American woman discovers there is no concept of ‘sick leave’ in Holland and creates a discussion online
When you got sick at school, all you needed was for your parents to tell your teacher you weren’t coming and your friends to tell you the homework for the day. As long as I didn’t fail the test, I didn’t feel too stressed.
Even when I grow up and get a job, I still get sick. In some countries, the social system is more stressful than others because the social system supports sick people and still allows them to get paid and rest, while in others, they feel sick and can’t You run the risk of being fired. come to work
More information: reddit
A Reddit user shared a Facebook post about culture shock by an American living in the Netherlands, revealing how the American system is being abused.
Being laid off due to illness is not unheard of in the United States. Not only do people have to pay ridiculous amounts for doctor visits, but if employers think they’re too inconvenient to have a fever and not be able to come to work, they’ll fire them. To do.
That’s because employees are hired freely. This means that “an employer may dismiss an employee for any reason (provided it is not illegal) or without cause, warning, or need to prove just cause.” better team.
They added, “All states in the United States are free except Montana. Most states have exceptions, but Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, Georgia, Nebraska, Maine, New York, and Rhode Island does not allow exceptions.”
In states that allow exceptions, this includes public sector employment, unionized work, where the contract says otherwise, where the employer discriminates, or denies any illegal activity. increase.
The woman moved to Holland with her wife six years ago and found a job as she planned to live in Holland.
Image credit: Mojpe (no actual image)
But this problem of getting fired for things you can’t control seems to be a US problem, and Americans realize how wrong it can be when they move to another country. Facebook Having moved to the Netherlands, she asked HR how many days she had been “sick”, which has become a hot topic on Reddit.
The author of this post is Kimberly A. Knight, a health and wellness-minded, certified naturopathic guide, and Veriditas-trained labyrinth guide. by itself.
Kimberly moved to the Netherlands with his wife six years ago when she got a job teaching at an international school. Naturally, she wanted to know how things worked at her place of work. And an important thing to discuss is the policy on what to do when you get sick.
The woman was accustomed to limited “sick leave”, so when I asked how many days she could get, she was greeted with a puzzled look like the Dutch. .
They were trying to figure out how everything worked out there. One of the questions they had was how many “sick days” they could get.
when bored panda After getting in touch with Kimberly, I learned that she had worked while she was sick herself, while she was still living in the United States. She gave her body rest when she was sick – her cold turned into really bad bronchitis and it recurs every year. “
Then, since she was the server, I couldn’t let her not work. If she didn’t work, she wouldn’t get tips, she couldn’t even afford groceries.
Meanwhile, she is currently in the Netherlands, where servers must get paid sick leave and be paid at least minimum wage. He answered our questions after resting at home to recover from a serious illness.
If employers were lenient and there was no universal amount determined at the federal level, they were used to limiting sick leave.
To introduce her American friends to Dutch policy, Kimberly provided translations of their laws.
The post makes it clear to Americans that their ways are not always the best, as Kimberly believes many Americans are unaware that other countries are protecting workers’ rights. There was an intention. It’s important to show them.
Most countries around the world, including the Netherlands, do not pre-plan how long they will be sick, so this question was returned with a confused look.
The hard part is that “some Americans believe it’s impossible to take advantage of this system, or that a country that provides universal health care and generous vacations has been taught to scare Americans.” Some people know, and hate, that it is embedded in a political climate that has been misinformed and disempowered. cultivated in a meaningful way.”
Many people in the comments on the post immediately assumed that this was just a law calling for abuse. She thinks it does.1 The reason some people can “abuse the system” is because the system is toxic and broken. Work conditions are important. many. When people are paid well, treated fairly, and culturally adjusted to respect her work-life balance (the balance between herself and others), it makes a huge difference. “
However, going back to the law, it’s not just an employer paying an employee a salary for two years.there is page Dedicated to Dutch business owners, it is written entirely in English and reads:This is minimum wage, must be compensated up to the minimum wage amount. During his second year of illness, his 70% of the employee’s normal wages. If the amount is less than the minimum wage, no addition is required. If an employee is absent due to illness due to organ donation, pregnancy, or childbirth, he must be paid 100% of his regular wages. “
It also provides information if an employer has older employees, employees with disabilities, and other situations.
Most countries provide paid sick leave until the illness is cured, but wages may vary from country to country.
Employees get paid less when they’re sick, but people in the comments believe it’s fair because the person isn’t working, and more than most American employees do to their sick employees. I got
The Netherlands isn’t the only country protecting sick employees.according to world population review“Most countries within the European Union have the highest sickness benefits in the world. By the way, the United States is the only developed country that does not guarantee sick leave.” Many countries in South America, Asia and Africa also offer paid sick leave to their employees.
This made Kimberly realize that the way the United States handled it was created to make the already wealthy richer.
Kimberly criticized America’s view of “sick day” idolatrous capitalism, and those in the comments weren’t surprised that the United States has no federal law on this and employers can do as they please. She says she has lived in the Netherlands for six years and can’t think of much the Dutch should learn from the Americans, but besides adding spices to their food, there are other things the Dutch are good at. She thinks there is.
Among the things Kimberly mentioned, she feels really safe there.
Paid leave before and after childbirth, daily check-ups of the birth parents by a nurse. to guide nursing mothers.”
Another thing women praise is that employees only work during official hours and are unresponsive on weekends and late at night. She was also surprised that she had received payment for her vacation, and she actually contacted HR because Kimberly was sure it was a mistake.
Kimberly explained to those concerned about people abusing the system that with good working conditions, no one would cheat.
The Dutch seem to know how to take care of the people who live in their own country, and Kimberly seems to enjoy living there very much. I miss the whole scenery of
Kimberly’s post started a rather lengthy thread, with Americans sharing their experiences of being laid off and knowing people who were laid off because they were sick or forced to work due to illness. He shared that he paid sick leave and revealed his country of origin.
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