American reacts to GERMAN WORK CULTURE

Thank you for watching me, a humble American, react to 5 reasons to work in Germany and work culture
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[@JochenHormes]

If you move to Germany, we will all be your friends.

[@Sharea-Yang]

Bier geht auf mich :D

[@PuNicAdbo]

Naaa.

[@2Milkey]

Drohe ihm doch nicht gleich... ;)

[@misserfolg7567]

@@Sharea-Yang ich komm auch =D

[@cjane_world]

Is that a threat 😅?

[@vomm]

I always find it strange when someone says you can't make friends in Germany or at work, because practically all the friends I have were once work colleagues. It just doesn't always happen that quickly. It is also encouraged in most offices that employees get along well, coffee breaks are tolerated, there are company parties, people gossip and laugh in the hallways, and drink beer together after work. None of this is a problem. That's how I know it. Germans are social beings like everyone else. You just have to have a little more patience sometimes, give it more time. What is true is that there is a relatively strong separation between professional and private life, but that doesn't mean that colleagues can't become friends.

[@blatterrascheln2267]

The american "work bestie" culture isn't the same. Sometimes it's just little more than emotional blackmail to keep people going to work sick, never taking leave and feeling guilty when not being available outside of working hours. Work besties can dissappear the moment someone switches jobs. I mean, you need some comfort and "social family" with the US-expectations in jobs. 😄 And yes, colleagues in Germany can become friends, I don't know why that is seen as uncommon. It's just less forced, I think.

[@viomouse]

I think, the difference comes from the american definition of "friend". An american "friend" might as well just be a faint aquaintance, so to get to that level is quite easy, also in germany, but nobody would consider that as friendship here. Getting to be a real friend is harder, but that's the same in the US as well.

[@vomm]

@@viomouse Not really. If someone from America thinks that it is harder to make friends here, then the American has his personal comparison based on experiences. It has nothing to do with translation or the definition of words.

[@susannabonke8552]

Plus: once the shy collegue has become a friend you have a longterm friend.

[@robfriedrich2822]

The only friends my mother had, were colleagues and people from the church.

[@turtleflip5631]

I started my job in 2015 with 30 paid leave days. Due to our union, within two years I got the offer between a 5-6% increase in salary or another 6 days of paid leave. After two more years, the offer got repeated. I chose paid leave because I was happy with what I got paid. Therefore, I had 42 days of paid vacation per year.

[@realglutenfree]

Honestly, as long as you don't really need the money, I would always choose paid leave. Time is more important than money and 42 days is really, really nice. If you lay these days good with weekends and holidays, you can easily have one and a half months off

[@MyvIsLove2]

hello fellow DB worker :)

[@turtleflip5631]

@@MyvIsLove2 Oh damn. Stalker 😂

[@MyvIsLove2]

@@turtleflip5631 nope just also working there lol i chose the money btw

[@moeg.3735]

@@realglutenfree 42 day paid leave is actually about 2 months of vacation, without taking into account holidays, assuming a 5 day work week. Next year is going to be even better, since you can get 39 days off with only taking 16 vacation days :)

[@michi0302]

The theme of friendship depends a lot on the person and on the Company culture. I met two of my best friends at work and next year I will go on a skiing tour with 9 of my colleagues. So if you are open minded you get friends at work ☺️

[@spille1234]

It really depends. I never worked in a company in Germany where I did not befriend some of my colleagues to also do something together in the free time.

[@quackerjack8064]

I think so too. And this is maybe also a really changing thing in the last years. In my opinion an old cliche about German Company Culture. Never had that.

[@rainer8466]

I think it’s on your own, if you are friendly the others will be friendly too .

[@janakumer]

I moved to Germany 3 years ago and my first job here was in a full international team. I'm still very close friends will mostly all of them. But after corona I had to find another job. Thats when I landed at my current one (full German co-workers). And I can approve, even after more than two years, I can barely call someone more than an acquaintance. 90 % of my friends after those 3 years are not German. I don't know what it its about them, but they are rarely friend material for me. It's not that I dislike them in general, but I find it hard to befriend them. People from outside just seem much friendlier and easily approachable.

[@KaiAquila]

It probably depends on personal preference and the field of work. I'm friendly with all of my coworkers, but I don't want to spend my free time with them and I barely know anyone, who spends time with their coworkers outside of work. I also think it can be really uncomfortable, if someone wants to make a good working relationship into a friendship. I'm nice to people at work, because I want to work in a positive environment, not because I actually like my coworkers on a personal level (at least not all of them).

[@carinapusteblume9039]

The vacation days are only for work days. The legal minimum is 20/24 days depending on if you have a 5 or 6 day work week. On top of that we have roughly 15 bank holidays (paid of course). If you use your vacation wisely you can get long periods off work without using a lot of your vacation days. On top of all of that we have "unlimited" paid sick leave. If you need more than 6 weeks sick leave for one illness your employer no longer pays you, but you get 60% of your net salary from your health insurance. You can apply for financial aid if those 60% are not enough to support you and your family. If you are sick a lot of times during a year for different illnesses, you get your full salary through your employer every time.

[@schnelma605]

"If you use your vacation wisely you can get long periods off work without using a lot of your vacation days." Yep, so called brigde-days (Brückentage), since you use vacation days to build a bridge from one public holiday to the other (or at least a sunday).

[@keyem4504]

And a lot of companies have fully paid overtime as well. You will get it either as additional days off or get it paid.

[@theexchipmunk]

@@schnelma605 But be early to get your vaccation on these weeks, as they are very popular and its often first come first serve when registering vaccation, and not the whole company can go on vaccation at once.

[@jeffafa3096]

I believe this is the same in most of Europe, with slight tweaks here and there. In The Netherlands we get 70% of your net salary, and not by an insurance company, but by your employer. After 2 years of being sick you can get fired, but then you will probably end up in the "Wet Arbeidsongeschiktheid", roughly translated to "Law of being unsuited for labor". Then the government takes over with social security programs to support you in your daily life. About the vacation days: this is not including national holidays, over hours or weekends. Going on a holiday for 2-3 weeks each summer while still having some days left is common for everyone here...

