Paid Time Off & work/life balance

[vand]

I always knew that in the US you don’t get as much holiday time as in many other countries. But it shocked me that the standard is only about 10 days PTO per year.

I know salaries are higher in the US too - well they bloody well should be for that pittance of holiday leave.

Also, what are your contracted hours?

Here in the UK he standard for office work is

35-40hrs/week
25 days/year PTO + bank holidays

Many companies will also increase your PTO allowance (and also your pension contribution) with more years of service eg +1 extra day PTO for every 2 years of service

And obviously if you work in a profession and/or want to get ahead then you will often work longer than your contracted hours

I feel that you can have a reasonable work life balance with 25 days and 30-40hrs.
10 days/year with more hours would suck - no wonder the drive to FIRE is so high in the US

[SpareChange]

I've worked in a hospital as an X-ray tech for about a decade. I earn PTO at a 13% rate. I'm PT at 20 hours, but FT hours would be 36-40.

[iluvzbeach]

30 years ago when I started working it seems everyone started with two weeks per year and gained additional weeks as their time with the company grew. For example, the company where I spent many years maxed out at 6 weeks PTO after 20 years of service. The company I’m with now started us at 3 weeks per year, with progression to a max of 5 weeks. Both companies also observed all Federal holidays.

My current company now says to just take whatever PTO amount feels right, with a minimum recommended amount of 3 weeks per year. I take about six weeks per year and am on track to take about 7-8 weeks this year, with no pushback whatsoever.

[wageslave23]

I would say white collar jobs you usually start out of college with two weeks pto plus a few sick days. Then add an extra 5 days every 5 years. So most people in their 30s get 15-20 pto days per year plus 10 holidays.  Yes it sucks but I don't think an extra 5 more days would be a difference maker.  Making the workweek 32 hrs would be huge. I'm at 15 pto days and thought about asking for an extra 5 days but then figured I'd rather have more money in a raise.  A week off is only worth $2k at my pay scale. Plus I still have the same amount of work so I just have to do more before and after coming back from vacation.  I'd rather have a $5k raise then worry about an extra 5 days.

[big_owl]

Ok, US sucks and Europe is good, amiright?   Cool story.  What are you going to do about it?   Because if you're just here to shit on us Americans then stfu.  We know it's tough here.

I got 4wks vacation and basically u limited sick leave before I retired, is that what you were looking for?   

I actually work for a Spaniard boss and when pressed about free healthcare and huge vacation allowances his answer is "well yeah, we don't have to pay for defence since we know the US will protect us, so of course we can afford to spend money on other shit".  No joke. 

[vand]

Ok, US sucks and Europe is good, amiright?   Cool story.  What are you going to do about it?   Because if you're just here to shit on us Americans then stfu.  We know it's tough here.

I got 4wks vacation and basically u limited sick leave before I retired, is that what you were looking for?   

I actually work for a Spaniard boss and when pressed about free healthcare and huge vacation allowances his answer is "well yeah, we don't have to pay for defence since we know the US will protect us, so of course we can afford to spend money on other shit".  No joke.

Woot Woot.

[rocketpj]

Canada varies a lot.  Most entry level jobs start with 2 or 3 weeks of PTO.  They tend to cap out at 5 weeks (25 days), plus statutory holidays.

My job is PT and I get the equivalent of about 3 weeks, but because I work 3 days/week (M, Th, F) I can just take a single day and get 5 days off, which I often do.  (I also own a business, which sometimes takes my time as well).

[FIRE Artist]

I used to work for an American company and the starting vacation was 4 weeks.  My general assumption is that most people on this forum have professional careers which generally come with decent vacation packages, American or not. 

I now work in the public sector in Canada so I trade salary for a generous-ish work life balance.  As a full time employee I work 37.5hrs/week with zero expectation of overtime, and I started at 4 weeks vacation (now 5 after 5 years with the potential for a further week after 15 years) plus 5 personal days, 11 + 1 stats and up to 180 days of sick time/year if needed.  Even with all that, I am still pursuing early retirement. 

If I had say, 8 weeks vacation plus 5 personal days and the stats, then I MIGHT consider staying in the work force for longer but likely still think I would want to retire early.  Being an employee, no matter how generous the terms, means trading away your freedom, therefore, I don’t think vacation time and the drive to FIRE are all that closely linked for most people in a professional career.   

