Posted by Meri-Tuuli on November 13, 2006, at 1:19:52
In reply to Re: Karma » Meri-Tuuli, posted by TexasChic on November 12, 2006, at 19:04:55
Hey TC!
> I didn't sense any tone, you were fine. I found it very enlightening actually!
Oh thats okay then.!
Wow the differences are huge between working practices Europe and the USA. I never realised it!
> 7 hours?? We're required to work 8 hours!!! And on salary the number of hours you work is limitless!
Yep, 7 hours a day, with an hour for lunch, 35 hours a week. It would have been illegal for you to work anymore. No-body ever worked over their hours, unless you were 'important' - and then it was up to you. The company could only have you their for the time in the contract, which was 35hrs/week.
>(sometimes you get off at 11pm one night and have to be in at 7am the next day)
I think this is illegal in the UK - you're supposed to have a minimum amount of time off between 'shifts'. And anyway, the situation wouldn't arise because employers rarely ask their staff to do this sort of thing, okay maybe if you're a doctor, or an investment banker or something, but then its usually up to the person to decide - the company can't force you, and if they do, you can take them to court etc. This is also the same for the maximum number of hours you are legally allowed to work in a week - of course, if you chose to work 70, then its fine, but if your employer forces you, then you can take them to court etc etc. I can't remember what the legal maximum is. There is some debate because of EU stuff and in fact, British workers have the longest working week compared to other EU states, so if you think we sound like slackers.... !
> - you have to punch a clock & every minute is monitored and must be accounted for (seriously, they know how long you took for a bathroom break)
! Man, thats strict. No-body cared in my last job one bit......
> - you're penalized for being late or absent (even if you were sick) & you get fired after a certain number - usually a small one
Yeah, wow, I think its illegial to fire someone like that. You're defiantely allowed a set amount of days off per year, and I don't think you can fire someone for being late....
> - you only get 5 days of vacation after you've been there a year, and can only take them during certain times.
!!!! Well, here the mimimum is definately 20/year. And they usually kick in as soon as you start your job (well at least they did with my old job) and it rises to 25 days per year after you've been there for a couple of years. Thats in addition to bank holidays.
> - add to this you get paid about a third of what you need to actually live off of (and I'm not exaggerating at all).
I thought America was supposed to be cheap to live in? I guess you have to pay for health insurance and things. I suppose here if you're on a low wage (I mean not superlow) you don't have to worry about health insurance and things like that.
And America is so huge I guess rent caries wildly depending on where you live.> I think its something that is pushed under the rug.
Yeah from the sounds of things it seems like you could do with some European style working rules!!
But you have this free market economy or whatever. We've had some socialist revolutions! And we have this idea in our heads that Americans make crazy money and don't pay much tax. We have to pay like 1/3 tax here on our incomes, and if you count other sources of tax, I reckon its more like 1/2 salary goes on tax.
>So... is your brother single?Hehehe, well he's gay, so unless you're a bloke I doubt you'll stand a chance.... I'm assuming you're a gal, although I could be wrong...
Okay so a typical day might look like this (at least where I worked last, and I seem to think that it was typical.... or at least, no-one was like 'wow, this is so good here!'
~9.15 get in (although could get in anywhere 8-10, and some people even showed up at 10.30 and no-one cared)
Sit down, check email, head to cafeteria for breakfast...
9.30 Eat breakfast at desk while reading the news headlines
9.45-11 work....
11 coffee break
11.15 work again
12noon lunch
1pm back from lunch
1-3 work
3-4 Surf web, look busy, go over to friends for a chat
4-5 Bit more work
5pm Walk home.....That would be a fairly typical day for me in my old job as an administrator in a publishing house.
Crazy huh!
poster:Meri-Tuuli
thread:702703
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20061106/msgs/703025.html