Summertime is Vacation Time – Or Is It?
Savvy people who conduct business in Europe know that August is not a good time to make a business trip.
It can seem at times, that the entire continent takes the month of August off from work. European vacation policies are among the most generous in the world and its not unusual for employees to have four, five and even six weeks ofpaid time off from work. The United Kingdom is currently considering a change in legislation which will increase annual vacation entitlements from 20 to 28 days per year to make sure that the 8 annual bank holidays are paid time off in addition to (and not part of) the 4 week leave entitlement.
Think Europe is out of the ordinary? Think again. Australians get at least four weeks of vacation per year, the Japanese an average of four and Cuba’s statutory entitlement is 30 days per year.
But August is not vacation time everywhere. A recent article on CNNMoney.com stated that the average American worker takes only 12.4 days of leave per year. It should be noted that there are no federal or state laws in the United States which actually require employers to offer any paid vacation leave at all. While more than 70% of employers in the US do offer their employees paid leave, the average offering is two weeks per year. And there is growing evidence that the vast majority of Americans do some work even while on vacation.
The Most Expensive City in the World
According to the recent survey of costs of living around the world completed each year by Mercer Human Resource Services, Moscow has replaced Tokyo as the most expensive city in the world. Seoul ranks second behind Moscow, followed by Tokyo, Hong Kong and then London. New York ranks tenth and is the most expensive city in the US, and Toronto, which ranks 47th is Canada’s costliest. Many South American cities might be considered bargains, especially Asuncion, Paraguay, which ranks 144th, and is the world’s least expensive city of those included in the Mercer Survey.