[jrhampt]

I had a lot of jobs in my twenties with only 2 weeks PTO, but as I've gotten older and better compensated, I'm up to almost 6 weeks.  It varies a lot based on job and seniority. 

[JLee]

It varies wildly by employer.  My last one had four weeks from day 1 - I had five weeks when I left (after 5 years).  My new job pays way way way more but only provides two weeks.  I am salaried with a 40 hr / week expectation, and previously the same except I was effectively 24x7 on call with minimal real time "off" (my record streak was 30+ days working).

The PTO drop is not an adjustment I'm happy with, but was worth the trade for the salary / career growth and the rebirth of some element of work/life balance.

[PDXTabs]

Yes, but that's just paid time off. Depending on your position and the job market you can also take unpaid time off. My US salary is sufficiently higher than it would be in the UK that I can afford a lot of unpaid time off. But most non-mustachians would never think to do that and some people worry that it might hurt their career.

[brandon1827]

At my company, we earn pto hours every pay period. The rate is based on your length of service and we are allowed to carry over up to 280 earned pto hours per year. People like me who have been with the company over 20+ years have easily built a balance of that much and usually have to end up taking days at the end of the year to burn excess hours so we won't lose them. We also are granted 2 personal days and 2 safety days per year that have to be used or you lose them. I'm salaried (exempt) so I can't earn overtime, but any time spent over normal working hours is paid as "Comp time". Individuals are allowed to carry over up to 600 hours of comp time...which can be used in lieu of vacation time. We also get paid for all federal holidays. All in all, I end up taking approximately 4-5 weeks off each year through a combination of vacation, comp, safety, and personal hours...plus all federal holidays. The un-used portion of my vacation hours (up to 280) are paid in full upon resignation or retirement. We don't get paid for un-used comp or sick leave though. I can't complain at all. We are allowed to earn and carry over what I feel is a generous amount of time off and are encouraged to use it.

[Sibley]

How much you earn and what your PTO/sick leave/holidays/etc look in the US vary WIDELY. It's not mandated by the government, so you end up with a huge amount of variation. Thus, if you want to know specifics, you're going to need to define what field, what industry, and what location.

Remember also that the US has a ton of income inequality. So a lot of people make peanuts, but some people are lucky and earn a LOT.

And @vand , just because you're feeling smug about the employee protections in the UK doesn't mean you get a pass to come piss on the US. Yeah, lots of problems here. May I remind you about Brexit, and the conversation I read not long ago about fruits/vegetables going bad weeks earlier than they used to due to import/shipping delays? You've got your own problems to deal with.

[simonsez]

Fed employee with >3 but <15 years of service, so I accrue 104 hours designated for sick leave and 160 hours designated for annual leave.  Those with <3 years receive 104 hours of annual leave and those with >15 receive 208.  Add in 11 (or 12 depending on Inauguration Day ) federal holidays and it comes out to ~44 paid days off per year for me.  I guess it is technically a little more than that if you include the early releases - frequently we'll receive 2 hours off leading into a holiday weekend (for those NOT already on leave) or rarely we'll get all of Christmas Eve off.  I'd say the early releases in total come out to about 2 days in a given year.

Most feds can carry over up to 240 hours of annual leave year-to-year (certain categories can do 720).  Unused sick leave has no cap.  Currently sitting at 134.25 hours of annual leave and 1115.5 hours of sick leave.

We also have a credit hour "bank" where you can volunteer to work extra hours to build up an additional 24 hour repository.  Handy for reducing the amount of leave that actually needs to be taken when it comes to weekends and the half days for appointments (if I don't feel like using sick leave) or when the outdoors are just a little too alluring.  This is separate from OT or comp time where there is a business need for the individual to work.  Credit hours are voluntary and are not required due to any immediate needs of the work unit or agency, thus not OT/comp time (which are required and satisfy an important deadline or business need) and are a separate bucket.  When in a work flow, I'll frequently work an extra hour or two extra at the end of the day to build my credit hour balance.  Always plenty to do and future self always thanks past self for the extra hours to get the leisure time started early!

