[mrweasel]

After having worked they my US colleagues for over a year now, I can safely say: Americans have more time off than people in Northern Europe. They more public holidays, contractually they have more vacation time, because it's assumed that the vacation required by law in Europe is always very high, so when your country falls below that expectation, then you easily end up with tech companies being more generous in the US.

[resolutebat]

Seriously? In eg Finland the legal minimum is 5 weeks and it's very common for people to take a month off in summer. I've yet to see a US company that matches that ("unlimited" vacation doesn't count), much less one where it's normal for people to completely disconnect for a month.

[mrweasel]

Same in Denmark, technically 25 days, because weekends, but my American colleagues get 30 days. 25 is absolute minimum and most companies will give you 5 days extra, but the accounting is different from the 25 days required by law. That means you can't transfer them to a new employer, they are accounted for in a different cycle than first 25 and the employer can technically tell you when to use them, say between Christmas and New Years, or one of the in-between days in the public holidays in spring. Most just let you use them whenever, if you're an office worker.

[natebc]

I in the US but I work for a (private) university. I get 27 personal days per year and we have 11 public holidays per year. Each year of service my personal days goes up by a few hours a month.