[@connycatlady7429]

Carina: unlimited paid sick leave is a nonsense. After 18 month you're out of the social system.

[@ReisskIaue]

About friendship with co-workers: There is no problem about it at all, but while at work you don't talk much about issues not related to the job. This it what makes a professional worker. For everything else you can meet on weekends or after work (if you are close enough).

[@Holzhacker8167]

Sie sagä Wörter welke Gründ ? Leutä hab de der nahrungsproblem für Million nochmal Million ist de gründ ist passiert sie sagä Wörter mir nix vergessen

[@stephanerbe4985]

The 30 paid leave days and the paid sick leave days came mostly out of a hard fight between labor unions and employers of coalminig and Steel Companies in the late 19th century. The labor unions were very strong here in germany. Today these goodies are so naturally for everybody that most people forgot where it came from and don't think about becoming member of a union.

[@susannabonke8552]

Very important point.

[@ElenMira]

Ü0p

[@ngotemna8875]

Yep. People literally fought and died so we can have holidays. Never forget that we would still have child labor if capitalists had their way

[@andreasbach5142]

True. But Unions these Days are just mouth pieces of political parties and in the company the "Betriebsrat" mostly consists out of lazy people who don't want to work. Of course there are exceptions.

[@IZaubermausI]

My son (22) works fir a big company at the Hamburg port. Starting his job he entered also „verdi“ who helps their members constantly to fight for better work conditions and regularly more money!

[@Roger-np3wi]

Dude, the guy in the video is British. Oh yeah, his channel is also called "Brit in Germany".

[@stephanweinberger]

regarding PTO and sick days, a very important point was not mentioned: in Germany (and Europe in general) those are completely separate. I.e. if you are sick you get paid sick leave _without_ losing any vacation days. If you fall ill during a vacation you get back those vacation days (because vacation is meant to be recreational, which it obviously isn't when you're recovering from sickness).

[@ShatroGames]

My company basically forced me to take my remaining PTO in december where I already scheduled vacation over christmas into the new year. So I basically had PTO from start of December til early January. And I got paid even more than regular because most companies either pay you double your wage or give you a significant bonus as a reward for the work you did that year. This helps employees with their christmas presents, keeps them happy and more loyal to the company. I've lost a friend due to COVID and my company gave me a week off to recover mentally and it wasn't reduced from my PTO. Also, we got $200 more tax-free for six months because of the "hassle" of suddenly working from home. I have to add that we're not a big company, we're like 15 employees. Also, sick leave does not reduce your PTO. Companies also cannot fire you for being sick, unless you're hardly at work anymore, of course.

[@voyance4elle]

what does PTO mean? Payed time off?

[@noduj]

You can definitly make friends at work, it depends on your job and on the people. I'm a event technician, its a normal thing to be friends with your coworkers, since we travel alot together through europe, from event to event, we always spend our freetime together.

[@mr_chickenpoop]

I'm working 1 day in the office and 4 days at home. It's very relaxing.

[@beldin2987]

A work-week is normally 5 days, so 30 days = 6 weeks. If you have a 6 day week the minimum is 24 days instead of 20. I mostly took 15 days in the summer and another 15 days around christmas, maybe after christmas in january also since beeing on work between christmas and new year was mostly quite relaxing.

[@DontPanick]

Actually the law is based on 6 day week with the minimum of 24 days, which is then adjusted to 5 day und 7 day weeks.

[@Maren_Cookie__]

I think 0,5 days per day you work in the week a month (so it you work 3 days a week you get 1,5 days of paid leave a month)

[@DontPanick]

@@Maren_Cookie__ I don't think it's like that. That would be 2,5 days for the typical 5 day week, which would be 30 days per year. But the minimum by law for a 5 day week is just 20 days. And are there really contracts that restrict the working days on 3 specific days?

[@swanpride]

@@DontPanick To explain: The law is that if you get 24 days for six workdays (since saturday counts as a work day). If you work 5 days, you get 5/6 of this, if you work four days 4/6 aso. It actually doesn't matter if you work a full day or just an hour on those days. But that is only the minimum. Thanks to unions aso most people get more than that. Oh, and if you just started, you get partial vacation days (1/12 in the first month, 2/12 in the second aso), until you have been with the company for half a year, from that point onward you get the whole thing.

[@DontPanick]

​@@swanpride Well your explanation to calculate is correct. Yes, for 3 work days it would be 3/6, so 1/2 of the amount you get for 6 day week. For a 6 day week you get 24 days per year (so 2 days per month). So for 3 day week it would be 12 days per year / 1 day per month. You made several mistakes in your original calculation. 1. A month does not equals 4 weeks, what you probably assumed. The year has 52 weeks + 1 day (leap years ignored) and not 48 weeks. So per week its about 0,46 days. 2. Why don't you just take half of the yearly days? That is way easier and wouldn't have lead to your wrong calculation. 3. You took the vacation days per week you calculated and than multiplied it by 3 for the 3 day week. That is wrong. Those days per week you calculated are for a 6 day week. For 3 day week it's only half. You can't multiply those 0,5 days with the amount of work days per week. Take those 0,5 day per week. For a 6 day week you would multiply 0,5 by 6 (according to your logic) and you would get 3 days per month. That would be 36 per year. Obviously that is not correct. It's only 24.

[@myeramimclerie7869]

If you have school kids in Germany, you typically take around 2 weeks during the summer holidays, 1 week for the kid's autumnal holidays, a few days around Christmas and New Year and 1 week for the winter holidays. Never heard of anybody taking everything at once 😂

[@evalier1151]

I have 2 kids in elementary school and I usually take one week off for Easter, 3 in summer, one in autumn and the week between Christmas and new year (the 1.1. is an annual holiday here). And the brückentage as well🤷🏻‍♀️

[@myeramimclerie7869]

@@evalier1151 makes sense as well. 😊 When I was a kid we always went on winter holiday together and so did my friends, that's why I added that one on the list. I think my parents never took leave around Easter though, maybe one or two days. Also Christmas has a lot of puplic holidays, so we only need to take off a few days.