My agency has flexible work schedules where you work 80 hours in two weeks any way you want, provided you don't miss the middle of the M-F workday too much to be available for meetings or trainings or simply prime collaboration time.  One of my employees averages working 4 10 hour days each week, the another does 9 hour days and then has every other Friday off.  I personally usually work everyday (unless scheduled off) but it varies from 4 hours to 12 hours.  Working on Saturday or Sunday usually coincides with OT and is not too common for me personally but I know some people who regularly work about 4 hours on Saturday morning as part of their regular 80.

The credit hours in conjunction with a flexible work schedule has reduced the amount of leave I would otherwise need.  I think it's hard to compare PTO across the board without knowing schedule flexibilities.

As mentioned, it will vary widely by field.  I'm in statistics, my building's HQ is in DC but I work remotely from the Midwest.

[Boll weevil]

The company I work for uses “earned time off” (ETO), which is combined vacation and sick leave. New hires receive 16 days/year, and it gradually increases to max out at 25 days/year. It accrues on a weekly basis and we can have up to 2 years worth on the books.

Our holiday schedule is a bit different… we don’t get MLK Jr., Presidents, Columbus, or Veterans Days, but the trade off is we get the day after Thanksgiving and all the days between Christmas and New Years off.

And then last year they started offering an extra day in case you want to celebrate a holiday that we normally don’t have off.

[LonerMatt]

In Australia the following is the base line for FT salaried work.

- 20 days paid (though many employees will let you take time off at 1/2 your day rate and you can extend it)
- 5 days of 'mental health leave' (sick leave with no questions asked)
- idk how much sick leave but a lot, with a medical certificate
- 38 hours is fulltime

Pretty nice balance, all up.

[deborah]

In Australia the following is the base line for FT salaried work.

- 20 days paid (though many employees will let you take time off at 1/2 your day rate and you can extend it)
- 5 days of 'mental health leave' (sick leave with no questions asked)
- idk how much sick leave but a lot, with a medical certificate
- 38 hours is fulltime

Pretty nice balance, all up.

You forgot to add long service leave which is also part of the base. After 10 years working somewhere, you get 3 months leave, and every subsequent year you get another 2 weeks. This can be taken at half pay, and doubled - ie 6 months leave at half pay.

[Scramblin Rover]

I get 10 days per year of PTO. As others have pointed out, though, PTO generally does increase as you get more experience. In my case, PTO will increase to 15 days per year once I have worked for two years at my company. Hopefully I never have to go back to 10 days after that - it's definitely less than I'd prefer.

I work at a consulting firm, so work ebbs and flows to some degree, but I try to be as close as possible to 40 hrs/wk. This is basically standard for the US - definitely some jobs require you to work longer, but it's not the norm in most fields.

[LonerMatt]

In Australia the following is the base line for FT salaried work.

- 20 days paid (though many employees will let you take time off at 1/2 your day rate and you can extend it)
- 5 days of 'mental health leave' (sick leave with no questions asked)
- idk how much sick leave but a lot, with a medical certificate
- 38 hours is fulltime

Pretty nice balance, all up.

You forgot to add long service leave which is also part of the base. After 10 years working somewhere, you get 3 months leave, and every subsequent year you get another 2 weeks. This can be taken at half pay, and doubled - ie 6 months leave at half pay.

@deborah - well, knowing me and my longevity, it's unsurprising I forgot that one hey!?

[Paper Chaser]

I work 4 days per week, have 5 weeks of PTO, all federal holidays off, plus around a week off between Xmas and New Years. My total days off are the same as my friends who are teachers that get lengthy breaks several times per year.

I'm probably over qualified for my job, but the work/life balance is excellent and I do better than my teacher friends with similar time off.

[SpareChange]

I've worked in a hospital as an X-ray tech for about a decade. I earn PTO at a 13% rate. I'm PT at 20 hours, but FT hours would be 36-40.

Vand...you got me curious, and I had some time, so I went looking for an apple-to-apples comparison. According to the NHS, outside of London, a radiographer with <2 years exp earns the equivalent of $31,487. This is working 37.5 hrs and with 27 days of annual leave + bank holidays. Looks like schooling is a year longer in the UK. My facility currently has a FT position open. 40 hrs. Base pay would be right at $45k with no exp. I believe they start people off earning pto at 9% here, which would be 23 or 24 days. That includes sick days and holidays though. I believe I hit 12% at around 7 years in. Not sure how UK hospitals handle holiday coverage. My company only recognizes 6 holidays, from which we randomly draw 2 and earn OT.

