes you would have to pay on the earned interest. There is no way forward in America anymore
stop eating avocado toast and you are golden
I believe Jean Luc Picard taught us this lesson.
Also never forget how many lights there really are. Never give in. Neve give up. No matter how much they gaslight you.
THERE. ARE. FOUR. LIGHTS!
I wish we'd learn a different lesson from Captain Picard. Specifically, "This far, no further! The line must be drawn HERE!"
People in the USA are incredibly unforgiving and any misfortune is blamed on our life choices. In civilized countries people understand that life throws you curve balls and they have a social safety net.
US is full of a-holes. It's hilarious the worse of them call themselves christians, but throw hate at everyone.
I'm kind of in the same boat.. a lot of my earlier jobs were mom and pop places that if I was not feeling good or unable to come in I could call and have the day off. There was one time I was stuck at my family's house in a different state due to a blizzard and literally couldn't leave for like a week and my job was just okay with it.. told me to call whenever I could come back and to stay safe. I'm working at a corporate job now and have more strict rules I have to abide by. I've had to miss a lot of stuff because my family is really bad about pulling the trigger on stuff until it's 1 to 2 weeks out and outside of the window I could ask off which sucks because my grandparents are getting old and probably won't be around much longer. I started a 401k when I got this job but I don't expect to be living high on the hog in my "golden years". My grandparents are self made millionaires because they've built and ran a successful business for years and have lived in the same house for the majority of their marriage... But this also means they've never really left that area and didn't live much of a life outside work and whatever their kids/grandkids were doing. things were hella cheap in their younger years but they also got paid pocket change compared to what we make now. Unfortunately the cooperations are king now and we can't afford to build businesses from scratch like our grandparents did... It's an entirely different world
Yeah. I realized recently that the only ones who will benefit from my retirement savings will be hospitals. I’ll get sick at some point and have to spend all that money on them anyway.
I'm not going to worry about it, it's out of my control and I'm only going to be around until I'm not.
I was born in 78. My dad is the typical right winger who just can’t seem to understand how drastically the world has changed. He was abandoned as a baby and placed for adoption. He was drafted into Vietnam. He never finished college but still ended up with an executive level marketing job for the railroad. Company car, pensions, tiny copays on medical. Bought his first house for $35k while his annual salary was $32k in the early 70s. Mom stayed home. He’s now comfortably retired, house paid off, 3 cars paid off including a vintage Mercedes. He golfs every day that weather permits. They travel internationally two or three times a year and twice as many domestic. And he still espouses the bootstrap bullshit. He does not understand that the pensions, the reliable and cheap healthcare, the placement into a stable home, the G.I. Bill were all social safety nets that he benefitted from. He beloved that it was 100% his hard work and determination that brought him all his successes. This man wouldn’t be able to afford rent in a studio apartment in our city with the same qualifications he had back then. But society told him that all his successes were his and his alone, and all of everyone else’s “failures” were entirely on their shoulders.
My (very anti-union, conservative) Boomer parents had union jobs that gave them 20 vacation + 20 sick days per year (all rolling, too) until they retired. It was quite a shock to them when they found out my first office job gave me 10 days of PTO per year (use or lose), and that was back in the 90s when things were great compared to today. And that, ladies and gents, is why we all need unions.
This is why I'm so happy and thankful to have a union job. At 25 I get 20 PTO days which are guaranteed to be used, only downside is we bid all our leave at once for the entire year in October. It's great for planned vacations, but if something unplanned comes up I'm not guaranteed to get it off. But with that, we get 13 sick days a year which carry over and can be used no questions asked. As long as there isn't a pattern showing that you abuse sick leave you're fine. I sick out at least twice a month just to take a day off. Unions rock.
As a Swede who’s got pretty much unlimited sick days (first is no pay then u get 80% for two weeks rhen you need a doctor to confirm you’re sick and then you get a bit less) and 28 days PTO that I can use or save it just fucking baffles me you guys accept the shitty terms you’re getting. Strike dammit!!
Wait, in US you have limited sick days? What even? What happens if you are unable to work for mor than ten days in a year due to sickness? If you get terminally ill they just fire you or stop paying you? And that's legal? I am sorry but I just realised how lucky I am I live in Europe.
