[1100] Tipping Point
└ posted on Monday, 22 July 2019, by Novil
- Man: The Germans are taking our jobs!
- Woman: Our taxes were raised because of them!
- Man: There’s not a single free apartment in the whole town!
- Larisa: They made my best friends cry!
- Sandra: Seventeen-nil!
- Mayor: I understand your anger. But you also have to see the good sides of the Germans.
- Businessman: For example, my company was only able to complete a large order on time thanks to the new German workers!
- Assistant: Sir! Sir!
- Businessman: Huh?
- Assistant: The Germans in your company persuaded the other workers to unionize and go on strike. Their first demand is 30 days of vacation a year!
- Businessman: Death to the Germans! Kill them all!
Little german girl, NOOOO!!!! ;__;
Germans, the dark side!
Just send them back to Germany where they belong.
30 a year is a fucking lot, so yeah, makes sense to be mad.
@ Loudwhisper:
You know, the funny thing is that the Germans have on average 29 days of payed vacation.
@ Loudwhisper:
in the U.S. maybe, in Europe and in Canada it’s near the legal minimum of vacation day in a year
@ R,Berg.:
Well the legal minimum in the US is zero days a year
I became a school teacher because, for one thing, the long summer break. Of course, I only got paid for ten months a year, but this crap of having to work 24/7 is like a Japanese Salaryman and they die from it.
… doesn’t seem that bad. A little high, but most demands like that start off high with the expectation that you can give something up in negotiations.
I myself get 20 days off per year, plus 1 rostered day off every 4 weeks. (8 hour, 5 day work weeks). Plus all the public holidays the Australian state of Victoria has. Including two which are basically for sporting events 😛
@ R,Berg.:
In Québec, the minimum after 1 year of employment is 10 consecutive days for vacation, this goes up to 15 days after 3 years. Quite far from 30 days, but if you add the minimum 8 paid holidays, you could argue these amount to 23 days, but those would not be “vacation days” in my opinion.
I believe the rest of Canada is similar.
That is about what I get. It is combined Sick and Vacation though.
Russians get 1 month a year of paid vacation, AND 14 days worth of national holidays!
And we get 6-10% of interest in our banks.
And usually pay-off the whole mortgage in 10-15 years.
And do not pay for high education (or some laughable amount that’s repaid after a year of employment).
Jealous much?
Evgeny Sandu wrote:
oh, and I have a US sim-card. So when US spammers call me with the usual “we can help to reduce your credit card interest”, i just tell them all of that, and that all my credit cards are already at 0 debt. They usually cry then they hear that.
Is glad for and praises quality workers but wants them to kill as soon as they start and convince to unionize and fight for better working conditions? Who is this guy? Henry Ford?
You have a pretty good grasp on how American corporations would react to unions today. BTW there are 10 federal holidays in America so 3 weeks vacation would be 31 days off.
I got 31 days a year of payed vacation + some 14 holidays (Bavaria).
29 or more days is the norm. Other states have less holidays than us, but usually not less than 10.
Fun fact: the state with the most holidays is also one of the most “productive” ones.
Death to all Germans ?? Oh God, please no n4zi jokes after this. Please!
The law in Germany says 20 days paid vacation is the minimum, 30 days is normal for most companies and you rarely find on with less than 25 days.
@ Loudwhisper:
it really, really, is not.
As an American, GOD DAMN do I want a piece of this 30 vacation days a year paradise. My employer gives me 5 a year. That’s vacation AND sick time combined. And she recently declared a policy that all personal appointments such as doctor visits MUST use this time, no more taking unpaid time off of the work day for it.
@ Dave:
Honestly, that sounds like slavery.
Is…. is 30 days standard in Germany?
I appreciate the inconsistency here. They’re lazy and raising the taxes by not working and they’re also stealing all the jobs?
Wonder what the other demands are? Lunch breaks? Health plans? Next they’ll be wanting fair wages in line with the rest of the country! Imagine!
