Work day, so let's talk about the most important part of work...vacation!
You've just graduated from university ("uni" if you live in the UK), and you are about to take on your first full time job. If you live in Ontario, you will be entitled to 2 weeks vacation at a minimum, and in most cases, the minimum is what you will get. Technically, you will be entitled to it after you work for 12 months. You'll probably try to squeeze out the feeling of getting "almost" three weeks by taking your vacation over long weekends. You'll save up those two extra days tag them onto another weekend for a super long weekend, and convince yourself you're stress free and ready to go back to the job.
In the UK, you would get 28 paid days...yes, that's basically like saying, "Go ahead, take February off." In reality, this also often includes the eight public holidays, because in the UK you don't have a legal right to not work on a public holiday. You can be forced to work on that day. However, you start accruing your leave from the day you start your job. Technically, if you think about it, you could take almost every other Friday off!
Now, before you start complaining about your lot in Ontario, remember that in the U.S. there isn't any statutory minimum paid vacation or paid public holidays.
Okay, so you're asking yourself, "How do the Brits get anything done?"
Well, if you look at productivity rates as measured by GDP per hour worked according to our friends at Time, the rate is US$52.1 for the UK vs US$50.9 for Canada. So, higher productivity in the UK. Now, that said, the rate for the US is $68.3. Hmmm, maybe if you never get any vacation you just resign yourself to working harder so the hours will seem to go by faster?
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