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Before we start voting down and complaining that this isn't developer-related, we should all ask ourselves which half of the population are we in? A HUGE number of developers I know do NOT use their allocated vacation time. Do you?

I do... But it's a different work ethic I suppose... Here in the UK, your holidays are a god given right, and you take every last one as fast as you can ;-)

Yeah...funny thing. The productivity per capita for Europe is about the same as the US...but with more vacation in Europe and a shorter work week.

Here in the US we don't even take all the time allocated...and we're allocated so much less!

It's not at all surprising, really. Now that crackberries and treos are so common in the workplace, if managers and clients know that you CAN be constantly connected, they demand that you stay always connected so they get their value's worth. In nearly every company in America, it's the unwritten rule that if you get x sick/vacation days a year and you take all of them, they demote you or fire you outright because you don't have the motivation to be a real team player (or some inane shit like that).

With companies that demand their employees put in 80 hours a week (I worked for one), America has no "ethic" to their work anymore. I've worked for several and seen many more companies that work their employees into burnout within two years. I really don't completely understand how people justify that kind of environment.

@bloid, for sure, actually the title should read:

"Half Of U.S. Workers *Aren't Allowed* To Use Vacation Time, Study Shows"

They may say you have X weeks vacation, but if it means a project deadline won't be met, don't book your plane tickets. The thing I really find sickening about working in the US is the lack of maternity leave. In the state I worked it was 6 weeks UNPAID. A) That is not enough time B) UNPAID? Where I am from I pay a hell of a lot of taxes, but at least my wife got a year off PAID (albeit it not 100%). And before someone says "Well yeah, but with the money you would save in taxes, you could afford to keep your wife home for a year". Maybe, but what company would keep her job for her when she was ready to come back unless the government made them do so?

Sorry, just spouting off, it's a topic that really irks me. Especially in a country that preaches "Family First", but when the hell can you spend time with them if you are working 52 weeks a year?