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Comment by sqs | Hacker News Reader

I would love to hear if any other companies are doing the same thing or considering it, and from anyone who works in banking and has to take mandatory time off.

Reddit comments here: http://www.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/1zglqs/mandator....

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Most companies in Europe will do this (although with 5+ weeks). They tend to be mostly competitive. It is a bit hard to understand why US tech workers put up with not having this.

People in the US may be paying more attention to cold hard cash and less to vacation promises.

It's not a promise when it's written in your contract.

But – in contrast to the US I guess – in the EU breaching this contract as am employer _will_ cost you dearly; there are even courts dedicated for employment disputes in some countries, resulting in timely rulings.

It's not a promise - the company owes you that vacation; and if you somehow don't use them, you still get paid for the unused days at end of employment no matter what. Even if the company goes bankrupt, as employee salary debt tends to outrank most other debtors.

To be honest, it's hard to understand why US tech workers put up with a lot of things.

It's not that developers don't have paid vacation. Most companies have at least 2 weeks, and a lot of tech companies give unlimited.

Rather, it's a culture of working which discourages you (but doesn't prevent you) from taking that vacation.

In EU, the implicit assumption is that if vacation isn't taken, then it's because of company pressure - so generally companies must ensure that their employees get vacation or they're in violation of labor laws. Saying "well, he could've taken the vacation and we promise that it would have no effect on raises/promotions/whatever" is not an excuse, the employee must have had X days of vacation, period.

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