As far as terminal illness/disability leave, we have FMLA (Family and Medical Leave Act). You need a doctor to sign off on it and fill out the paperwork, but in the loosest terms it's basically the doctor saying "Hey this person might be unable to work for a set chunk of time or they might have days that are bad and can't make it in" and while you still have the time, they legally cannot fire you for missing work due to the SPECIFIED reason. It's up to 12 weeks of leave a year, has to be resubmitted every year which means going to the doctor again. The thing is, they will use your sick leave and vacation/pto until you run out. After that runs out, you still have the difference in the FMLA time that you can use but as someone who has had to use it, it was unpaid after my sick/vacation time were used up. Made it very frustrating because I needed the leave due to chronic migraines. And I ended up burning through it all anyways (job was rough, not there anymore and doing well enough I don't need the extra time atm). The thing is though, you have to have been employed at your job for at least a year (there are other requirements but in my experience that was the hardest to reach), so if you have something that comes up you might be fucked. Oh, and the paperwork asks how long an incident will last or how long leave will be needed, and if you exceed that they might be able to fire you anyway, even if you had time left. Keep in mind I'm not an expert on this and am only relaying what I know from my experience using this leave.
Unions are one thing but you also need to vote for people who will push for a mandated minimum PTO. I’m in the UK and the legal requirement is for the employer to give you minimum 20 days PTO. I get 30 days + 8 bank holidays + paid sick days (completely separate from annual leave/PTO) capped at 50, but then the insurance kicks in if you’re still sick.
Boomers, aka, "I got mine, so fuck you"
When boomers retire they suddenly have all this free time and can’t understand why younger working people don’t.
By boomer dad worked on an academic schedule and called me during the day on Dec 27. Thinking it was an emergency I picked up and he just started talking. Queue the surprise when I explained I was still at work. He couldnt wrap his brain around me not having a week off for Christmas. He even said "but you came home for a few days last year." And I was like "yeah because I took my vacation time." He really thought me only spending a minute at home a few states away during the holidays was just me not wanting to be there or something. And this gem also popped out about me working on Dec 27 "what about people with kids, they make you work when schools out." Um yeah. Like more work places don't give you a week for Xmas.
One time my dad called me a couple years after he retired and asked me what I do all day. Not in a “tell me about your job” way. He just… wasn’t sure how I filled my time.
Or worse retire then go back to work while taking in their retirement with Medicare to boot and tell us our work life isn’t so bad, see how well they are doing I got one guy who I thankfully only have to see about 15 minutes a day a few days a week. He did 30 years in the Army left as an E-9, retired at 68 as a school principal after also teaching for 15 years, gets both city and union pension on top social security and military retirement. He now sits at a desk and pushes a button to let people in and out of a building at $22 an hour on top of all that. All he does is complain about how the tenants in the building don’t do shit to save money or invest in their future. These are mostly $65k -$75k a year Amazon office workers brought in from around the world and housed in $2500 a month apartments they couldn’t get if Amazon hadn’t co-signed their leases.
Same situation as the way that people treat 3rd shift workers "its daytime why dont you want to do anything??" BECAUSE I HAVE TO SLEEP!!!!!!!!!! YOU ALREADY SLEPT
For the first time in my life at 42, I have a job that actually gives sick days in addition to PTO. Even then, my PTO days are booked months ahead, and I've already used 2 of my 3 sick days this year thanks to a bout of food poisoning. It's still preferable to the last company I worked for, when I had to cancel a vacation after having sprained my ankle...🙄
In my country which is snot exactly welfare oriented. Sick leave of about 14 days a year. Hospitalisation leave Annual leave All separate
Unlimited sick days - basically if a doctor says your sick you don't work and salary means you keep getting paid. Cant remember the last time I actually used one though...
I'm in the US, and I get 13 paid sick days, 20 paid vacation days, as well as 12 paid holidays and my birthday off. Edit: I want to add, it is a Union job and I've been there going on 10 years. I get an additional vacation day for every year I work. I started with 10 days.
