I keep hearing about how people like me hate the US because we are jealous.

well.

maybe you're right. so I'm thinking about applying to migrate to the US.

But before I do that - I'm wondering what I can expect as a worker in the US.

Can I expect, as an absolute minimum, the following:

10 paid public holidays per year,

4 weeks paid annual leave,

17 and 1/2 % loading on (annual leave) holiday pay (ie holiday pay = normal pay+17.5%)

8 and 2/3 weeks paid long service leave after ten years with the same employer

10 days paid sick leave per year (cumulative)

1 years parenting leave, with a guaranteed right to return to the same, or an equivalent job, on the same rate of pay?

I won't go into minimum wages, because I know I'll learn well above $13.74 per hour.

so - will I be guaranteed these minimum conditions of employment if I find work in the US?

You get one guarantee: You'll have every opportunity to work to better yourself and improve your situation.

You're position is so transparent it's laughable; that being that, since American employers won't guarantee you what you stipulate, that you have it better.

Fine, if you do. Stay right where the fuck you are. We don't want people who "expect" anything. We'd much prefer to have people come here who are interested in working hard and reeping the rewards of that work...

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Sayeth John Drake - 10/13/08: "OK, you're right, I admit to LYING"

LOL - must have hit a nerve.

No, the days of the "workers paradise" are long gone, that was during the 50's and 60's when the US was the worlds largest oil producer, and had the only intact industrial base. Without those advantages this system cannot compete with enlightened countries. Especially as we waste so much money on an all show and no go military, that's just good enough to convince the incompetent leaders we have that "the military option" is viable.

The temporary advantages are gone, the disadvantages hang around the neck of the country like a millstone.

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“ The subjects of every state ought to contribute towards the support of the government, as nearly as possible, in proportion to their respective abilities; that is, in proportion to the revenue which they respectively enjoy under the protection of the state.”

Adam Smith , The Wealth of Nations 1776

"We have always known that heedless self-interest was bad morals; we know now that it is bad economics"
FDR's second Inaugural Address

Yeah, it's the nerve that tells me that people who aren't willing to work for something, but expect everything, are people who deserve nothing.

People like you...

__________________
Obama's New "57 State Patriotic Pin":




Sayeth John Drake - 10/13/08: "OK, you're right, I admit to LYING"

seems some people are averse to being rewarded when they work hard.

- I agree with one part of what goober said (must be snowing in hell ) "Workers Paradise " is looooooong gone. Replaced with "investors paradise" an economic structure that is as cruel as it is fragile.
Our "new" economic structure places the shareholder in the role of the customer - consumers are not who to please anymore - the shareholder is....and large shareholders are elitist "silver spooners" disconnected from a society that they couldn't give a rats ass about.

If you have little, specific skills you will not succeed, a willingness to work hard does not fit the bill anymore.

It really depends on where you work. Just starting off in a position, there's a pretty small chance that you'll receive all of the above. I've been at my current position for almost a year, so I don't have all the things you mentioned. If you stack my vacation time, floating holidays and sick leave, I have potentially one month off a year. A guy I work with who's been here for 20 years gets some seven weeks vacation, tons of sick leave, etc., so as you work, you do gain a lot more time off.

However, you'd be hard pressed to find people who choose their place of employment based on how much they don't have to work.

I think most Americans are quite familiar that we spend more time working than a good portion of the rest of the world (save Japan, maybe).

Hope my answer had a bit less 'spin' to it than the previous ones.

I honestly didn't realise until tonight that you didn't get some of these things. These are guaranteed minimum conditions here. I'm not 100% sure on what your minimum entitlements are - but I'd like to know for the sake of comparison.

I honestly believe that American workers should stand up for their rights. You've been ripped off, and over the same period that the rich have been getting richer.

Your rights TO A FAIR REWARD FOR A GOOD JOB have been steadily eroded.