For reference, from a rando online calculator, Manchester, UK COL is 1.03 x Fort Worth, TX COL.

Anyway, pick your poison. Thanks for the topic.     

[vand]

How much you earn and what your PTO/sick leave/holidays/etc look in the US vary WIDELY. It's not mandated by the government, so you end up with a huge amount of variation. Thus, if you want to know specifics, you're going to need to define what field, what industry, and what location.

Remember also that the US has a ton of income inequality. So a lot of people make peanuts, but some people are lucky and earn a LOT.

And @vand , just because you're feeling smug about the employee protections in the UK doesn't mean you get a pass to come piss on the US. Yeah, lots of problems here. May I remind you about Brexit, and the conversation I read not long ago about fruits/vegetables going bad weeks earlier than they used to due to import/shipping delays? You've got your own problems to deal with.

I am not feeling "smug" at all... I am rather surprised that people have interpreted it that way. 

But I do find the difference in base PTO is an interesting reflection of the culture.  Personally I've always been of the opinion that people who want to be paid more (which is most people) should be willing to literally put the time in, and I'm personally happy to work more hours and more days in exchange for higher pay, as I find I don't need the whole 25 days + bank holidays to strike a good work/life balance.  Obviously there is a limit to how many hours you can work, but there is a reason why most high paying professions there is a tendency to work a lot of hours.

If you're happy with your own PTO arrangements and the work/life balance you have with your employer while pursuing FIRE then more power to you - that's what it's all about!

[charis]

I don't know why some folks are jumping down the OP's throat, there was nothing antagonistic about the post. 

But yeah, you can't make any assumptions. It's all over the map. For instance I have 22 weeks of annual and sick leave remaining for this year, not including 2.5 weeks already used and I have only been with my current for 7.5 years. If I work beyond 40 hours a week, it's unusual.

[sixwings]

I'm in a senior leadership role at an organization in Canada, I get close to 8 weeks of vacation  (5 weeks PTO and then 1 "balance day" that i earn every month and accumulate through the year, meant to act as compensation for any extra OT i work during the year, which is frequent, but we don't have to track/record it. I also get stat holidays off which isn't included in that number so I guess that's another 12 days of PTO. I love it and I'm pretty much not going to leave my job until I retire. I can't even fathom leaving for a job that is 3-4 weeks (pretty typical where I live). I would need to be 3x what I make now to make retirement come a lot faster, which isn't feasible.

[ChickenStash]

My employers (all US) have varied a bit on their PTO policies. Currently, I'm at 5.5 weeks PTO accrued over a year (including holidays). The accrual rate goes up over time and we're allowed to bank unused PTO up to some cap (that I can't remember) then it gets paid out.

Our schedule is based on 40 hours but we're also in an oncall rotation so there's after-hours expectations that could increase the hours per week. The bosses are flexible with comp time for go-lives or rough on-call and taking a few hours for personal reasons occasionally so there's quite a bit of flexibility.

[lutorm]

It's like everything else about being an employee in the US: If you're a hard to replace/attractive employee, things are good and mostly negiotiable. If you're not, God help you.

[vand]

I have to say too that the unpaid time off and flexibility to determine how much total time off over a year seems nice.  Here its very much a case of "take the time off that you're entitled to but don't ask for more."

[ATtiny85]

I don't know why some folks are jumping down the OP's throat, there was nothing antagonistic about the post. 

It’s simply what some people do, though some claim to be the opposite. Shrug.

I enjoyed getting leave stored up when in the military, though the 30 days per year often included weekends, and normally there are restrictions as to when. It was a strange world at times. I did enjoy getting paid for the first two months of grad school as I was on transition (terminal?) leave. And that was right after being in a use or lose situation for about a year.

I have done mid career moves twice and both times was able to start at four weeks. We can buy an extra week at my current company, which I do.

[markpst]

I get 28 days of PTO/sick days in addition to 7 paid holidays. I think you have to work with my organization for 7 or 10 years to hit that max level. I can't remember as I now have 18 years in. I work for a non-profit healthcare organization in the United States. Some of the other benefits are pretty lame. This is the first year they are delaying our 403(b) match until after year end - and it is only 50% of up to 4% contribution, so I can max at 2%. If I leave during the year, no match for this year. (403b is nearly identical to 401k, but for non-profit organizations).