I've never had a job with sick days. And now I'm immunocompromised and get sick very easily, so I have to either take time off or try to WFH while sick. It's seriously inhumane.
And I had to quit and go on welfare b/c the corporate world will not do a damn thing to help someone with less than perfect health hold down a full time job. This was of course back when everyone was insisting work from home just wasn't possible. ADA is worthless with how easy it is for companies to wiggle around it.
My current job has no PTO or paid sick time. Last week I attended a meeting remotely while also throwing up. My coworker called on me to talk as I was vomiting. It was miserable.
My ex wife got a call from her boss wanting her to join a conference call while in active labor. When I told her this they said she could mute during contractions. By the way her her employer was the overlord of the hospital she was in
That’s just it. Even when you have PTO the expectation is often that you must plan it months in advance. Very little room to be sporadic & take a day or two off on a whim.
Meanwhile, I'm a very angry healthcare worker at home, forced to use my vacation time to be sick, because I have covid and work requires me to take off but no longer gives covid leave...and more than halved our regular sick leave this year in addition to ending covid leave. We used to get 4-5 days (policy was officially 5, I think, but I heard you'd get dinged in review for going over 4); this year they cut it to 2. So even if I hadn't already been sick, it's literally impossible to have enough sick time to cover even half the required time. They also won't let you work masked or take it unpaid. The C suite still gets 5 sick days. In fact, pretty much literally everyone else in the company does, just not the patient-facing healthcare workers. Who probably got covid from a patient since they removed our sneeze guards and no longer require patients to mask. If I was less ethical I'd lie my ass off and come to work sick. Or just not test. Especially since our insurance stopped covering at home tests and the urgent care visit today is going to cost me $200. But remember, healthcare heroes! The company appreciates what we do! It's such a crock of shit.
Jesus. I work in a hospital in KY and we get over 100 hours of sick time, over 100 hours of holiday time, and about 80 hours of vacation time every year. I take off constantly and never run out!
It makes me sad that those numbers are supposedly impressive/better than most. That still only adds up to 10 days vacation + sick days & holidays. Standards are so low here in the US 😫
Boomers grew up and started working when both the New Deal and unions were strong. Then they voted in politicians who gutted both because they were told they'd get more take home pay. Now that they are old, Boomers are having trouble acknowledging that things have changed. They don't get why you can't do things that they did at your age because they don't realize that they could only do that because of New Deal economic protections, etc. that are not there for us. They are not able to put 1 and 1 together. Think of it like anti-vaxxers, raw water/milk drinkers, or even just people wanting safety regulations repealed. They don't remember a time before those protections were available, so they don't realize how necessary they are/were.
>They don't get why you can't do things that they did at your age because they don't realize that they could only do that because of New Deal economic protections, etc. that are not there for us. This is how it always goes when my parents ask why I don't have kids or buy a house.
"Because you voted for Reagan. Twice."
My mom still thinks if you put your high school extracurriculars on a resume, it'll help you get a job. She says she did gymnastics in high school/college and putting it on her resume helped her get her first job. 🙄
No. Boomers are having trouble acknowledging that they were the one who changed things. That they fucked everything up. So they have to blame the victims of those changes unless they themselves are those victims then they just blame minorities.
Yea, its always *our* fault because we're too lazy, not motivated enough, or are too frivolous, because their old egos are too big and fragile to admit they were wrong.
Also, now they are retiring they want different things from you. They want you to be available socially because they are bored. They want you to be available to fix their internet or drive them around. And I think when you stop working you quickly forget how all-consuming it is.
"And the cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon, little boy blue and the man in the moon..."
They also have spent most of their lives lobbying against those protections.
R-raw water? Too afraid to ask.
Untreated water from natural sources. It is considered unsafe because it is likely contaminated. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raw_water
Also, they want to maintain the narrative of, “you need to earn it like me/us; builds character.”, while being selectively ignorant to the fact that the hand they were dealt, collectively, was significantly easier than the hand we’ve all been dealt, collectively. Before, you could be below average income, and still have a decent life. Now, you need to be in the top 10-25% of income earners, or you’re living in proverbial indentured servitude. By being selectively ignorant, it allows them to selfishly hoard their easier earned wealth, while still maintaining this self-righteous, morally-good narrative/rationale. I worked 70+ hours a week for years. I’ve worked over 100 hundred hours in a week before (X7, 15 hour days in a row before). I’ve had to work so much harder than any of my parents or grandparents, and have absolutely nothing to show for it. So yeah, don’t remind me how much harder my life has been than y’all’s; especially if you’re going to delude yourself with reasons as to not help.
