NEED HELP! I am doing a speech and need to know some diff. between UK and US

Hey everyone
I am doing a speech and it is due very soon. I am really intersted in knowing the differences between working In England and working in the United States.
If someone could help me out, I will be so greatful!!
Amanda

What sort of differences are you looking for?

I'll start off by saying that there's a better work-life split in the UK with UK workers getting considerably more time off and being encouraged to actually take it!

I think it's going to be tough to find things that can generalize to working in either country rather than the specific company that one works for. I could name quite a few things that are different for me, but most are company specific or charity specific rather than UK specific, if that makes sense.

Vacation days! That's all I can think of.

In the US they do have a policy in most companies that allow husbands/wives to take a 'medical' leave if their SO is ill, and they have to take time off for appointments, care, etc.  It is unpaid, but there is no consequence of losing your job or seniority.   There is also a savings plan for medical care in some companies in the US, (sorry, can't remember the name of it) where you can put money aside for medical bills, and therefore is tax free.  As for vacation days or time off in the US, depends mostly on the job you have and whether you are salary or hourly.  If you are salary, quite often you have so many days in a year, and if you do not take them, they are lost, whereas for hourly, they carry over to the next year.

I found this web site that says employers must give employees four weeks paid vacation (that's awsome!) and it also says that an average working week is like 48 hours! Is this true?
Amanda

I think the average working week is more like 35 hours.
I've certainly never had a job here that required me to work more than that... 

And yeah... 20 days annual leave (plus bank holidays) is pretty standard, at least in my line of work (banks, financial services, etc).

There is also a savings plan for medical care in some companies in the US, (sorry, can't remember the name of it) where you can put money aside for medical bills, and therefore is tax free. 

Their is a similar program for transportation costs to and from work (i.e. - a monthly bus or train ticket) you can take it out of your paycheck pre-tax. Forget the name of it as well. As for working time, in my UK company its 37.5 hrs per week but if you only work that it is a bit frowned upon so the average is 45-50 hrs per week. As for holiday time, its 23 days the first five yrs and then goes up to 25 after that. Yes, they are cool about when you want to take it, even if you just start a job and want to take time off...no worries about feeling you have to be there a while before you can do so.

35 hours a week for me and 25 days annual leave. I'm discouraged from working more than 35 hrs. and can take any overtime as time off in lieu.... But then I work for a charity and so there's a work-life balance policy in place....

In the US they do have a policy in most companies that allow husbands/wives to take a 'medical' leave if their SO is ill, and they have to take time off for appointments, care, etc.  It is unpaid, but there is no consequence of losing your job or seniority.   There is also a savings plan for medical care in some companies in the US, (sorry, can't remember the name of it) where you can put money aside for medical bills, and therefore is tax free.  As for vacation days or time off in the US, depends mostly on the job you have and whether you are salary or hourly.  If you are salary, quite often you have so many days in a year, and if you do not take them, they are lost, whereas for hourly, they carry over to the next year.

Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) is the one that allows you to take time off to care for an ill family member. It also covers many other things like pregnancy or giving fathers time off to bond with their newborns. FMLA is now paid in California in the same way disability is paid.

The savings plan you are referring to is the 125c plan (also called the Cafeteria Plan and the Flexible Spending Plan) and is especially great if you know you're going to have high out-of-pocket costs that year (maybe you're planning a surgery) or if you've got a kid(s) in daycare.

Can you tell I worked in HR? lol

The most important (only jokin) thing to know about working in the UK...

In the US, when it's your birthday, your work colleagues club together and buy you a cake.
In the UK, when it's your birthday, you buy your own cake(s) and treat your colleagues.
Also, when you come back from holiday, it's customary to bring back a bag of sweeties from wherever you've been to treat your colleagues.

 

hehehe I can't resist!!

In the USA - You work to live....

In the UK - You live to work....


Sums things up quite nicely! 

Dennis! West London UK!!

I was quite surprised about how when you start a job they give your holiday days straight away. Like others mentioned,in the US you have to work a certain amount of years to be able to  get it.
Dales employer is always encouraging him to take them. I think he gets about 20 a year.
Also what is cool,is that when you quit a job,you don't have to work the whole year to get all the holiday pay. My SIL recently quit her job,and they sent her,her last paycheck with all her remaining holiday days that she hasn't took yet.

yeah, it's been a long time since i worked in the US, but i seem to remember there was always some huge issue around actually getting to take your annual leave days.   

yeah, it's been a long time since i worked in the US, but i seem to remember there was always some huge issue around actually getting to take your annual leave days.   

i never took all mine.  it was seen as a badge of honour in the corporate legal department to not take days off. 

glad that's all behind me now.

The most important (only jokin) thing to know about working in the UK...

In the UK, when it's your birthday, you buy your own cake(s) and treat your colleagues.
 

I remember being so surprised about this? I felt like a complete dork the first time I did it and had to send an email out to my floor (didnt know many people then), to me it was like "hey, please come and have some cakes with me".  I know its normal here but I really felt silly.
 
Because I think its nice to treat someone on their birthday rather than them going to the store to buy "cakes", I tried to reverse it this year with six folks that sit near me.....it didn't work  while the women knew the drill........I couldn't keep the men straight about it....I had to remind them when it was their turn to bring the cakes in for the next persons bday. It was too much so we reverted back the British way..... Everyone was happy about it...including me!