[@evalier1151]

@@myeramimclerie7869 I think it depends on where you live in Germany… in northern Germany we don’t have winter holidays (no snow😅). When we want to go on skiing vacations we go in the Christmas holidays (usually from 23.12.-6.1.)…

[@myeramimclerie7869]

@@evalier1151 I am from Northern Germany (MV). We had two weeks of winter holiday if I'm not mistaken. 😅 Always went south for the snow (Frauenwald/Harz/Bayern)

[@evalier1151]

@@myeramimclerie7869 hm🤔 I feel cheated now… I’m from nds (lk VEC) and we Never had winter holidays 😔

[@berndhoffmann7703]

2:34 workdays, though it is 6 weeks 5:35 day of for funerals, it depends if it is 1st grade like parents it will be 2 days, rest of family from 2nd grade 1 day off. 5:36 day of moving, yet again it depends, if it is within the vicinity it is 1 day, if it is hundreds of miles it is 2 days. 7:58 I am many years older than Benikon, but I have never experienced work colleagues not becoming friends or that is no bonding there. During the marvelous 2000s we went out to party at least 3 times per week with whole departments, and many lifelong friendships have formed. I would say it depends on the people working for the company, but it is not a general point one can make for German professional life.

[@MaximusLongus]

Day of for funerals really depends on your employer/contract. Iirc, I would get one day of for a parents funeral but I didn't get one for my grandmas funeral a few years ago.

[@berndhoffmann7703]

@@MaximusLongus true, all berks he had described depend on the employer.

[@manub.3847]

In particular, paid days off for family events such as: wedding, silver wedding anniversary, golden wedding anniversary of the parents/grandparents, birth (as a father), death of close relatives, etc. are usually the result of the collective bargaining agreements of the unions. Many companies that are not bound by collective agreements at least try to align salaries with the collective agreement that applies to their professional groups. Sometimes there are also fixed days off for company anniversaries -> 10 years, 25 years, 40 years, 50 years of service

[@reinhard8053]

In Austria the days also depend on the "Kollektivvertrag" which sets most of these details. I got 2 days for the death of my mother (partner would be 3 days) and 2 days for moving (independent from distance).

[@tilliboy66]

Something that also gets more common in Germany is that companies offer you to work for 2 years with 80% of your salary and then you can take a sabbatical or gap year where you get the other 20%.

[@InspektorDreyfus]

It is more like 4 years full time + 1 year off, while being paid 80 % in the whole 5 years. Because on average it is just an 80 % job during 5 years.

[@noergelstein]

After taxes you would have more money than if you had 4 years of 100% and 1 year of 0%.

[@lolaluna5055]

Wirklich? Wo? Das habe ich noch nie gehört hier in Deutschland

[@Jayarbal]

I can not confirm people don't make friends at work here in germany. Many of my co-workers meet on weekends or even travel together on holydays. we usually know at least a little bit of what's going on in each others private lives, and talk about that stuff in our breaks, too. Of course it's possible to make friends at work, it might depend on who you meet, and how the general athmosphere is at the company. I personally get along very well with everybody at work, but I do not have close friends there. Still, I might join a collegue for a concert, a barbecue or else every now and then. We are not that strict. Work is important, but generally I think everybody will be chill as long as work gets done in time.

[@timefliesaway999]

I’m a German and I don’t drink coffee at all, so you don’t need to love coffee. During “coffee & cake”, people also often drink tea or hot chocolate, depending on the season/weather. :D

[@gerdforster883]

While coffee is optional, there is no way to avoid the cake.

[@dmsephiroth]

I agree 100%. I hate coffee too and no one would be offended if you drink tea or hot chocolate then ;)

[@headhunter1945]

"How else am I gonna make friends?" The German way, Ryan: Not at work, but by joining a club. Perhaps a hobby club, shooting, some sport, singing, crafts, arts, etc.

[@sammyauscux9529]

And let's not forget that you actually got the time to meet people outside of work

[@klamin_original]

Channel: „Brit in Germany“ Ryan: „He looks German“

[@kleinerfarmer1]

He has been assimilated into the German culture.😉

[@ani2701]

The most work days off, I ever got was in the Czech Republic, where I actually got 40 (working) days of paid vacation each year and when I started my job there (in September), I didn't take any days off for the first calender year (except for a day or two around Christmas), so in the next year, I had 48 working days of paid leave that I literally HAD to take! I know, it sounds ridiculous, but it was rather difficult to actually manage to do so. I mean, after all, there was some work to do and I couldn't just take off any time I wanted, because I was working at a university and couldn't miss any of my lectures. But I guess, that is what you could call a problem of luxury. 🙂

[@Holzhacker8167]

Sie sagä Wörter welke Gründ ? Leutä hab de der nahrungsproblem für Million nochmal Million ist de gründ ist passiert sie sagä Wörter mir nix vergessen

[@ROARlikeDoggysDo]

Parents often gather their paid leave for their kids holydays. Some gather them for their own holydays, one week here, anothere there, some days around big holydays like christmas, so they don't have to stress for the two-three days they generally get off around christmas. I mainly use them to have many extended weekends. Did I mention we have no limit to sickleave? A company might be able to fire you if you are sick for multiple months in a row, under special circumstances, but if you catch a cold 5 times a year, break a leg, got a toothache, you don't have to worry for running out of paid sick leave. Yes, germans aren't eager to actually make friends at work. It is common that some coworkers have lunch together, or have smokingbreaks together, but actually being friends? That is a high wall right there. This has a very simple reason: Friendships typically have a heavy influence on you. ' If there is drama in the friendship and that friend is a coworker.... that drama affects your work. This is not just a performance issue, but an issue for your own wellbeing. If friendships get really sour, your workplace might turn into a constant battleground, or you might even lose your job(because the person tries to sabbortage you, or the drama interrupts coworkers). Better to keep it professional.

