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Comment by CaptainDecisive | Hacker News Reader

He's right about two weeks not being the rule; in most western countries four or five weeks is the rule.

To me the amount of holiday/vacation is a Big Deal. I was lucky when I lived in the US that my company offered four weeks (and I could earn extra comp days doing weekend tech support). Although I once had the general manager ask me point blank how I was taking more time off for a trip to Peru, so I went through and proved I had enough vacation days left. He still didn't seem too happy about it though. Perhaps most people didn't use all their vacation days?

Lack of vacation days is one of the reasons I'd be uncomfortable about living in the US again, so I could definitely see myself taking unpaid leave every few years like TFA suggests or just quitting my job. Then I could do important things like visiting family in NZ or getting in some serious skiing.

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Meanwhile, in Sweden, 5 weeks paid vacation per year is the legal minimum, and everyone has the legal right to get 4 weeks continuous vacation in the period between June-August if they want it.

(I think you have to spend a few winters up here to understand why we appreciate summer vacations so much. :-) )

Shouldn't you be enjoying the summer in Sweden, then, and taking vacation in the winter?

Here in Europe vacation does not necessarily imply that you're flying somewhere else. For example, I currently have 3 weeks of, but I'm only spending one of these weeks hiking. During the other weeks I'll do just whatever makes fun (maybe going on a multi-day bike ride).

Of course, you can also take less vacation in one year, and therefore take more in the next year. For example, I only took 3 weeks of vacation last year, and I've planned 7 weeks of vacation this year. All of them paid. :)

Everyone's free to do whatever. Personally, I spent a week in Bali this Easter, it was very nice to get away from the snow and ice for a while, and I'm gonna take three weeks now in July and do pretty much nothing, just enjoying the summer weather.

I think it's actually four weeks in June-August, three of which consecutive. Still good though. Not to mention that many parents of small children begin and end the vacation with some parental leave (to which the employer can't say, if two months advance notice is given) so 7-8 weeks is not uncommon.

To sort of tie back to the original post, with a vacation culture that is completely different from the US, situations like in the blog post never really happens here. Everyone gets several weeks off every year, so businesses adjust for it. Everyone knows that June-July-August are "slow" months. No manager will ever be surprised by people asking to take several weeks off whenever. If you work at a larger company, there are always routines in place for covering for people during the summer months, and you usually make sure that there's always someone around that can handle things.

If you work in the manufacturing industry, there's nationwide coordination so all of it shuts down at the same time, usually four weeks in July.

It's a completely different culture, and definitely worth knowing if you ever do business with companies in Europe during the summer.

Does the notion of a contractor exist in Sweden? If so, do they also get vacation?

Yes, and yes.

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