Negative attitudes towards vacation

[~bs]

I think the perception that gov. pays more is based on interaction with lower level employees. For professional employees, gov. pay is consistently significantly LESS than the private sector and the benefits is a compensation for that. If they compensated even less, they would only attract the least competitive and least professional people out there.

I find the attitude that gov. employees should be as miserable and badly paid as possible for taxpayer money not to be wasted to be strange. Should the government not set an example of how employees should be treated? And don't we want better skilled and educated people competing for jobs that are done on our behalf?

What is a real waste of money, is battling the perception of public spending. You take a job that a gov. employee would have done for 80K, and pay a contractor 450K a year to do it, but that guy is "private sector" so it is all great. And it does not count. And a massive lobbying machine for corporations that make money hand over fist on taxpayers (the firm will give the contractor guy who actually does the job maybe 150K and pockets the rest just for securing the contract... and it is done on a huge scale) will make sure this will go on. That is a waste. But, the special interests would rather focus on a lowly clerk making 50K someplace as a place to cut waste. That guy does not have a lobbyist with deep pockets or gives large campaign contributions.

I can agree and attest to this. Wow, someone that actually understands this. I work for the city now, after years of working at various private companies. The benefits are better, but the pay is quite a bit lower.

Also, many people complain about govt. employees, and the cost of their services mainly out of ignorance. Truth of the matter is, most times contracting services of private companies WILL cost more than using the services of public employees. The main downside of hiring govt employees is the benefits you may owe after the employee separates service, and the fact that it's a lot harder to let go of an employee versus simply cut a contract. Main drawback of contracting with a private company is that it's more expensive becuause private companies need to pay rent, overhead, benefits for their workers, and a profit to owners ON TOP of the salary of the worker (which is generally higher than the govt. employee).

Back when one of my old companies did contract work for the state, they were billing $150/hour for the work that I was doing (standard billing rate), while the state worker next to me was probably making $20 + benefits doing the same work. The reason why we were contracted? Because the state was in a hiring freeze/furlough situation, so the work piled up, and they had to contract professional outside help to get the work done. So the ignorant general public was cheering the government labor cutback, when in fact it ended up costing them A LOT more to get the backlog cleared by a private company. And since the incoming work is continuous, eventually the state did hire more employees anyways, once the labor freeze was over.

[Texas Saver]

Many other countries have much different policies re: vacation. Germany as I understand it get 4 weeks a year by law.

[mavycharm]

OH!

I was amazed! Seriously, I never thought 6 weeks straight vacation is allowable for some companies such so, that's amazing. How I want to work for that too. lol. Since he was allowed and that the negotiation of his leave is clear between him and his employer, then I don't see problem with that. He has never used his vacation, then came the time he'd decided to use it then that's his will and he was allowed besides, so why question that?

[josetann]

Yes, lots of negative feeling towards anyone who has something you don't. Even if it's something you could easily have, were it a priority. Ooh, must be nice to have lots of time off, money for cruises, no mortgage, no car loan, etc. Well, put down that McDonald's burger (ok, you can eat it, but tomorrow try fix all three/four meals at home instead), cancel your cable, drop to the cheapest prepaid mobile service, and tell your employer you want to take a vacation. If they say no to any vacation request? Build up that emergency fund, then the "I'm a gonna find a new job" fund, and there you go. If it's not worth it to you fine...acknowledge your priorities are different and don't get pissed at someone who has something you THINK you want, but in reality you don't.

We run into this quite a bit. Part is jealousy, sure. Part is just people assuming there's only one right way (the way they're doing things) and go overboard having to justify that they haven't been wrong all these years. It's easy to get caught up in this on BOTH sides, so remember...while making sure you take every vacation day alloted to you may be the best choice for YOU, realize that it is (at least theoretically) possible that it's not the best choice for everyone else.

[Copper]

I never really thought like that. Hence your post made me concerned a lot.

[The_Wiz]

Earned vacation time is no one else's business. The only gripe anyone could have is if he is in a position paid by taxpayers, but then if they spew vitriol at him, they'd have to do the same for every teacher they know.

[MelBell]

Reflecting

This sounds like a case of someone reflecting their own issues onto others. I am guessing the people being negative don't get long vacations, and are upset by seeing someone else getting it. I don't understand why people have to constantly judge things as right or wrong. If they want a long vacation they should apply wherever the guy works.

I honestly think we could all use longer vacations though. I think Americans get the least amount of vacation time when compared to other countries. I think if we all worked less, and vacationed more, we would be more productive when we were actually at work. That's just my thoughts though.

[~bs]

he's free to do with his vacation time as he sees fit. Personally, however it's not a choice I would make. The economy is still in a weakened state, and there are still the possibilities of layoffs, even for fed/state/city workers. Having that accumulated vacation time provides a safety net, as they would have to pay it out to you when they terminate you. An extra month and a half of vacation pay is a good cushion to have on top of your 6 months emergency savings.