[@pavelmacek282]

According to the Federal Holidays Act, all employees with a 5-day week (also part-timers!) in Germany are entitled to a minimum holiday of 20 days per year. A paid break of 24 days (4.8 weeks) to 30 days (6 weeks) with a 5-day week is now normal in many companies. Not sure how elsewhere but in my company it is allowed to transfer max 5 days to the next year and all those days had to be used till end of March.

[@seorsamaclately4294]

On the topic of Bildungsurlaub (Educational Holidays), whether you can get it depends on the state you live in. He lives in Frankfurt (Hesse) where it's been granted for ages. You get paid time off work, but the fees are your responsibility. The course doesn't have to do anything with your profession or your actual work, but the courses must be certified for Bildungsurlaub.

[@dawi8929]

👍🏻 Right! For example, yoga in Bali and pottery in Tuscany are just as much a part of educational leave as a language trip to Florida or to the ancient Egyptian pharaohs in their pyramids. You can also take these additional paid 10 days into the next year to have 20 extra days in addition to your vacation.

[@McGhinch]

Yeah, he looks genuine German that is why he calls his channel"Brit in Germany". :-)

[@m.rubland6737]

Of course, even in Germany, work colleagues sometimes become friends. But it is common not to emphasize this aspect during working hours, so that you concentrate on your work and work just as professionally as if you were just colleagues. In particular, it is standard practice not to talk about private matters during working hours. But this does not mean that the friendship is kept secret.

[@lowenmaulchen3033]

In fact many couples met first at work

[@Perseus505]

30 day's are 6 weeks holiday. Another tradition is a 13th salary, which is paid 1/2 midyear at holidays and 1/2 salary in November as christmas money.

[@eastfrisianguy]

I have "only" 28 vacation days in my new job and I always hear among friends "What? Only so few vacation days?" ... but I am satisfied. Today I had to work until 5.30pm and at 3pm our boss wrote to our team in teams "Good work for the week, I suggest you all take off now and I'll see you well recovered on Monday? Have a nice weekend, I don't want to see anyone working anymore in a few minutes! ;-)" - that was a super nice surprise! That's rare even for Germany. My boss can also be a real pain in the butt, but when the team results are perfect, he is also insanely grateful (I work as a recruiter). Weeeekeeeeeeeeend, here I come! 😁And as long as the work environment is that good, I don't care if I "only" have 28 vacation days or earn a little less. 😅

[@grafzahl4698]

Guter Chef. Gut, ich arbeite in ner Behörde. Bei uns ist eh alles egal.

[@patrickb6341]

30 days vacation is work days, so it’s actually 6 weeks. Plus national holidays like easter, christmas, new years etc. Some people can also take off their worked overtime. Most companies encourage you to take at least 2 weeks in one block to make sure that you can really relax and get the rest you need.

[@TheKahlez]

You can take your paid vacation in one go for a big travel trip (depending on your company) but most people plan it on smaller steps. With me it often ends up in not taking all of it and then be forced to take the rest before my company would had to pay out the rest or potentially get in trouble.

[@darkredvan]

It really depends on your job, your company and your coworkers. The company where I worked regularly approved 3 weeks of holidays in one go (15 work days), if more you had to get approval by your boss in advance (due to colleagues needed to do your job in your absence). 4 weeks (20 work days) would usually be aporoved though. Legally the company has to give you one holiday with at least 2 weeks off in one go, dividing it in smaller units is not allowed (per year). It was expected that you would check with your colleagues first, that every job was done during your holiday (not 2 or 3 workers - who are needed at one specific workstation - absent at the same time).

[@TheKahlez]

@@darkredvan Where i am working getting 3 or 4 weeks in one go can get trickey, given that we just have too much to do usually ( or not enough people...). The company before that also had not really a problem with us taken all days in one go if told in advanced and no one else has already their days off.

[@reinhard8053]

In Austria it is illegal to pay out vacation days. And mostly you can take days with you at least for the next year. There are detailed rules how long the vacation needs to be in one part and how the time should be divided. But if both parts accept you can take your vacation days just as you want of course with the OK from the company.

[@gaskaramona]

Well, three close friends are former colleagues of mine... That's why I'd disagree with his statement regarding friendships at work 😄

[@fpvmenki7964]

So the minimum paid leave is in fact 20 work days = 4 weeks. But many companies give you 30 work days = 6 weeks. Plus you get around 10+ days of public holidays depending on which state you are. Btw, Bavaria has the most. 😁 The friends at work topic is true for some companies like banks but many companies have a very open, modern and friendly workplace. I do have a lot of good friends from work, although it's a US company working here in the German sub.

[@sandrap.3399]

5:40 in Austria, as far as I know, you get 2 days off for moving. And additionally one for your wedding, and one for funerals of close relatives. You also get paid leave to take care for sick close relatives living in the same household, if your child is sick, one of the parents can take "Pflegeurlaub" to be able to stay at home with the kid for example.

[@Lordbrezel]

Many use their days off to fill in what we call "Brückentage" (bridge days) which are days inbetween e.g. a weekend and a national holiday. So if a national holiday is on a thursday you will see many take the friday off to "build that bridge" and have 4 consecutive days off.

[@pebo8306]

You can apply for,but no guarantee you will actually get them!

[@merrydiscusser6793]

In Germany work and free time is usually strictly separated. That's why you usually do not make fast friends with your coworkers. Or why even if you have a coworker friend, you usually don't talk about your friend activities at work, or your work activities while hanging out with the friend.

