66% of Americans want European-style vacation policies, like being OOO for the entire month of August

That's because politicians are so far separated from the average American. Some of them are so old and senile and have been in power so long, they don't even realize how bad it is for the average American, and on top of that, because they don't think it's as bad as it is, they don't care.

The overwhelming majority of working class adults want these things, but also the overwhelming majority of working class adults also work for large corporations who do not want these things (because it costs them money/profits). Guess who has more money to buy off politicians? Walmart/Amazon/Target would work together to never let these beneficial policies go through congress. It would be worth it to them to spend literal billions to prevent it, because it would cost them billions in the long run.

The sad reality is we don't really live in a democracy. It's an oligarchy that allows us to think we are in control.

98% of the people who vote are voting for repressive corporate culture.

The people who don't vote can't afford to miss a day of work, and even if they did, they know the people they have to choose from won't do anything to change it.

Therefore these polls are meaningless.

That's because Americans have no say in these issues. They're brainwashed (well, 1/2 is) to think those things are sOciAliSm, which apparently is bad despite many voters having socialized medicine that they love. It's the American way, convincing people that what they want is not in their best interest.

The think tanks funded by rich people saying "They want to take away your guns/cows/statues etc" and "unions suck" are better at this than we are.

We can want all we want, but a whole pile of the media is owned by the 1% and what they want is the status quo.

Conservatism is literally, don't change anything.

If you're a skilled salaried worker the law doesn't really consider you to have work hours. Furthermore, you aren't required to be compensated for time you are on-call unless you are required to physically be present.

US labor laws are truly horrifying if you start asking yourself a few "what-ifs." The entire system is built on good faith.

30ish percent of Americans identify as Republican (depending on the poll), so these types of questions are always ~66% of Americans in support

Many types of workers in scandinavia is not as heavily unionized either. Perhaps the ones that are not, enjoy a form of herd immunity from worker abuse from the ones that are.

Depending on the country, there aren't that many people in unions. Most countries in the EU (not Europe in general) have laws that protect the workers better than workers in the USA. The result is a different work culture.

I am truly sorry that you are stuck in this awful situation. The system (or large parts of it) are designed like this. Keeps people in check. As an European, I find it baffling. Not everything is prefect here, far from it. I'm dealing with chronic health issues myself and I probably wouldn't survive the US.

There is nothing I can do to help you, but I emphasize with your situation and hope, that you can rest soon!

My company has this and just about everyone I work with utilizes the unlimited time off. Most people land in the 5-6 weeks of vacation a year + sick + personal business + holidays.

There are the few who make work their hobby too, but you can't do anything for those people IMO

Research shows that people with unlimited time off take fewer days than people with set amount of time off.

I've been told that generally, this is so the company doesn't have to pay you back for unused PTO if you leave the company.

I can't vouch for this as true, but it makes sense.

If I'm stuck in the USA, I'm gonna find an unlimited time of job and actually use that benefit like Europeans. Fuck American work culture.

Because they will think of someone else who "doesn't deserve it" getting it and mald.

Realistically, they are probably the small (and large) business owners that will have to pay for a month off work for their employees.

some people are that bad of workalohics. never take time off and think others who do are weak

European here. Like me, many people from the poorer european countries don't have any place to go on vacations in august. Everything is expensive and there's always a rush to booking. For someone who doesn't have a "family summer house" and can't afford to rent a place in august, mandatory august vacations (like it's usual here) is just a waste of vacations. Too hot and no place cool to go. Also, august is typically the month where everything is flooded with small children. If you're not too fond of that either, then august is really the worst month to be on vacations. ALSO, it's lovely to work in august, because usually your workplace has AC and most of your colleagues are hundreds of kms away, trying to buy a melted ice-cream for 40min in a crowded beach.

Uh, lots actually. People who self identify with work, and the shitty management class who are workaholics.

Also, the self employed and small business owner who never gets vacation time.

Three possibilities. a) people who bought into the propaganda that being exploited by your employer means you're more dedicated. b) the temporarily embarrassed millionaire effect. They're willing to take the exploitation on the off chance they might be the one exploiting people in the future. c) they already are the ones exploiting people.

That's double the amount of time off I have here in the U.S.

And I only get a week of paid sick days, which I've already used up due to an illness which hasn't even been properly diagnosed yet.

I even have to make up time if I go to the doctor.

Cool, I get zero sick days and get paid a lump sum "vacation" bonus every year equivalent to one week's salary.

I get no real paid time off otherwise

25 days off is 5 weeks (because days off would only be the work days.) That's over a month.

Most positions in the US seem to give 10 days of annual leave a year. Some may also include sick pay as well.

Yeah, I’m also from the UK and not sure where tf this “August off” thing is from, whether it’s something other European countries do.

People usually take 1-2 weeks off at a time for a holiday then the odd day here and there, a month is ridiculous.

I was gonna say that you’d burn out if you used up an entire month at once, but I guess Americans would be used to that kind of shit anyway.

Do you get paid during your month off?

I don't think its a Federal requirement to offer employees any vacation or sick leave in the US. For many office jobs you have to earn leave time over the course of months or years - it's not unheard of to have zero leave time the first six months of employment.

If you think voting will get you out of this, my american friend, you are wrong. You need a revolution.

German here as well - this hasn't been an issue in any company I've worked so far, all didn't have an issue with 3+ weeks.

Which gets into an entirely separate (though related) issue, where workers with children get benefits and accommodations that childless workers don't.

Sometimes it's overt and blatant like in your case, others, it's more limited to interactions and relationships.

A few jobs ago, I worked in a small office where the owner was good about approving PTO, but didn't want more than one person in any given dept out at the same time (ridiculous, but that's how he was).

I planned a vacation of a long weekend one summer and got my PTO approved in like February for this long weekend in June.

Literally 3 weeks before, this lady I worked with tells me that I "need to reschedule my PTO".

After looking into it, I learn that what's really going on is that she wanted to take a week long vacation with her kids since they'd be off for the summer, and one of my days overlapped with the week she wanted to take.

I refused, saying that my friends and I had already made arrangements.

And then she blew it up, in the office in front of everyone, and told me how I was being so rude and mean and inconsiderate, that I could go and do things whenever I liked because I didn't have kids...and that I "just didn't get it" and could never possibly understand how hard her life was because I didn't have kids.

I assumed that my boss and other coworkers would see how ridiculous she was, but while they mostly kept quiet, the ones who did speak up actually did think I was being unreasonable for not canceling my vacation to trade with her, seeing my plans as less than hers, just because she had kids.

I learned to get comfortable with coworkers thinking I was an asshole, though, and enjoyed every moment of that getaway.

My prior gig, all of our EU people took like 3-4 weeks off at a time. Probably industry-related?

Lol as an American I feel uncomfortable putting in more than 2 consecutive DAYS in a row and I'm salaried, not a service worker or anything. I can't even imagine having 2 weeks off. I've only been able to manage that once in my adult life during one of my transitions to a new company.

Not when you remember that capitalism is the state religion.

There's not a law because most professional jobs have PTO at level that would meet any mandatory minimum level.

Nederlanders actually are able to talk to each other, come up with solutions to intractable problems, and plan beyond the next political cycle. They also have empty churches.

Dutchie here; while this certainly happens, it's not the norm at all. Everyone working full time in the Netherlands gets a minimum of 20 paid days off per year. Many companies increase this to 25-ish days, with some outliers going up to 40+. At my company, taking >2 weeks has to be requested far in advance and planned around. If my prolonged leave would cause the workplace to fall apart, it wouldn't get approved.

That said, yea it's definitely better here in Europe regarding vacations :)