[Bobfatter]

I get pretty good leave each year as a federal employee.  20 vacation days accumulated per year.  ~13 sick days accumulated per year.  11 holidays per year.  3 hours per week of workout/fitness leave if I choose to take it.  Also a alternate work schedule that allows for every other Friday off. 

[sonofsven]

I've never had a paid time off day, ever. My boss sucks
(yes, I'm self employed).
Of course, I can not go to work whenever I want, too. My boss is cool!

[lifeisshort123]

Depends on the type of work you do.

In my industry 4 weeks vacation, 1-2 weeks illness/sick days, 1-2 weeks of professional development seem standard, plus federal holidays (usually some but not all).

In education sometimes it is something like 8-12 days of PTO and then of course all the summer breaks, etc.

There is also the “official policy”, but sometimes managers pressure employees to not take all their time off, and if you take all of it, somehow you are viewed as a less loyal/reliable employee.  I have even seen it written in employee handbooks that the amount of days you take off may be taken into concern when evaluating annual raises, etc. 

In my experience so much of it depends on who your leader/manager is, and what their priorities are.  I have had some managers remind all their employees they are “entitled” to those days off and be sure to take them all.

[use2betrix]

I get 2 weeks vacation/year.

I could work 40 hours or 55-60 hrs. I can take plenty of unpaid leave if I’d like. I generally work 55 hrs/wk as then I’ll make about $145k/yr more than if I work 40 hrs.

I have no interest in working over 60 hrs anymore. I used to a ton (I’m 34 y/o).

I typically work 6:30-4:30 m-f for my 50 hrs then work 5-10 hrs from home on the weekend.

I’m currently a contractor but start interviewing tomorrow fo possible come on full time. Lots to consider if I make that leap.

[MMMarbleheader]

I am about 10 years into my a career, construction management.

20 vacation days

13 holidays (included a “birthday month” holiday). We get the union construction holidays off because you should sleep when the baby sleeps.

6 half days which I quickly realized no one really honors so I take them all off and plug in half day vacation and half day holiday. So that nets me 3 days

Overall 36 days which is pretty comparable to the OP.

I am in the office for 45 hours a week as we get unpaid lunch since we bill our time out.

Like anything in this country, it is up to the individual to do their due diligence to choose good companies to work for. Just like oh so many other things, it’s one of the best countries in the world to be above to well above average and one of the worst to be average or below due to the lack of safety nets/mandates. 
 

[2sk22]

I am retired but my wife is still working (she is in senior management ). She gets very generous vacation time but the problem is that it's only acceptable to take time off in August and December. Since my kids are now out of the house, I suggested recently to my wife that we take an off-peak vacation in September after Labor Day. But she vetoed it since her calendar was completely booked in September - so we are now going at the end of August.

[knigry01]

15+ years into sales career in biosciences

Typical work week is 45-50hrs/ doesn't include travel time which is about 35-40% and I'm on the road ~60 nights a year.

My PTO =

* 25 days vacation
* 10 sick days
* 12 public holidays

[mistymoney]

23 vacation, 10 sick, 10+ holidays. We get unexpected 1/2 and full holidays here and there tacked onto the usual ones. Like bonus 1/2 friday off before 3 day weekends, things like that.

I won't ever get to any higher, unless major change with the company. I think this is my last job/company, so not a lot to look forward to.

Hope it continues to improve for the younger workers. Having fresh, enthusiastic, unburnt workers results in more creativity and productivity. My opinoin is that we are killing ourselves via work for nothing. If everyone got 6 weeks of vacation, plus sick and holiday time, everyone would be in a lot better shape, and likely the bottom lines as well. And all should be use it or lose, no saving up, if it is generous, no need to and no need to create company liabilities and workers not taking the time.

[StarBright]

20 days of PTO (essentially 15 vacation, 5 state mandated sick days) use it or lose it pending approval of time off, and 6 federal holidays.

You max out at 25 days of PTO after 12 years at my company. But about a decade ago I traded a week of vacation for working remotely full time.