Yet again a case of context is Everything:
-how much vacation time did they have beforehand?
-how large of on order did they accomplish?
-based on the flood level influx how many recent additions to that particular workforce Are there?
@ MaxArt:
There’s a reason many American workers refer to themselves as “wage slaves.”
Anon wrote:
Isn’t that what ALL refugees do, all the time, everywhere?
It would be nice if we had anywhere close to that many paid vacation days here in the U.S.
@ Loudwhisper:
not nearly. it’s how much paid vacation the US Military gets, and honestly, no reason other companies can’t match. absolutely no reason at all.
@ Anon:
Because in many countries, the welfare expenditure for a normal person is greater than what they will be able to pay back through work (which means raising taxes), while at the same time taking normal jobs (which means lower income families “get jobs taken from them”.
@Dave As a german I have to ask: What are sick days? Do you mean, that being sick is taken from your vacation days?
As I know it, you have to go to the doctor within 0 to 2 Days of calling in sick (depends on you boss) who then gives you a doctor’s certificate which you give your boss. You then get your full pay during sickness while your boss can give the certificate to his insurance which will then reimburse him your salary for these days.
Your vacation days are untouched by this.
@ Mr. Random:
In Germany the minimum for payed vacation per year is 24 days – assumig you are working 6 days a week regularly. So in general – as Rimtia already pointed out – 20 days for a 5-day-week is the minimum.
However, most employees have between 25 to 30 days.
In Germany, there are no sickdays. If you are sick, then you are sick, so you don’t come to work. Usually, you have to get a doctors certificate after 2 days and if you are sick for a Long time, you’ll get Money from your health insurance instead of your employer. It’s almost impossible to fire someone, because he is sick, as long as it’s likely, that he can come back to work, eventually. It has to be the softest Action, to protect the interests of the company.
@ Regis Earsquake:
theoretically yes, though in my experience frequently sick employes get harrassed until they ‘agree’ to leave or go into early retirement…..also, i´d like to point out that the average german employe also does several hundret hours of unpaid(!) overtime per year, which theoretically should be recompensated with money or free time, but most of the time simply forfeits after a few years….and don´t get me started on all the jobs were you´re still on call, whether its weekend or holiday, making it impossible to actually go away
If there really were German refugees (at least the non-muslim) they would contribute to society and not be a burden nor would they demand that their host country bend over to accomodate their past traditions and way of life. Other refugees from less civilized countries imported by the EU really are criminals, lazy and a burden to their host countries all the while demanding that laws be changed to suit their archaic, often barbaric customs like the “right” to honor kill or maim their daughters for not marrying a man 50 years their elder or for being too non-muslim by listening to music or having a male friend in school.
@ Loudwhisper:
No, it’s standard here in Oz.@ Loudwhisper:
@ rick:
What a country!@ rick:
@ Dave:
Migrate to Australia, like my boss and another new colleague, who chose Oz over the USA for the paid annual leave.
@ James Brown:
It doesn’t matter what they do or don’t. Prejudice exists independent of facts.
There’s enough statistics proving that refugees or even illegal immigrants tend to take jobs that nobody else wants to take and contribute more than they cost. As long as you’re willing to ignore the facts, you can go on re-iterating your unproven claims.
@ James Brown:
Your proof?
@ James Brown:
Thank you.
The “satire” of this series sort of falls apart if we accept the obvious fact that not all people (or peoples) are alike.
Huh, I guess we really will see concentration camps in the US… In the next strip or so.
Still, they’re not refugees, they stopped being that when they refused to stay in the first safe country. They chose to head to Yankee Doodle Land to make a better life for themselves, they are immigrants.
That said, the genocidal maniac is off its rocker and should be dealt with quickly using minimal violence.