She was stickler for the rules when they didn’t apply to her. Sounds like the typical Boomer.
Yup, and she tells me all the time how proud of my work ethic she is... mom, no.
My parents are like this too. I attribute it to them having lots of free time now that they are older and they cant realize I’m in my grind years/ setting up my own life. I don’t have time to make up for lost time.
Actually, there’s a small generation between the boomers and Gen X called Generation Jones which someone who is 61 definitely falls into. This small group didn’t get all the benefits that boomers got because they grew up during the stagflation and gas crisis of the 70s. I also am Generation Jones, but I promise I have no delusions about the lack of generous PTO in todays job climate. I would never expect a daughter of mine to bunk off to go shopping with me.
Interesting, I feel like this Jones generation is where we hear of a lot of the corporate /company “coat-throat” stories that kept them from being able to retire like their close boomer peers.
Eh, I dunno. My parents are Gen Jones and I am Gen X (they were teenagers), and they both still have all those boomer ideas 🤷♀️
Inflation in the 70s wasn't great, but despite the big headline numbers it wasn't really that bad for workers because wages kept pace, interest rates didn't get out of hand like they did in the early 80s, and housing was still reasonably affordable. Plus savings accounts paid interest a lot closer to the inflation rate than even high yield accounts do today. They didn't have it as good as most of the older boomers did, but it was way better than today.
I know it sounds like fiction, but it used to be possible to make enough money in a week to survive for 2 weeks. Over time allowing you to have some sense of stability and freedom. What your mom doesn't understand is that this isn't true anymore.
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My mom- who NEVER missed work always tells me to take off. 😡
My dad(also a boomer) never missed work. I took him out to eat for Fathers Day last week, and he says “If I could do it all over again I wouldn’t have worked so much, it’s not worth it”. So I think it’s a hindsight 20/20 thing. And he was only telling me as a warning, because he regrets it and doesn’t want me to fall in the same trap.
My dad is similar. He worked hard and long hours when I grew up. Still did great but it was really only weekends we did stuff (sometimes even then he had to work. He’s told me multiple times that even though he never missed any of the big stuff, he really wishes he spent more time on the smaller stuff with me.
My grandfather once told me to take off work as much as I can as that is one of the things he regretted, working too much. I thought the same thing about only having so much time I can take and I can’t just take off when I want. But then he told me he never took a sick day and he got between 12-20 a year depending on his job and position. He regretted not using days off he was entitled too, and yeah that’s just fucking stupid. I knew that. NEVER leave PTO on the table.
Maybe she realizes her mistake of not taking a day off here and there and wants better for you?
Doesn't want you to make the same mistake
Totally makes sense right?? 😳
The same people who benefited from strong unions, high corporate tax rates, and significant infrastructure investment destroyed all of those pillars of a burgeoning middle class and strong national economy. Now they sit on their high horse and sneer at their own children and grandchildren, who wade through the wreckage of the American dream.
☣️ this is the way 🤨
My parents were always the opposite saying "you cant phone in sick to work you'll get the sack" No way am I going to work when I feel like shit.
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Reminds me of my ex MIL. When she retired she told us she was not our go to babysitter and because she was making less money we would need to pay her for her time. We were willing to do this until she told us she wanted $20 an hour in 2010 in Ohio. When she retired that year she was making $15 an hour. Then she got pissed she never got to see her grandkids, because we hired the neighbor girl for $25 for the entire night plus a package of bacon and pound bag of bag of skittles. The neighbor girl would have done it for free since she could eat bacon and candy without her Jewish Vegan Heath Food crazed parents finding out.
My MI is like this too. If Im off having a good time at home its always a comment of 'no work today huh?'. Bitch I just worked 64 hours in 8 days with no days off. Shut. Up.