[@isherwood9321]

About paid leave: Many companys close during christmal holiday season which usually lasts from 25th Dec till 6th of Jan. You need to use your paid leave days for this, but you can keep in mind, that 25th and 26th are national holidays, as are the 1st of Jan and the 6th of Jan. for which you don't need to use your paid leave days. 31st of dec is half day off. Same is applied if a company has a summer holiday, where you need to take paid leave days. It is usually not more than 2 weeks.(=10 paid leave days)

[@SD-ed8is]

6th of Jan. is not a national holiday. It only is a holiday in some states. Also the half day on 24th and 31st of Dec. is a decision of the company, most do it but there is no obligation to.

[@hansjanko7966]

@@SD-ed8is Correct. 24th and 31st are just half day holiday. I remember, (back in the seventies) while my vocational training as a mechanic we went to work on the 24th. That day we didn't work, we cleaned up the place and got drunk later ;-)

[@SD-ed8is]

@@hansjanko7966 Ich glaube du hast mich falsch verstanden. Ich meinte, dass Heiligabend und Silvester gar keine Feiertage sind. Dass es bei vielen nur ein halber Arbeitstag ist, ist immer die Entscheidung der Firma (oder vielleicht in manchen Bereichen in Tarifverträgen geregelt), laut Gesetz sind es normale Arbeitstage.

[@DerDudeVonPeace]

Taking a huge load of offdays, not working when we're moving, chatting at the coffee machine - and still we seem to be efficient enough to be considered workaholics lmao

[@tioforu7203]

I‘m so glad to be german :)

[@Sarah-do9my]

in the Netherlands the same and mostly 3 weeks in the summer and the rest spread over the other holidays. I used to work more hours and took 3 months in the summer with my son to italia.

[@jang.6573]

The 20-30 days are often matched with the children´s holidays to go to vacation together as a family

[@broetchenahoi6524]

Kaffee & Kuchen (coffee or tea and cake) is actually something we usually do with friends and family, in private, i.e. Sat oder Sunday afternoon or on holiday, etc. However, it is common for colleagues to bring cake for the team to celebrate birthdays or if you've passed 6 months trial periods, etc. Any which way: Coffee & cake? It's a thing! :-D

[@ellenbartsch8403]

Hi and greetings from Germany. This coffee is very special and tasty and it is Italian coffee. Finding friends while working depends on you, I think. Wherever I worked I found good friends.

[@kijo548]

Its quite usual to have longer vacations. My company really encourages to do one time 3 weeks in a row so you can really refresh and get your mind off of work :)

[@Neakas]

My Summer Vacation this year was 3 Weeks. So 15 Work Days with a View Holiday Days sprinkled in. But yeah 3 Weeks away from work. My Boss just recently said to me: "If you have any Problems or need some time off from work, besides your paid vacation, come talk to me and we get it done...paid" which is Fantastic!

[@mentar1048]

Most Americans simply don't believe that not only your sick days do not count against your paid vacation days, but if you get sick during a vacation and have a doctor attest to your sickness, you get these sick days during vacation "refunded". So if you take 2 weeks off (2x5 days) and get sick for 3 days, you will have spent only 7 vacation days (10-3). How's that? ;)

[@MichaEl-rh1kv]

1:30 Espresso machine. Works with high pressure, therefore the filter holder has to have a very secure mounting. 2:25 By law you get four weeks paid leave, which translates to 24 days of paid leave if you work 6 days the week (as was considered as normal around 1960) or 20 days of paid leave if you work 5 days the week (which is the default now) or 12 days if you work 3 days the week (like a typical part-time job with full days). Most companies as well as public services offer 30 days now, and yes, that are work days - only days count on which you would normally have worked, so it excludes also public holidays. The number of public holidays differs from state to state (10 to 13 days (w/o Sundays), 2 of which will always be a Monday, up to 2 always a Thursday, 1 Good Friday, the others change the day of the week from year to year). 3:20 One of my co-workers did once take nearly all of two years' holidays at once. He did a 7-weeks-trip with his girlfriend, plus some days before and after. By law you are entitled to take at least 2 weeks in a row (unless precluded by urgent and exceptional operational reasons). In many companies as well in public services they have also the rule: If you did not take all paid leave before August or September of the following year, you'll be reminded to take them immediately. The traditional German approach to work culture as well as to products is more about quality than quantity: It is not about how long hours you work but what you do in your time - even if that has slightly changed over the decades due to Anglo-American influences (and due to pay-by-the-hour instead of pay-by-the-day). 9:10 You have co-workers, you have good colleagues, with whom you sometimes hang out after work or whom you may even invite to your birthday party, and you have friends. Those are three very different categories...

[@hellkitty1442]

I know I'm kinda late, but I want to add something to "paid leave for relocating". It mostly is just for relocating due to the job, like if you move closer to the job or even move halfway across the country for the job because you were transfered to a different part of the company, or such things. Some companies may also offer paid leave to move no matter what, but even in IT I haven't really seen that (and they offer a lot of benefits for you to come work for them, like the 30 days instead of around 20, free beverages, kindergarten, ...). But with 30 days off, you can just use a few of them and still have a lot. I often run short with the time remaining in a year and the pto I have left. And at my company, we have to take them during the first quarter of the next year, but are asked to not transfer holidays if not necessary. It is, after all, recreational time meant for you to recover etc. Of course, if I take holiday at the end of the year and then become ill and so on, I can just hand that doctor's paper in at work and get the days back and spent them the next year (first quarter).

[@enemde3025]

UK worker here. I can carry up to 5 days holiday over each year. I work part time (12 hours a week, as I'm semi retired) and still got 15 days holiday this year.

[@cheryla7480]

Ryan, I think it’s only the US that cheats it’s work force of paid holidays. I’m a retired Canadian nurse. I had 30 ( working days) paid vacation . Plus we were allowed to save 5 “stat” holidays. So I always took 2 full weeks over the Christmas season, 2 full weeks in the Spring. Then I would use my 5 “stat days to give me 3 full weeks in Aug/Sept. We had to use them all within our year though, otherwise they would pay you out. We also earned sick days at a rate of a day and a third a month or 15 days a year, and those we could accumulate, We were also allowed separate family sick days that were paid eg. sick child at home, sick parent etc. Our maternity leave was separate, not involving loss of sick days.

