Burned Out & Exploited: Why Americans Are Moving to Germany for Work
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- čas přidán 22. 05. 2024
- Looking at how Germany and the USA treat types of "leave", there is one universal truth: whereas Germany sees it as a basic human right, America sees it as a commercial bargaining chip... and the statistics in this video SHOCKED us.
Looking at our contracts, our employment in Germany is so much more humane - with a work-culture that guarantees vacation time, maternity leave, sick leave, parental leave and more for all full-time workers.
Episode 51 | #lifeinGermany #workInGermany in Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany | Filmed March 30th , 2022
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Quick jump to your favorite section:
00:00 Intro
02:24 The Name of the Game
05:04 Vacation Time (Earn it, Use it or Lose it)
12:27 Whatever you do, Don't get Sick
19:05 Which US States have Maternity Leave?
23:33 Parental Leave: America vs. Germany
26:59 We Need Your Help
30:01 We STRUGGLED to Say This.
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Originally from the Midwest of the USA, we moved to the #blackforest in 2013 and quickly embraced #expatlife. As American expats living in #Germany, things weren't always easy, but we've grown to love our life in Germany. We started this #travelvlog to share our experiences with friends and family, and to help those who are interested in moving overseas! Whether you are interested in moving abroad, working abroad, studying abroad, raising a family abroad, or just want to #traveleurope, we're here to give you a first person look at what lies ahead. 😊🎥🌎
I think it is important to note that the benefits we enjoy in germany did not just fall from the heavens, but they are the results of many decades of struggle by the workers movement. Do not take these things for granted! Join the union and vote for worker-friendly parties.
Absolutely!!
Totally true. All we have is here because others worked and sometimes suffered for it.
When the coal miners in my native Ruhr area went on strike for an eight hour workday - INCLUDING all transfer inside the mine - and lost, many active union members found themselves on the Black Lists . They never got a job on any mine in the region, because the mine owners exchanged those lists. That was just over 100 years ago. It was the perseverance of the unions that at last made the eight hour shift reality.
I myself come from a working-class family,I still know all the stories of my grandfathers and great-grandfathers and mothers,who ended up in prisons and even in concentration camps partly because of their activities in the socialist democratic labour movement.all these labour and family rights have been hard-won and I am proud of the courage of many workers who did this with a lot of sacrifices.even if I am not a communist, one should never forget that one owes much to the ideas of karl marx. czcams.com/video/FV9dXEFP-Hk/video.html
Very important factor!
I belonged to a good union in America (CWA) during my working years, and now have a decent retirement because of it. But I despair for younger workers because of the decline of unions, and corporate propaganda that considers “socialism” a swear word identical to Marxism.
Before every American now starts to look for a job in Germany, keep in mind, that this is not uniquely German. Nearly all European countries have similar regulations like Germany, sometimes a little less, sometimes even significantly better.
Definitely true! We hope in the future to provide more information on other European countries, however at the moment we are not very familiar with the details.
I think you will get better treatment in all the other anglosphere countrys canada australia uk new zealand
@@TypeAshton here are quite some numbers in that video :
America Compared: Why Other Countries Treat Their People So Much Better
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Similar here in Norway. We have 5 weeks of paid holidays a year, and get an addition week more after turning 60 years of age
Logically, by pure economics and reason, a worker will need to be paid less by productive hour to be compensated for non-work. So getting paid vacation is just accepting that you will make less per productive hour. ARE YOU willing just to hand people money for doing nothing for you? like at a restaurant, for a product, for a car? you just go up and hand people money for doing NOTHING for you? No....
As a Norwegian I remember former president Trump telling our then prime minister he wanted more immigrants from Norway! 🤓 My immediate thought was: Why should I go there to work? Numerically salaries are higher, but they have to cover so much I get for "free" here. It's simply a bad deal!
I'd think the same - however, it wouldn't be forbidden to negotiate individual terms with a truly interested employer... once they overcome their surprise.
Ah, yeah, robbing your neighbors is "free" to the uncivilized world.
you don't "get it for free". You pay for it through higher taxes. Socialism
That's why European economies have no backbone or social mobility.
Of course I know I pay for it through taxes, my point tough: If you compare my tax bill with what U.S citizens pay in taxes and add the costs of medical insurance, we are better off.
On social mobility: Even the U.K a traditionally deemed class society, has more of it than the U.S. Mainly due to more affordable education. Same goes for all the Scandinavian countries and Germany. Also growth in BNP annually considerably higher when I looked into comparable statistics on this matters some years ago.
I left California behind in 2007 and found exactly where I belong. I'm in a small French village on the edge of the Mediterranean. The differences between America and the EU are tremendous and I am so grateful for them.