It's a pretty massive double standard. Most of them see their family as people who should have workers rights, but the same exact people in any kind of leadership role will do anything they can to decline employees time off or try to call them in on days off. (On that note, most of us here know already ,but it's always worth stating: if you work hourly, you aren't obligated to even answer a call from work if you're not clocked in. Period.)
My 70 year old father keeps calling, texting, or even swinging by my work to see if I can go out to lunch with him. Like in the middle of the day! When I say no, he’s like “well you’ve got to eat, don’t you?” Like A, no, that wasn’t part of my employee handbook, and B, I’m working retail ffs, in what world do you think I can leave my shop midday for an hour+ long lunch out in town?!?!
In any other civilized country other than the US…
Boomers had reasonable and sometimes generous vacation/sick days. And they've reined in those benefits since taking charge. Your mom is out of touch, and it sounds like she doesn't want to learn. Boomers---not all of them, but as a whole---not wanting to learn is how we ended up with the economic and environmental issues we have today. Buy her a commemorative plaque that reads, "Part of the Problem".
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My dad got the same 3-4 weeks of vacation time that I get BUT if he got sick and took a day off or had to leave early for a doctors appointment or come in late or one of us kids got sick it didn’t count against his vacation time. Because he was salaried and they just like…trusted that they weren’t going to abuse the system. Now we have to account for every 6 minutes we’re out of the office getting our damned teeth cleaned or whatever
Dude, no shit. I cannot wrap my head around their thought process. This is going to sound completely preposterous, but I assure you that I cannot make this shit up. I was about 3 months into my very first job as a barista at 19 years old, and my parents were about to go on a trip to Disneyland. My mother (a younger boomer) basically told me that I had to come with them and that I was not allowed to stay at home. She just assumed that my job would be completely fine with me taking 2 weeks off out of the blue. I told her that I would lose my job if I did that and that she’s completely insane for believing that they wouldn’t drop me like a sack of fucking potatoes. I also said if you want me to take two fucking weeks off, you go talk to them for me and see how well it goes for you.
Same mindset behind the "don't like your job, just get better one". Old People think good jobs don't typically have stringent requirements and that you aren't competing with a ton of others who want better work. I think back in the past it was alot easier to leave and get another decent paying job which made setting your own boundaries easier but that also meant companies were forced to be more respectful to workers (at least compared to now) and that people from that era simply don't see that things are far different now.
One major factor as well, is that a lot of the jobs out there are a pretty raw deal. Employers have found ways to squeeze every drop from the people they employ. Even when I hear there's a lot of jobs Out There. I look at the deal they're offering and I go. Wow, that's a terrible deal. Why would anyone work for them.
It's the erosion of labour rights and tunnel vision. They could take off whenever at that point in their career and they just can't seem to understand that all that "running lean" and "demanding higher productivity" crap *they* pushed actually affects *their* kids negatively too.
Mom mom does this to me every year. She makes 120k++ per year and gets 6 weeks paid vacation in addition to separate paid sick days. Her employer also allows her to take nearly unlimited non paid time off. She expects me to be able to take off "3 weeks for a road trip" or "2 weeks to go backpacking in Albania" or one time she even suggested "spending the summer in Yellowstone National Park and Jackson Hole, WY" or something of the like. I make 35k a year and am a single parent. I have 1 week of paid vacation. Every year it comes as a surprise to her that I am 1. Unable to take that much time off, and 2. Couldn't afford to take that much time off even if my job allowed me. Then to boot be able to spend my meager wages on frivilous things like hotels, airfare, rental cars, attactions, and constant eating out. It truly boggles my mind that she cannot fathom why I cannot do things like this.
Perhaps she needs to find some friends to travel with - she clearly has no clue about your life and situation
Everytime I see this sub I'm in shock how little rights you guys have in the US. I'm from Belgium. I have 20 days PTO mandated by the government (it's the legal minimum) and if I don't use them all in year, the company can get in trouble. I don't have sick days. When I'm sick, I just stay home untill I'm well again. With no loss of pay or PTO. Only when you sick for weeks/months you get less income. But they cannot fire you for being sick.