We call it a fair days work for a fair days pay. Our productivity levels are high, and our ecomony is doing well. A fair go for workers doesn't doom the economy.

Its not actually about me telling you what to do. I may appear to be bragging - but this is what we stand to lose if we continue down the path you've already trodden.

I don't want that to happen here, and I also think that the American people deserve the same benefits that we get - to me these things are REWARDS. I work hard, I have always been highly regarded by my employers who have usually given me benefits in addition to these minimum entitlements.

I don't see why an American shouldn't entitled to as much as I am, if they work as hard as I do.

And I don't believe a genuine American worker would really believe they deserve less than an Australian worker.

I don't know who those people are; must be an Australian thing.

Here, if you work hard and apply yourself, you'll get the things you want. If you don't, you won't, and you shouldn't.

To suggest that we've been "ripped off" is horseshit. Those of us with good jobs and benefits have worked to attain those things.

You simply want those things given to you...

__________________
Obama's New "57 State Patriotic Pin":




Sayeth John Drake - 10/13/08: "OK, you're right, I admit to LYING"

I guess the guy whose been there twenty years is better off than me - but in the current market - how many people stay that long in the job? and not always through choice?

For me - if I had been ten years in a job I would get 13 weeks leave on top of my 4 weeks annual leave. Stay another seven years and I get an additional 13 weeks. and so on every seven years.

Minimum conditions LSL (long service leave) is less than mine - but its still at least a reward for loyalty and good service which any worker can look forward to.

if Americans are aware they get less time off - are they really happy with that?

I think I'd feel vaguely ripped off if I knew I worked as hard as other people but didn't get the same benefits. You see - one of the things that does influence a person's satisfaction in their employment is the perception as to whether their remuneration is adequate or not - and if comparative to others it is lower - then job dissatisfaction tends to increase. Maybe its OK if you feel valued by your employer, that your job is making a 'worthwhile contribution,' you enjoy the work and you work with great people, but if you don't tick 'agree to at least three of these things, then sooner or later you will probably find the awareness that somebody doing the same thing is doing better than you begins to piss you off.

Thats human nature.

Then it doesn't make much sense for you to be "thinking about applying to migrate to the US".

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I am an American. That's the way most of us put it, just matter of factly. They are plain words, those four: you could write them on your thumbnail, or sweep them clear across this bright autumn sky. But remember too, that they are more than just words. They are a way of life. So whenever you speak them; speak them firmly, speak them proudly, speak them gratefully. I am an American. ...a tradition

Well, hey, I'd admit in a second that more time off would awesome. Not sure why other people are getting so defensive (perhaps because I've yet to claim that other countries are jealous).

I can't really complain, myself, though. The company is good, the people are nice, and I get an hour paid lunch every day (work 35 hours a week, but get paid for 40. Of course, I have put in a 50+ hour week here and there, but those are rare and usually only happen when I have to travel).

I think the whole thing has to do with our cultural view of a 'hard work ethic', where time not working is time wasted. Perhaps someone coming from Australia to work here would feel overwhelmed with the amount of work required, but for Americans, it's simply the norm. In fact, a majority of the time when Americans speak of other countries working less, they aren't jealous of it, they think they're lazy.

So, depending on how you want to spin it:
-America is very hard working and most of the world is lazy in comparison.
or
-Americans have terrible workers rights and benefits and should be angry.

Personally, I'd say I could use a few extra weeks off.

My experiences are good as well.
I have 5 weeks off, 3 personal days and 5 holiday...course I have been at this for 23 years. My health benefits are better than average, and my salary is pretty high, but commensurate with what I do....but that is because I have marketable skills.
Where Americans are hurting is inarguably the "average laborer" - who has been getting screwed hard for the last 20 years.

Not just the average laborer, but that portion of the work force not professionally employed, in a position where compensation is not determined by goal achievement producing additional company revenue, some unionization or inability to sit at the big hog trough of civil service.