I work at a small engineering firm and our contracts are for 40 hours a week and "any other work as needed". Do any white collar knowledge workers really work 40 hours a week?

[lifeisshort123]

Honestly, I think most workers across many sectors are either:

- Salaried and having to exceed well beyond 40 hours a week (or their prescribed number of hours)
- Hourly and being asked to “not work anymore hours than necessary”, but being required to work those hours - sometimes with the implication that the extra time shouldn’t be filled out on the time clock.

[Hula Hoop]

I don't really get the point of this post either.  For reference, I'm an American now living and working in Italy.  Talking about my oodles of sick leave (6 months paid per year), maternity leave (11 months at approximately half pay), annual leave (more than 6 weeks plus holidays) that I get here in Italy just makes many Americans (who are not professionals with great benefits) feel bad.  So what's the point?  However, American salaries in my profession and much lower taxes make me want to cry.  Much easier to get to FIRE when you're able to sock away huge salaries in many professions and pay not very much tax.

As others have said, in general, the US is great if you're a high flyer.  Salaries in some professions can be huge, jobs easy to get, taxes generally lower than here in Europe, health care is great if you have excellent insurance etc etc.  However, if you're an average person without in demand skills, have a debilitating illness or are not a high flyer, in general IMO life is better here in Europe.  For one thing it's very difficult to lose your job and healthcare in the public system is free.

[Villanelle]

I think some of the responses are motivated more by an inherent defensiveness than by the OP, in which I read no smug or taunting tone.  It felt to me like genuine surprise, and wanting to explore more about the topic. 

When I was a FT professional, I started at 2 weeks (10 days) of vacation plus a "personal day" which was basically just another vacation day.  I think I also got 10 days of sick time.  After a few years we got another week (I think it was either 2 or 5 years) and then there was another point at which an additional week was added.  We also had standard holidays. 

I've worked jobs with no PTO, which were generally my college jobs and were of course low-paying as well and had no benefits.  If I were a lower-skill (or just in a profession with generally low wages) worker, I'd likely be much better of in Europe.  Or other places.  If I were a super high-skill, high-pay worker, I'd be better off in the US.  I'd guess that generally entrepreneurs are better off in the US, though perhaps not once you consider their health insurance situation. But things like how difficult it is to fire an employee, the frequent strikes, the more significant limitations on what you can ask of your employees, etc., would seem to make getting a small or moderate-sized business difficult.    And I'd think that most retirees are better of in Europe, once their earning days are over. 

[trc4897]

I'm in engineering in the US in a LCOL area. My company starts us out at 3 weeks vacation, 12 paid holidays. Sick time is "unlimited" - although my experience is you can take a day off if you are sick 2-3 times per year. At 5 years of service, you get an extra week of vacation (4 total). At 10 years, another week (5 total). Looking forward to next year when I get that 5th week!

At 15 years and 20 years you get an extra week as well, maxing out at 7 weeks. I'd imagine once you get up to 7 weeks it is hard to use it all. 47 days between vacation time and paid holidays!

Another perk - you get to roll over 50% of your vacation days. And I've never worked more than 42 hours in a week in 9 years.

[Plina]

I've never had a paid time off day, ever. My boss sucks
(yes, I'm self employed).
Of course, I can not go to work whenever I want, too. My boss is cool!

I think you should have a talk with you boss. I am on my fifth week of vacation as shelf employed. I have probably worked totally one day during those five weeks. Part of that work was to bill clients and pay myself a salary as well as taxes and bills. I also have at least one hour of exercise per work day. I will probably end up with 8-10 week of vacation before the year is out. I usually tell people I have a pretty good boss even if she sometimes can be a really pain in the ass.

[sonofsven]

I've never had a paid time off day, ever. My boss sucks
(yes, I'm self employed).
Of course, I can not go to work whenever I want, too. My boss is cool!

I think you should have a talk with you boss. I am on my fifth week of vacation as shelf employed. I have probably worked totally one day during those five weeks. Part of that work was to bill clients and pay myself a salary as well as taxes and bills. I also have at least one hour of exercise per work day. I will probably end up with 8-10 week of vacation before the year is out. I usually tell people I have a pretty good boss even if she sometimes can be a really pain in the ass.