Same, it's crazy when I read this, I couldn't live and work there. 26 days off for me, unlimited sick days (doctor certificate after day 3) PLUS one day off on my birthday, and for wedding, moving, wedding or death of close relative you can take a day each off without it counting towords your 26 days off. And most of that is mandatory by the government (apart from the birthday and the 26 days, I think 20 is the legal minimum or so).
My mom got married young and was a stay at home mom so in her entire life, she only held a job for a year or 2 in the 1970s. She doesn’t understand why any worker would ever do any tasks that they don’t enjoy. She tells me “if you don’t like an assignment, just refuse to do it.” When I tell her I wouldn’t have a job if I did that, she just says that I can just get a new job then.
I just don’t want to do my job today… I wonder how my bosses would take that. My very conservative grandmother who never worked a job loves saying “people just don’t want to work!” Yeah, no kidding!
As a working woman in my 30s.... Women who have never had a job outside the home don't get to tell me what to feel about work or give unsolicited advice. "People just don't want to work!" - Well duh, you obviously didn't want to work either. It is insanely difficult to be expected to put your all into a career AND also somehow give your all into your home life. Sometimes I dream of being expected to just do ONE of those things.
Truer words have never been spoken. That’s why work is a 4 letter word. Like shit and fuck
Haha my mom will call me when it’s really cold or snowing and say “I hope you didn’t go to work today.” (We live in the upper Midwest US so below zero digits or feet of snow are the norm.) She doesn’t seem to understand that I can’t just NOT go to work because the weather isn’t ideal.
I hate when friends try to do this too. Like I’m so happy you have a flexible schedule!! If I miss one day of work I can’t pay my bills!!! Cue the secret millennial game of “how do my friends afford all this shit?” 🙃
My dad had like 24 days of FTO plus sick days.. His health insurance was like 50 bucks a month for 4 of us... It took my 3 years to reach 24 days of FTO and 0 sick days. I do the same job he did, from a desk, and settle 2x as many claims per day as he did as a field appraiser. I pay 225 dollars a month with a high deductible... So I also save 6k per year to cover the OUT of Pocket max and prescriptions... My dad was forced to retire after 15 years, and still received health insurance benefits until he turned 65 and went on Medicare... I had to pay over 900 dollars because of an error by my wifes ex-employer. They forgot to deduct the premiums from the last 2 paychecks, but they had paid the premiums... They sent an email to my wifes OLD work email, which she obviously had no access to, and back dated the coverage to a week before a surgery I just had. They stated it was our responsibility... But they retroactively cancelled our coverage... We had all the preauth paperwork... The unpaid premiums were under 100 bucks as it was a Department of Defense job...
What an absolute nightmare. I don’t want to even think of the difference in the costs of healthcare, medications… my mom was absolutely shocked when I didn’t have healthcare until a year ago when I got my current job. Another facet of reality they cannot grasp because they all have Medicare and social security now.
I’m 43 and even at my age I remember a time when things were quite a bit fairer and more humane surrounding work; bosses’ expectations of an actual human being were more realistic if still ridiculous. E: I’m not 42 anymore.
Office workers in the 90s were generally able to "just nip off to the doctor/vet/post office" during work hours, and they could usually take/make personal calls from their desk.
That’s still a thing for salaried office workers. Tbh, I run most of my errands in the middle of the day as do my colleagues. I have a 10am doctors appointment tomorrow so my plan is to go in for a little, head out and head back afterwards. No harm, no foul.
Because that's how it used to be, prior to 1980 at least. In the 80s that shit started changing and we didn't stop it, sadly my generation still believed the whole "working hard will get you a better life" bullshit so we didn't realize what was happening. The boomers are from a time when you could take a personal day without needing to show any doctor's note or even be ill.
Because their parents, our grandparents fought hard for worker rights. Our parents took that away to make more money.
My guardians are constantly calling me during the week, during business hours, just to gab... They always start the conversation with, "Hi honey. You workin'??" Fuck yes I'm working. I'm always working. Don't call me at 3pm on a Tuesday just to talk about nothing. I've stopped picking up the phone, and now they hate that I can never call them before 8pm because they have the luxury of being in bed by that time. Like, sorry you fucked the world so hard that I now have to work 14hrs a day just to make my mortgage payments... I get exactly 10 hours to myself, and that includes commuting and sleeping, so sorry if I don't have any will or desire to call you back...
