Australian university. On paper, my working arrangements look great:
- 36-hour work week
- 20 days annual leave (these roll over, but they start getting antsy when these go above 25)
- public holidays
- days between Christmas and New Year when the campus shuts down
- not personally sure how many sick days, but they roll over, and I currently have close to five months accrued)
- option to buy an additional 20 days, in which case it's use or lose
- if you are research active (I am), option for research leave one term every three years, and reduced teaching obligations one term out of three years
However. The 36-hour week is laughable - 60 hours, excluding my personal research time, is standard. In practice, I generally end up needing to take my annual leave to complete major writing projects - these are nominally part of my work plan, but, in practice, no one leaves me alone to do anything unless I'm "on leave". Research leave is never fully honoured - it is still useful, and I'm glad to have access to it, but it just means I have thirty hours a week of nonsense on my schedule, rather than sixty (where writing gets done /after/ the nonsense, in what is meant to be my own time). The Christmas shutdown period also doesn't apply to me right now, as I'm the only person legally able to do a specific job that must be done over that period. Public holidays make no difference to my schedule, other than that I don't have to physically front up to class.
I'm currently considering buying the extra 20-days leave, so that I get some actual time off, in addition to the four weeks I use up on writing... I have a new manager, however, so I'm currently seeing if he's true to his word that my writing schedule will be respected this term - I'm skeptical, but all things being equal I'd just as soon be paid for publishing, since that's meant to be a substantial part of my job.
What is genuinely good, however, are the maternity benefits - these I wouldn't be able to match elsewhere, and they are the reason I'm still here. I haven't had to claim sick leave, but certainly the allocation seems generous if I need it. And I have enormous flexibility about when I work - really useful with two young kids, and another reason I haven't more aggressively sought out other options.