The worker abuse in America is sick and twisted. I cannot wait to leave this country. *Edit* My mom also worked up to the day of my birth. Fortunately she worked at a hospital at the time but still she shouldn't have had to. Especially when she suffers from a heart murmur.
Should mention that this is not in "America" as a whole, but just in the US. Canada, for example, fares far better in this respect.
@@hennagaijin7856 idk. I already have my passport. But I’ll have to update that soon. I’ll also need a visa.
In Germany it's illegal for pregnant women to work in health care. To protect the mother. And yes, she is compensated.
16:20 there are some pretty good videos about those "feel good stories" that so many Americans love to hear and that make the news all the time. If a child starts a lemonade stand to earn money to pay for his friend that needs surgery, then the news shouldn't be "Child starts business to help friend in need", the news should be "Child about to die because first world country refuses to provide affordable public healthcare"
Yes, this. I also think many Americans believe that GoFundMe accounts are 100 percent normal, where in other countries they are unheard of. 2/3s of all bankruptcy in the US occur because of medical debt.
Yes, the big attraction of Germany for many Americans is the more amount of time you get ro sit on your ass and how much sh*t the givernment gives you.
By Medieval standards (I mean St Agustine, Aquinas, etc.) Charity should fill the cracks of Justice, not the other way round. What happens in the US, purportedly the richest country un the world would scandalize Church's fathers and would condemn those Who preach against social safety net as heretics to be excommunicated. There IS no alternative to social Justice, period.
Logically, by pure economics and reason, a worker will need to be paid less by productive hour to be compensated for non-work. So getting paid vacation is just accepting that you will make less per productive hour. ARE YOU willing just to hand people money for doing nothing for you? like at a restaurant, for a product, for a car? you just go up and hand people money for doing NOTHING for you? No....
All that paid time off does not come "Free", wages during working hours are REDUCED to pay for it. A contract worker with no benefits can make $75/hour. that same worker as a direct with benefits makes $45/hour. So pay is reduced $30.hour to pay for the time off and insurance.
I knew of a woman who was having to take care of both of her sick elderly parents while working full time to help pay the mounting medical bills. She ended up not sleeping more than 4 hrs a night for many months. After more than a year she looked haggard and unkempt but her boss still required her to work through lunch and gave her extra work for the weekends even while the boss and her favorites would be taking 3 hr lunches after which she would walk in with this woman's very late lunch. When one of her favorites asked this woman how she was she answered that she was so exhausted she falls asleep while driving to work and that some days she just wishes she wouldn't wake up. Her boss hearing that had her fired. When asked why she said that the employee threatened violence and that is a termination offense. When asked who she threatened she was told herself. That suicide is violence. Now this woman NEVER said suicide but boss wanted to cut her losses since this woman could no longer do 2 peoples jobs at a time and had mentioned she wanted to get FMLA. The place of employment was a clinic. This is 100% true. I know because I am that woman.
I am so very sorry to hear that. I am also a nurse in the US and want to leave this country so bad.
I'm so sorry. 😭
@@cjcarver6290 We need nurses in Europe. There are online courses for learning German for medical staff. It is not the best paid job in Germany eather but still much much better than in the US. So come.
Wow, in some countries you can actually get a paid absence to care for an elderly relative, a bit like maternity leave.
I am sad and sorry about your situation. I could be you except that I have a son who doesn't work because he had a stroke and has mental issues, but is able to take care of my mother who had a stroke and is paralyzed. My husband is disabled also with a nerve disease (non curable). All of live together, the only way we could afford to live. The silver lining is that both me and my younger son are able to work full time, and through I had a stroke last year (they seem to run in the family), my manager and workplace were very understanding and supportive through my recovery. No one should have to go through what I D went through.
I learned my lesson with Canada. I am a German, who dreamed about moving to Canada all the years. Once I got there, I found myself as a hamster in a wheel. People were unhappy. The PR loves to sell Canada as a nice, tolerant place. The jobs I got were unskilled, payment was less ideal. I understand you guys. I left after a year because there was no perspective in Canada. To Germany. You can't work all day long. You need time off. In Canada, you are scrutinized and penalized when you dare to take time off. from warehouse "associate" to the software tester. I am very glad that you made it in Germany and have a better life here than there. Willkommen.
Oh dear, when was that?
I have always dreamed of emigrating to Canada and are almost relieved to hear that the grass is indeed greener on our side of the Atlantic.
Was this harassment for taking a leave the same for most people/ Canadians?
And how many days off do you have there per annum (in theory)?
I am Canadian. Canada is overrated. Go Australia, for better working standards. Canada sucks because of its proximity to the US and its anti worker culture. Our cities are also super ugly suburban nightmares.