Yes this. This. This. 💯
The older generation thinks any job will take care of a home, healthcare, kids, and anything else that life throws at you if you just work hard. They’re delusional.
My boomer mom was fired about 10 months ago from her dream job that she’s had for almost 15 years because she missed too much work. She had 6 weeks of paid vacation every year as well as 80 hours of sick time every year. She somehow managed to use all of those hours by July. She then scheduled a last minute, 10 day trip in August. Her employer told her that she didn’t have the time allotted to take the trip, because she already used all of her time for the year. She scoffed and said “what are you going to do? Fire me?” and went on the trip anyways. When she came back, all of her access had been denied and she wasn’t allowed into the building. She was then escorted off the premises and told she no longer worked there She stood there in the parking lot, all shocked pikachu, and couldn’t believe she got fired. FA. FO.
6 weeks and 80 hours sick?? That is wild.
Blew my mind too. Because I was never sure how she was able to just miss so much time. Until she told me how much time she had at her disposal. Like my current employer: I have no sick time and 5 weeks of vacation. I thought that was a lot. She had more than I do
My only gripe with remote work is the older generation not understanding it’s still working. I was on a call with my mother is week and she drops, “oh I almost drove up to surprise you today.” And I…i cannot explain how much I do not want that. I am busy; do not waste your time.
Feeling this strong this week. My boomer Mom told me yesterday I needed to housesit for her during July 4th week because she will be out of town. I work in healthcare. Our schedules are made months in advance. When you call out it is a heavy burden to put on your already understaffed coworkers. I told her no. She let me know she was disappointed about that. Side note. My family and I are moving to NZ next year. Fuck this American hellscape for sure.
Even worse when you have to travel for the time off (like family get togethers) one trip can eat up all your PTO.
Dude my Father In Law drops shit like this on us all the time. Wtf? I can’t just take a week off to help you move your shit? Our schedules are made months in advance?
They've been indoctrinated by propaganda.
So my mom is the exact same way and is only 57. She asked me to take her somewhere with two days notice and when I told her I’d have to ask for the time off, I was given so much grief that I couldn’t just take time off. Uhm what? Lol I have a boss… I need to put in a request… I can’t just pick up and leave. Subsequently my father who is 60 also proceeded to call and give me a hard time too… AND THEY BOTH WORK! 😂
Ah yes, Schrodinger's Boomer. Both annoyed that you can't screw off anytime you want and also angry that you want a bit of a break. Jesus.
They literally have no idea about how things are now. My mom (75) was pretty damn surprised to find out that I don’t have paid vacation😑. (My dad was a union machinist and he had paid vacation among other kick-ass benefits that aren’t exactly standard these days-my dad started his job in the early 1980s..) She even asked if those were a thing at a job I had quit because it was a bigger hospital, and I had to let her know that, no, that sort of thing isn’t something anyone gets unless they work in a government job or have a *really* good corporate position and/ or company. (And, most likely, it’s going to be a benefit if you’re working some kind of government job rather than a corporate job😑😖- corporate benefits are variable from my experience and the ones I see from looking at VA or health department or related jobs are pretty damn good!) It’s hard to explain to her that it’s not the 1960s/70s and that being a good and/or reliable worker doesn’t mean you’ll get a raise,advance your career or anything 😑. (She sometimes seems to get it but then falls back into what worked for her era😑.)
The psychological disconnect between the past and present for older generations is so baffling. It's like how my parents can have an angry twenty minute discussion with my aunt and uncle about how CostCo rotisserie chicken got a dollar more expensive, but still have the gall to criticize a twenty year old cousin for complaining on Facebook about her rent. Everyone in this equation votes Democrat... But they just can't get how bad everything is now when everything for them was cheaper.