[@julianegner5997]

The longest I took in a block was 3 1/2 weeks last summer (paid, of course). If Sick, normally for the first 2 Days, you just tell the employer that you are sick, only when it is longer, you have to go to the doctor and get a sick note.

[@nellitheretrogamer8666]

Finland here. We have a minimum of 4 weeks of vacation during the summer and 1 week during the winter. About those 4 weeks of summer vacation, yes, most people take it all at once. There are several reasons for that but one reason is that it is simply the easiest way for everyone concerned. I used to work in an IT company where we had an American worker who used her vacation one week at a time. Like, she was away for one week, then she was back for two weeks, then again away for one week etc. I don't know why she wanted her vacation that way, but I know that it caused a lot of extra work for her manager because it's damn difficult to plan work for someone who jumps in and out of office like that. It's much easier if people simply have all of their vacation at one go.

[@biloaffe]

Extra vacation days are available for the following occasions, depending on the collective agreement: 1 or 2 days for your own wedding, 1 day for the birth of your own children, 1 day for the funeral of direct blood relatives, 1 or 2 days when moving from one apartment to another, Some employers only grant these days if it shortens your commute to work. The wages for the additional days will continue to be paid by the employer.

[@juliaclaire42]

I can't say that coworkers aren't friends. We know each other very well and do many activities together. Also we have to take all of our vacation days within the calendar year. Otherwise we need a very good reason because it's tax relevant for the company. And there's also a day off for your 25th wedding anniversary, your parents or in-laws 50th wedding anniversary, a death in close family or the birth or adoption of your child.

[@RustyITNerd]

I still have vacation left over from last year which I couldn't take this year until now. That is why I am leaving vor vacation on December 3rd until January 9th with left over vacation from 2022. In summer I will travel Scandinavia for three weeks (hopefully). As a matter of fact, the employer is required to provide at least one vacation of two weeks uninterrupted at least once a year. The focus of the related legislation is towards giving employees enough time to recharge and relax. If that makes us more efficient on the other end of things can be debated, but somehow things are still (somehow) moving in Germany.

[@domerhart94]

Though I'm from Austria, I think talking about work we're pretty similar to the Germans. I personally don't have friends at work. I got 2 real friends and I know both of them since about 14 years. And I think that it depends on your definition of a "friend". For me there are friends, people that i work with, people that I barely know and strangers. That's it. And to be honest, I'm satisfied with these 2 real friends, because I know that if it's necessary, they are here to help and support me, because that's what I would call a "real friend". Most colleagues don't really care about the private life of others. At least that's what I've experienced in my past.

[@thirstwithoutborders995]

I have a friend that worked both in Germany and in the US and he said that the working culture is very different. While you get more time off and a lot of benefits, when you are at work, they expect you to be focussed and disciplined to the max in Germany. They basically give you time off so you can perform better. While Office Culture in the US is more relaxed and people slack a lot more, but in sum spend more time in the office. In sum, you get the same amount of work done.

[@thelinsky2319]

I have 30 days of vacation at my job. I usually take at least 10 Workdays combined in the summer (so I have at least two weeks of) and sprinkle the rest over the year, for a big festival at the end of the year for example.

[@robfriedrich2822]

5:32 I as German never heard it. You can possibly get one of your vacation days. One interesting thing is, some public holidays can help, to have some additional vacation. One example is Christmas season, in a year, where the 25th of December is on a Thursday, and 26th on Friday, you could start your trip on the Saturday morning before Christmas and come back on 1st of January and you use only 5 days of your vacation to get an interrupted sequence of 12 days.

[@kubaxamv6166]

I met one of my best Friends at work over 5 years ago. Now i am his best man on the Wedding next year.

[@domenic9046]

I've never felt more sorry for someone whose video I've been watching before 😅 Working here really is just amazing, love my job and all the benefits.

[@AlonsoFan2023]

The vacation thing is definitely different for us. The company is responsible for ensuring that employees take sufficient breaks and use their vacation time. If you can't prove that, it can possibly lead to fines for the employer. I had 3 weeks of vacation in September and now another two weeks at the end of November. Other than that, I also have several hundred hours of overtime, which has caused me to work only four days a week for the past few months to get rid of it.

[@frea2191]

I live in germany and when i was in middleschool, my family and the family of a friend of mine spent about 6 weeks every year in thailand, during our summerbreak.

[@sok-yongleeigm6746]

Bildungsurlaub is generally 5 days a year in most states (except bavaria and saxony). In some you can save them up to use 2 weeks in one year. It is not required to benefit the company. Tbh only about 2% of the working population are using this opportunity

[@technoclubmystery]

In the U.S., most people don't know a real vacation (real vacation = 30 days off in a row in a row : is normal in Germany). This is also a reason why many Americans do not know Europe. The second reason why Americans don't know Europe is because America is so big, and then why travel so far away? In Germany, we Germans call having 30 consecutive days off vacation :)

[@Kutchulu]

I am German and it is not only for work. If I say: "We meet at 20:00." I will be there at 19:55 and expect the same from you. :)

[@manuschikor1636]

You are expected to take 10 days off minimum for your annual vacation. That means in total including the non-workdays 2 weeks. You can split the rest of your paid leave and add it to paid public holidays like the Christmas holidays or the day of reunification to extend your smaller vacations. Nowadays most employees tend to take 15 to 20 days off for their annual vacation. At least at my company where we start with a minimum of 24 days of paid leave and get upgraded to 28 days after the 1st year and to 30 days after 5 years with the company.

[@sharkking9679]

i am glad that we have flexible work time in our company. No more issue when coming late, and on top i can start early or later unless i got my working hours per week done.

[@Padernoster]

I am a native German, i live and work in Germany (Obviously) and i can say this is not ALWAYS the case. Sometimes it clicks immediately with your collegues and you start becoming friends, but in all cases i have to say there is a "getting to know period". We don't form Friendships quickly, but it is not unheard of that work collegues become good friends.