Mr. Random wrote:
The legal minimum is 3 weeks (so from 15 to 21 days, depending on whether you have a 5,6 or 7 day working week), but union contracts, which are very common in Germany, usually include some more. For someone who has a six or seven day working week (for many kinds of work, a five day week is Standard, contrary to the U.S., I believe) 30 would be pretty Standard, for a five day week it would be above average, but wouldn’t be regarded as over the top.
@ Peya Luna:
I know where you are coming from, but as someone that worked in North America (both USA & Canada) and Europe (Germany & France), this does not even compare. In Germany you have much unpaid overtime, but that will commonly not exceed 45h per week or such. Whereas in NA working 60h is kind of expected in some companies; regardless if it makes sense. Further the key difference in NA, if you work 60h that’s on you, if in Germany your average work time exceeds 50h / week over a period of 6 month, your employer is in trouble. If your boss knows you regulatory exceed 50h per week they can land in jail and it’s their job to ensure you get to take your rest breaks.
But then again people in NA are bullshitting themselves. They like to tout their “work ethic”, but in the end Germany has a significantly higher per capita productivity…
@ James Brown:
Yeah, hear hear!
Refugees are a bunch of people who abandon home and go to foreign countries just for the fun of being annoying to bigots and pariahs in other cultures. Fleeing war, famine and dictatorship is just a bonus.
Loudwhisper wrote:
I get 25 days a year vacation in the UK, that’s pretty standard here. I then buy 5 more, and I’d buy more if I could. I am just about managing to fit everything I want to do into 30 days a year. I find it very odd how little vacation American employees get.
Owen Smith wrote:
In addition to the above we get 8 statuary days holiday a year, which is on the low side compared to much of the rest of the world.
As others have already said, sick leave is entirely separate in the UK. If I’m ill then I’m off sick, and that has nothing to do with vacation days (though we call them holidays not vacations). I’m on a good deal, I get up to 6 months sick leave on full pay and then long term unable to work insurance cuts in at 60% salary either until state retirement age or I’m well enough to work again. This is way above legal minimum sick leave requirements, but it is fairly normal in my industry as a software engineer.
On top of that my boss is fine with us being out for a few hours for a dental/doctor/hospital appointment, or even having to wait for a plumber or electrician to turn up. So long as we make the hours up he doesn’t care.
Today I found out that the US really screws over its work force.
I’m glad I live in Australia.
We do have sick days at my work, they are not counted as part of annual leave, rostered days off, or long service leave. We have a certain amount, but unless you get seriously sick and are out for months, you’re unlikely to use them all. While you can take a day or two off with a cold without a doctors note, any longer and you need one. This also counts if it’s backed onto a public holiday. No taking a sickie.
@ Owen Smith:
What happens in the UK if you get during your vacation? In Germany you if can get a doctor to attest you that you won’t be able to work you can get it refunded 😉
Before you get the wrong idea: you normally don’t call in sick without a good cause … they can’t officially fire you just because your sick once too often, but you might seem weak or get the reputation of being a slacker … and that probably won’t help you much in the long run. (In other words: it WILL hurt any idea of a “career” you might entertain).
On the other hand, if you’re REALLY sick …
James Brown wrote:
The point is that a state is a “social contract” according to Hobbes & is based on trust. That’s why there is a citizenship, army, territory, borders, visa etc.
Some people are trustworthy, some are not. Some love your country, some hold prejudice or racist views towards you & want to wipe you out. That’s why you check them, if they apply for visa. If they give the impression that they hate you, you simply deny them access to your country.
The problem is now that we have some people who reject all that. They reject the mere existence of an army, they reject the existence of borders, they sometimes even reject the existence of citizenship.
A common state needs rules, it needs a constitution. And it needs citizens that respect the constitution.
If someone doesn’t want all that, I personally would say they should simply found their own state without army, police or borders. And then all illegal immigrants can simply go there. Then the problem is solved.
Thisguy wrote:
Well, I recently read about the comments of Jack Ma/China about worker conditions & I think if you want to see a really screwed workforce that’s exactly the spot.