Is this actually true? In Germany at least, vacation from work is not truly our own time. We are legally required to use it to relax and restore our capacity for future work. Few people probably see it that way, admittedly.
Of course, there is still a huge difference, but it's awkward to view everything through that us-versus-them lens.
What does that mean in practice? Will the police come knocking on your door if they see you digging up the garden? Will someone arrest you if you go sailing and get bonged in the head by accident instead of resting? If you use your vacation days to help your grandma move a grand piano will you get in trouble? If you do your taxes on your vacation day will they refuse your forms?
On the other hand, we do get separate sick days (technically even if we get sick during vacation, but I don't know if anyone actually tries to get vacation days back they lost due to sickness). It's very different from countries when you just get time-off days and have to use them for both holidaying and covering sick leaves.
This does happen, because why not, if it’s your right. I have seen it a few times.
Well that's an interesting bit of trivia. Can you share anything more about it? Just for my own amusement and the amusement of people I will relate it to in the future, I would love to read whatever dry legal code sets that in writing.
Other countries have non-competes, employer ownership of things created during off-hours, and so on.
I'm from the US, and this sounds very strange to my ears.
https://allaboutberlin.com/guides/vacation-days
My guides about sick leave and sabbaticals just add a bit of context. Sick days are really well protected.