[@oraniuk9271]

Yesterday a coworker was 1 Minute late to a meeting, he instantly said sorry for him beeing late. Gave me a smile, i though "its so german, to say sorry because your 1 min late" :D

[@t.a.k.palfrey3882]

When I worked in Western Europe, I got 30 work days paid leave per year (that's six weeks), plus the option of having the 11 statutory holidays off, fully paid, or working for triple pay. I was obliged to take 15 of my vacation days off all at once, so that I had three full weeks off as a minimum. It was to ensure I could entirely de-stress from work pressures. Once, I saved 10 days from one year and 15 from the next, carried both sets forward and took a total of nine weeks off at once so I could visit my daughter and grandkids in Australia. The HR dept didn't bat an eyelid at my idea.

[@frankkohnen516]

3:08 what he didn't mention with the unspend vacation time, you are required by law to take that vacation time as soon as possible, and if you don't your company can get into some trouble. Which is why most companies will sit employees down and tell them to take their vacation time before it becomes an issue.

[@agp11001]

Indeed. Just coming off two weeks of extra vacation to get rid of overtime and accrued vacation days.

[@IIShana-chan]

2:40 Paid leave days are only counting work-days (usually Monday - Friday). We got so many paid leave days, that there are even calculators that recommend you when to take them, so you add weekends and holidays to it. Like use 4 paid leave days over a weekend and a holiday so you get 9 days off

[@DerJarl1024]

- 30 vacation days (work days) - sick leave How many weeks a year can you be sick? In principle, there is no upper limit here. If you are sick, you have to go to the doctor. This then decides on the sick note. How long this will be, whether just a few days or several weeks, is at his discretion and the expected recovery time. How often sick per year is normal? The statistics are a little frightening: Every employee in Germany records around 18.5 sick days in 2022 in their account. The decisive factor here is certainly the pandemic. In 2019, employees reported sick for an average of 10.9 days The 6-week period and sick pay: The entitlement to continued payment of wages in the event of incapacity to work (illness, etc.) exists for 6 weeks (= 42 consecutive calendar days regardless of the working days of the sick employee, Sundays or public holidays). As a rule, after six weeks, the health insurance company will step in. The fund transfers 70 percent of your last gross income, but never more than 90 percent of the net. The sick pay expires after 78 weeks at the latest. - six weeks before and eight weeks after the birth of a childe women have maternity leave - each parent has a legal right to three years (correct: years!) of parental leave per child and enjoys during at the same time protection against dismissal. You will not receive any wages from your employer during parental leave. However, you can apply for parental allowance. This is financial support from the state that compensates if you work less or not at all after the birth of the child.

[@graze2963]

Yes 30 Workdays +what ever your Company offers for extra Days. Also its only allowed to work 5 Days an week everything else needs to be compensated. And if you get a sicknote from your doc you stay home and get payed ofcouse.

[@LumasanDesign]

Your reaction 😂😂😂 Great! We have 36 days of vacation a year and split it up over the year. In fact, in Germany we get 1 day off if we move within the city. If we move to another city, we have 2 days at our disposal. It's true with work colleagues that you like them and make friends at work, but work is work and private life is private life. (But alot of people makes friends at work & private life.)That is strictly separated in Germany. The employer must not bother you when you are free. By the way: If you are ill in Germany, your employer is not allowed to fire you because you are ill. We even get 10 days off a year when our kids are sick to look after them. There are many advantages in working life in Germany. True to the motto: If you work a lot, you also have to take a break.

[@thorstens.9936]

We have 10 days off if we have 1-2 kids, if we have 3 or more kids we have 25 days off (each parent) But this is only for pairs, if you are alone with your kids, you have the double amount of free days.

[@hommedterre1]

I found your reaction hilarious on one hand but understandable on the other. I am German but in my over 50 years of professional life I have worked in three countries and while in Germany worked for an American company. After 10 years working for the company, I have 8 weeks paid holidays. I could go visit relatives in friends in the US, visit family in the Philippines and have some "me" time in Brazil, Grand Cayman, and generally just all around (southern) Europe. My relatives and friends in the US were green with envy😊

[@kaph123]

Well actually, the companies here in Germany aren't more "generous" with paid vacation and the other stuff - we just have much stronger labor unions whose members were able to fight for those rights and we all benefit from that. In Scandinavia, were these unions are even stronger, they have (mostly) even better working conditions than we have.

[@emmasly123]

Educational vacation: Prerequisite is that you have been with the company for a min. of 6 months and that the company has at least 10 employees. If you meet the requirements, you can enjoy 5 days of educational vacation per year, but it is possible to transfer a given years entitlement to the next year and then take 10 days educational vacation. It is fully paid, but you need to attend courses certified as educational vacation. A big variety of courses is offered. You need to pay the fee for the course yourself. It is NOT required for the course you choose to have any kind of relation to your current job. You can learn about ANY topic.

[@DjNorad]

my 30 days usually are - 2 weeks skiing in winter - 2 week voluntary work in youth summer camp.... - 1 week summer holiday on the beach - 1 week motorbike-tour in late summer - 1 week around christmas ---> the 7th week is earned by extra-hours... --> every hour i work more than the usual 38h per week... will be summed up and recorded.... so i can spend them for additonal days off... thats my 7th week....

[@markkuhn7605]

My wife has 42 days of vacation a year. In addition, she gets a day off for 4 night shifts. She is a nurse.

[@MikeMyFox]

We don't take it usually all at once, but 4 weeks of holidays in the summer is very normal here in Germany. In a lot of jobs you also can take the overwork time you have built up during a year, so it may be possible to extend your holidays with that time as well. And then we have up to 18 statewide holidays where you don't have to work.

[@herrbonk3635]

1:35 I'm glad they show "the world" it's not only us swedes that has that old coffee with pastry tradition. In fact, we largely got it from Austria (or Vienna rather) during the 1700s and 1800s.