Yeah, I can take as much time off as I want, and I do, but none of it is paid. I only get paid if I give someone an invoice, and I can only give them an invoice if I've actually put in hours. I like it this way.
I took a month off last year and fished almost every day. It was hard!
This year I probably won't work much after October or I'll owe too much in taxes. I love the freedom of self employment, I've been self employed for 27 years.

[Plina]

I've never had a paid time off day, ever. My boss sucks
(yes, I'm self employed).
Of course, I can not go to work whenever I want, too. My boss is cool!

I think you should have a talk with you boss. I am on my fifth week of vacation as shelf employed. I have probably worked totally one day during those five weeks. Part of that work was to bill clients and pay myself a salary as well as taxes and bills. I also have at least one hour of exercise per work day. I will probably end up with 8-10 week of vacation before the year is out. I usually tell people I have a pretty good boss even if she sometimes can be a really pain in the ass.

Yeah, I can take as much time off as I want, and I do, but none of it is paid. I only get paid if I give someone an invoice, and I can only give them an invoice if I've actually put in hours. I like it this way.
I took a month off last year and fished almost every day. It was hard!
This year I probably won't work much after October or I'll owe too much in taxes. I love the freedom of self employment, I've been self employed for 27 years.

I am paying myself a monthly salary so basically vacations are calculated into my hourly fee or fixed fee that I take. The difference now is that I don’t need to ask someone about getting s vacation.

[kanga1622]

I work 40 hrs a week
11 paid holidays (with usually 2-3 more announced as "extra" holidays each year for Good Friday, Black Friday, and sometimes an extra day at Christmas)
I earn 4 weeks vacation and 2.8 weeks sick leave each year.

Pay isn't amazing but the benefits and leave are hard to beat. Because I can use my vacation/sick time in 15 minute increments it allows me to take half days or long lunches for appointments, kids' school activities, or just running errands without burning through a whole day.

[Just Joe]

~40 hours per week. 24 days leave, 12 sick days. Excess leave rolls over into sick leave. Sick leave counts toward retirement. I rollover a few days every year b/c DW and I sometimes have trouble coordinating our leave days off and she doesn't take off enough days IMHO. She has a small department and some tasks are her's alone. I also get a couple weeks off as paid holidays. Its a good situation. DW''s situation is similar. I think she gets a bit more leave.

We don't vacation away every year. We alternate between staycations and vacations. I don't mind staycations b/c it saves money and we really like our home. Hobbies and stuff... In fact it has been several years since we went anywhere for more than a few days thanks to COVID.

I want to make time to get away from home more often. Long weekends would be fine. Nothing too elaborate. Camping trips, hiking, city tourist trips.

[Prairie Gal]

Here in Alberta the labour laws are 4% vacation pay (10 days) for the first 5 years, and 6% thereafter (15 days).

At my last job before I retired I had negotiated 4 weeks vacation (8%), plus we got 5 days sick pay per year. The sick pay is not mandated by law at all. Lots of people go to work sick.

The standard work week is 40 hours, but they don't have to pay overtime until 44 hours in a week.

[asauer]

HR Lady here.  Most companies that I have worked for and done HR for start at 15 days PTO including sick time.  Then adding another 3-4 days for every 4 years of service on average.  Of course, that's a point of negotiation for candidates.  I've always negotiated more.  Also, I'm 44 and this is the first job where I've worked less than 50 hours average.

[lifeandlimb]

I think the ceiling for salaries in the US can be higher, but entry and mid-level jobs often still have mediocre salary and mediocre benefits.
My first FT job in 2013 paid $30k a year in a super HCOL US city, but like almost everyone else at the company, you only accrued 5 PTO days in the first year, and 10 in the second year. I think they added an additional PTO day every five or so years after that. Sick days usually totaled 5 per calendar year. 50 hours of work per week was expected in order to reach the base salary.

My second job in the same city was owned by a British company, offered a higher salary at 40 hours/week and came with 20 days of PTO in the first year (with the potential to add a day about every two years). Benefits overall with the UK company were way better, but since it was a multinational corporation it also offered competitive salaries for each city they had an office in.

Being freelance now I can take as many days off as I want a year; I'm just not paid for them, and my health insurance rates are higher. However, my new day rate pretty much makes up for the lack of PTO. In a lot of ways, I have much more freedom and feel more like a human as a freelancer.