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by simmschi 1112 days ago
I'm not sure where you live, but 25 to 30 days seem to be the ballpark for a healthy life.

Here in Germany the minimal number of vacation days that have to be granted (by law) is 20 days, but it's rare to have that few days in knowledge worker positions.

Unless you're the CTO you should not really worry too much about a vacation replacement, isn't this your bosses responsibility?

Btw don't burn out by not taking vacation. Life is short. You will regret this when you get older.

2 comments

I have 23 days plus 15 days for sick kids/family member and “unlimited” short term sick leave for myself. All at a telco in the US.

I turned down 2 other jobs that had unlimited PTO where you could really only get 2-3 weeks max.

Do your number include sick leave? I’d assume that was a different PTO bucket.
Some context for Germany: Before the probation period ends (usually 6 months), a company can fire you without any reason on 2 weeks notice. After that, it's very hard to fire someone for being sick.

Now to your question: 30 days is the norm for knowledge workers. Days off, including: when you are sick, when your kid is sick so you have to take care of them, special occasions such as death of a close relative, marriage, relocation) don't get counted on these 30 days at all.

Is that 30 days per year?

That’s impressively generous.

It’s 10 (accumulating to 20) here in New Zealand and bereavement is an additional few days - the amount depends on your relationship to the deceased. All the above is paid at your usual rate.

I think you have misunderstood.

It's 30 days paid holiday per year. The legal minimum is 20-something is most EU countries, but professional jobs tend to have 25-35, depending on the country.

Sick leave is completely independent of that. If you're sick you don't work. If there's any doubt, you get a signed note from a doctor. If the sickness lasts a long time there are eventually other procedures, and after long enough you can lose your job if there's really no reasonable alternative.

The best part: if you're sick on vacation, you get those vacation days back as they're converted into sick days.
> I think you have misunderstood.

I had, and the comment was very clear.

Though taking care of a sick kid is an unpaid leave. But your health insurance compensates that to a certain degree. Usually up to €110 per day.
You get 30 „child sick days“ per child

https://www.bundesgesundheitsministerium.de/themen/praeventi...

Sounds similar to Finnish system, for the sake of further comparison across countries.
Sick days are not vacation, you get to stay home for however long your doctor put on your sick note and health insurance will reimburse your employer.