[@DerAlteMann1974]

As far as I unerstood he is a British guy 😉 I usually take 15 days (3weeks) vacation during summer and two weeks during Christmas

[@Falk4J]

The leave is just work days. Together with some under the week holidays you can stretch that in some years up to 8 weeks.

[@westerwald78]

Fun fact: Employers in Germany are legally obliged to ensure that an employee takes two weeks (10 days of leave) at least once a year, in one block.

[@lizarddreams6142]

At my current job, I get 30 days of paid leave + bank holidays, moving day and mourning day(s) in case of a death in the family. While we do get a lot of paid vacation, it's also not always easy to get approval on our vacation. For example, if you do not have children, you might not get an approval on your vacation request if it's within summer break because employees with children get priority during that time. Same goes for winter break, autumn break and easter break or when there's no one around to pick up your workload while you're gone. Sick leave is easy to get, but often frowned upon if it happens too often (or suspiciously close to weekends/big events/upcoming bank holidays), even if you do have a sick note from your doctor. Many employees downright pride themselves of coming to work even if they have a serious case of the flu, worsening their own illness and getting others sick. It's one of the reasons why the spread of COVID was so hard to handle - many people here are VERY adamant about not calling in sick, especially higher-ups. ... also I've never made friends with any of my colleagues, but mostly because they were right-wing weirdos or misogynist assholes. They were nice enough to work with and maybe grab a drink, but I didn't like any of them enough to become actual friends. You're expected to be a respectful and reliable co worker, anything beyond that is relatively rare.

[@tettetto]

with my mother we always did like 2 weeks of paddling tour the summer, my father whatsoever likes to stack all the holidays and do one big trip from beginning of winter to end of winter to thailand. He once stacked his holidays. Potentially if you carry over like 2 weeks of vacation, have 6 weeks of vacation in the old year and then again 6 weeks in the new year then its possible to have 14 weeks of vacation.

[@LETMino85]

I needed to laugh so hard... "He looks so typically German", and the channel name is literally "Brit in Germany" xD Hehe.

[@Marzipana1]

I remember one of my US work contacts was proud to be updated to 16 days paid leave for being in his job for a long t8me. With bank holidays and paid trainings I got to 61 paid days off the same year…

[@tweety77hf]

I think the guy in the video is from the UK and moved to Germany. So as a german: i have friends at work, we spent our free times together and made two weeks holidays together. So depends how is the basic in the company. I have 35 days holidays in the year and yeah work-days ( so 7 weeks). Colleagues took 4 or 5 weeks for trips to the USA or Australia, but normally not more than 3,5 weeks at the time.

[@fritzkaraldo8452]

About Coffee. To quote the Beastie Boys "I Love my sugar with Coffee and cream"

[@annacornettnielsen7883]

I take 3 weeks in the summer one week in fall one week in winter and the last week i normaly spread out over spring. We have 6 weeks in Denmark. We can also move over week 5 and 6 to the next year. You also have the option to cash oud week 6. We also get Holliday of on top. But not if they fall on a weekend.

[@kathrintaraba3274]

No, we don't use all the days at once. We use them for summer holiday (2-3 weeks), Christmas time (1-2 weeks), and for days private necessary like anisvery.

[@Peter_Cetera]

30 workdays --> 6 weeks 🙂 And this guy is british not german

[@myfrankfurt]

It's 30 working days. Since weekends are off for most, it's 6 weeks. I had last year 4+ weeks for one trip. I left work on Dec 4th and was back in the office January 3rd. Considering 5 days off by law/company (Dec 24/25/26 and 31st/1st). In total I took 18 days of my 30. I STILL had 12 days left which I took for another 2.5 weeks off. I am working as a Senior Consultant for a major German company. You should do a Germany trip, fly to Frankfurt, I'll take you and your family around :)

[@Andyw1228]

I can’t imagine to go to work every day knowing that I will only have one week off at maximum! The 6 weeks (or more) vacancy per year is what motivates me to get up every day. The 2 or 3 weeks in holiday in Spain, France or elsewhere in the south is a must have plus 2 weeks around new year.

[@Holzhacker8167]

Sie sagä Wörter welke Gründ ? Leutä hab de der nahrungsproblem für Million nochmal Million ist de gründ ist passiert sie sagä Wörter mir nix vergessen

[@Andyw1228]

@@Holzhacker8167 sorry, ich verstehe kein Wort. Ist das ein schräger Dialekt?

[@Holzhacker8167]

@@Andyw1228 sie sagä Dialekt welke Gründ ? Ich bin hier kommt Bielefeld von de tiflis vor swanzig Jahre natürlick meinä deutsch nix perfekt

[@Holzhacker8167]

@@Andyw1228 verstehen sie mir ?

[@Andyw1228]

@@Holzhacker8167 ok, die letzten beiden Beiträge habe ich verstanden, aber den ersten kann ich nicht verstehen.

[@TheAxel65]

Correct! Paid vacation refers only to working days. In my company I even have 44 days of paid vacation per year. We've only ever had 30 days, but my company offered a special deal that means we now have 44 days of vacation per year: We only get paid for 7 hours of our workday, not 7.5. This unpaid half hour adds up to 14 days within a year, which we are offered as additional vacation. Due to a simultaneous increase in our standard wage, the net loss was 0 😃

[@McGhinch]

"Bildungsurlaub" (paid time off for education) is not necessarily work related. If the topic is an accepted topic for a "Bildungsurlaub" you are entitled to use it. Never forget, our productivity is also top notch despite our many days off work.

[@indiramichaelahealey5156]

A lot of companies also have flexible working hours. That means you have to be at work during core working hours. Before and after the core working hours you can come or leave when ever you want as long as you work your total hours on a daily, weekly or monthly basis.

[@xyfg692]

I’ve never heard that you wouldn’t make friends at work, I think everyone I know has made looooots of friends there

[@biloaffe]

In Germany, educational leave does not have to have anything to do with the job you do. There is a wide range of educational leave, so you can choose which educational topic you want.