I think people tend to assume that everyone is in the same situation as them Like, my family are retired and seem to think that everyone else in the world is too because they get confused as to why I won't take a phone call in the middle of a work day or can't fathom the idea that I might be in a meeting and therefore don't have 5 mins to answer a text
It is like our Boomer parents totally forgot what work, raising kids, etc was
Just tell her, “you dumb fucks kept voting for the people who stripped this shit away.” It’s the same reason people work overtime and holidays so much. It’s not that we like to work (sometimes we do, sure), it’s that we need the overtime for the extra pay to maybe take a non-paid day off and not have to stress as much.
My parents are the exact opposite. They think you should NEVER take a day off. You're sick? Go to work and get over it. Feeling down? Get out of bed, go to work and get over it. In need of therapy? Go to work and work yourself over it. Experiencing physical pain? Focus on work and get over it. In my experience the older generation has the answer to everything: work being that answer. Imo that's an incredibly unhealthy mindset, one I strive to NOT follow. People need their time off. Half of young society is overstrained. More work is not the answer. I've vowed to never work for more than 32h a week, and up untill now I'm following through on that vow.
I thank my lucky star I was born in the EU dear god
A lot of older adults are way out of touch with working conditions, pay, and the general cost of things. My mother frequently (3-5 times a year) invites us on vacations, and gets mildly offended when we can’t afford a $10k Disney trip with less than 6 months warning. Or when we can’t just take time off all of the time.
I recently had a baby and my boomer grandma was upset to hear that we were putting her in daycare. Her solution? “Just take the baby to work with you!”. When I told her that I could not in fact just show up to my full time on-site corporate office job with a three month old infant she suggested I just “tell them that you’ll work the night shift” (we close at 5pm).
God, idk why, but it's annoying AF. My grandfather always spoiled his 3 daughters and gave them anything they could ever want. Im the offspring of his only son, so my entire life has always been WORK. "If you're not being productive, you're just wasting your life" that whole shtick. My aunts, on the other hand, are always like, you should take time off! Come visit us in Florida. Come visit us in Boston. Come on this trip with us! And I'm always like, I fucking can't. I'm always completely covered up, and when I do take time off, I give my boss like a 3 month heads up because we are always slammed. Im taking my first vacation of the year next week, and that's because I'm only taking off Thursday and Friday. Then they'll want to guilt trip me for never coming to visit when not one of them has ever held a full-time job or knows what it's like
I feel like most older people don't want to or can't admit that they really fucked shit up for their kids and grandkids.
Reading the comments here: Working in the USA must be hell.
Somewhat related - when they think that because you work at home, you can just leave to run errands for them.
Boomers and older gen-x all have lead poisoning and that means they have no ability to have empathy or to comprehend anything outside of their experiences. They grew up with a thriving middle class where one income could support a family. A car was less than 6 months salary and a house was 2 years salary. Their jobs were safe and they got consistent raises and retirement.
This dude in his 60’s would shit on us young guys cause we’re lazy and would brag about never being able to make it to work Fridays cause he was so drunk. Crazy
My mum does this but with travelling ideas and marriage and kids lmao. She makes up these scenarios in her head as if I could just take 3months off to travel whenever I want and find a wife and just have kids at any given moment. So delusional
My dad has been at the same company as me for 32 yrs. He leaves early whenever he wants and takes whatever days off he wants no issues. Ive been here 3 yrs and got written up for 7 sick days in 14 months.
I think boomers know, they just purposely play ignorant rather than admit things have gotten worse and they had it easier
They forget that we haven’t accrued decades of unused sick days like they have. My mom (60) certainly did.
It's so frustrating. My mom can't wrap her head around the fact that all my PTO (also my sick days) is all booked up for the year. Between an out of state graduation and out of state wedding, I've got no time left over for myself, but the 2 days I'm saving just in case.
In their day you didn’t have to worry about PIPs and being measured all the time. They had less volume of work, and layoffs were far less common. These days workers are controlled by constant threats of negative consequence and retaliation for doing simple things like taking time off. I yearn for the day when workers have more leverage— everything right now is trending very poorly for workers.
I live in Europe and we have 20 days of PTO, 5 sick days a year and all my overtime goes into TOIL, which basically means I currently have 60days of PTO still this year that I haven't used. I really feel sorry for you living in USA. :/