Aussies shocked as Americans reveal how much annual leave they get
Aussies have been left shocked and mortified after a bunch of Americans revealed a working norm in the US.
Australians have been left mortified and shocked after US workers have revealed how little annual leave they get.
In Australia, full-time workers are entitled to four weeks of annual leave for every 12 months of work.
In the US, annual leave can be subjective and change depending on your employer, but on average, workers receive 10 days paid leave a year.
New Zealand company Beyond Strategy is going viral for stopping and asking Americans: “How much annual leave do you get?”
The company captioned the video by pointing out that New Zealand workers also get four weeks paid leave.
“It has been interesting asking Americans about work culture this past week with Beyond,” the caption read.
One woman revealed she got 12 days of leave in a year. Yep, just over two weeks for the entire year.
A male employee confirmed he only got six days. Perhaps most shockingly to Aussies is the fact that he wasn’t even mad about it.
“I like it. I don’t think it is bad,” he said.
MORE: Know your rights: Annual leave entitlements in Australia
One woman revealed that she got 15 days, and the interviewer explained that is the “highest” amount they’d heard while asking around.
It is just over half of what Australian workers are entitled to as a bare minimum.
The clip ended with an American worker admitting she got zero days of annual leave.
Australians, who are used to having several weeks of annual leave a year, have responded in disbelief to the clip.
“Shocked in Australian. I get 35 days plus public holidays,” one shared, adding that they also get long service leave.
“He (is happy with) six days. How do you not have breakdowns? I have 28 paid days plus eight paid public holidays and that is not enough,” another wrote.
“Americans live to work and Aussies work to live,” one claimed.
“Here’s me thinking 28 days wasn’t enough, glad we get more than America,” someone else cheered.
MORE: How to maximise your annual leave
People were also shocked by the fact that the man who only gets six days of annual leave a year thought that was sufficient.
“How has he been brainwashed to like six days a year as annual leave? That is crazy,” one noted.
“The reality is money is replaceable but your time isn’t,” another argued.
One called that amount of leave “terrible” and someone else said America couldn’t be the “best country” in the world if workers didn’t get enough leave to have a proper paid holiday.
In the US, the average salary is just shy of $AU100,000 at $AU98,000 but in Australia the average wage is actually more. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, it is now $103,812.
Dad dies at work on Christmas Eve
Tributes are flowing for a tradie and father-of-two who died in a tragic workplace incident on Christmas Eve.
‘Inhumane’: Top Gun pilot surrendered to US
An Australian who previously served as a US marine pilot has lost his lengthy fight against extradition to the US over allegations he illegally trained Chinese pilots.
Shock number of Aussies still WFH
More than a third of Australians are still working from home nearly four years on from the start of the Covid pandemic.