Grom Netherlands I 100 percent agree about your Canada experience , as a European we feel spitefully dIminished , no reason to accept that , I also returned...HAPPY.
and by contrast Canada is an amazing place to live vs the US, so just imagine what you experienced x10!
I heard the same thing. If I did live in Canada I would stay with Quebec.
My company in Germany gave me an extra paid day off to move house. I just mentioned I was moving and my chefin said "oh, you know you can have a paid day off for that?" I didn't even know. And they signed it off with less than a weeks notice. The US "system"? It's worker exploitation, plain and simple.
The tragic thing is a lot of people in the US go to work sick, because they can't afford to take a sick day AND they won't go to the doctor because they can't afford whatever treatment he suggests because health insurance payments are through the roof. So people get sicker and sicker with no time to rest. The problem is the US does not have a health care system for the sick to get better, they have a health care industry for the rich to get richer. It's based on profit. And hard working American people are paying the price. Often with their lives.
And unfortunately this falls predominantly on low income families who cannot afford to be sick. We hope this video makes it to a larger US audience where they can see examples of where they could not only do better, but should do better.
😐😐😐😐this is so sad sorry for us people..this is slavery
Yep. I got hit by a car right after starting a new job. But I was an hourly contractor, so no health insurance. I couldn't see a doctor. I was going to work on crutches for three months before they finally gave me health insurance. Right in time for the pandemic. Turns out I needed surgery... took another 6 months to get it because COVID delayed operations. So, yeah. Nine months on crutches because of stupid American laws. And then I only had one week to recover from the surgery and spent a month working on my laptop in bed.
Worse, if the sickness is contagious. Working sick means you infect your colleagues.
Pssst...America is the SCHITHOLE Country you've Heard so much about.......here in MeriKKKa we ALLOW 50,000+ People to DIE Every Year for LACK of Healthcare & Medications that they CANT AFFORD.... .....here in MeriKKKa we have 100's of 1000's of Homeless and No One cares....here in MeriKKKa we have the MOST people LOCKED up than all countries combined... .....and almost half the Population believe in ANGELS.... All Republicans are the Enemy of America and anything decent to move our Nation forward! Corporate Dems are professional CRUMB givers....depending on what their OWNER-DONORS allow them to give.... CITIZENS UNITED / LEGAL BRIBERY is RUINING Our Democracy .......
An American recently wrote in a US newspaper: The Germans have everything we have plus a 4-week annual holiday. Not quite true. In addition there are Easter holidays 8 days, autumn holidays 10 days, some long weekends from Friday to Monday inclusive. In total you get almost 7 weeks.
We are a German/American family currently living in the US. I have been working for the same small business for the last 10 years. I work approximately 35 hours per week and have no, none, zilch benefits. My husband works for the federal government and has generous benefits. The unregulated range of PTO is huge. For the reasons you are stating we will be moving back to Germany next year with our 22 year old son who has now started a job in the US with a 50 hour week. Insane!
It really is so interesting just how HUGE of a difference in benefits workers can have, even in the same industry, just by going from one employer to the other. I think it is awesome that your husband has such great benefits, but it always has our heads scratching on why can't that be standard across the board? I hope your move to Germany goes well and you guys find the best opportunity here!
@@thejumper7282 so be fair small business do not need to comply with the very high standards in Germany either. Most of those job related laws only apply to business with 10 or more employees.
@@FactionalSky No, that is incorrect! The Federal Leave Act in Germany makes no difference between small and large companies. The health insurance does not make a difference either. All employees are treated the same by law.
Differences between small and large companies are due to the fact that the corporations almost always have a collective agreement of the union of their industry. This collective agreement always offers better, usually significantly better conditions than the statutory regulation. And the regulations in the collective agreements are also enforceable in court.
Many small companies are not in an employers' association in the industry to which they belong and, under certain conditions, are then not subject to any collective agreement that may exist for the industry. If there is a "generally binding collective agreement" in the industry, especially in the skilled trades where there are many small companies, then this applies to all companies in this industry, regardless of whether the company is large or small. It also applies regardless of whether the employer is a member of the employers' association that negotiated the collective agreement or not.
If you work in a company that is not bound by a collective agreement, at least the statutory regulations always apply, and they are the same for everyone as far as the topics in the video are concerned.
That's just not true. Small companies with not more than 10 employees or 10,25 full-time equivalents are exempt from many regulations or they have lower standards that they must meet. In a small company with less than 10,25 full-time equivalents, for example, there is no statutory protection against dismissal. There is also no legal entitlement to severance pay or any other benefit under the Employment Protection Act, as this does not apply to those small businesses. At most, the regulations of the German Civil Code and a few principles of so-called good manners apply. And the rest of what you say just doesn't matter. Things like that are my job, so don't try to lecture me.
@@FactionalSkyI have commented on the issue of leave law and health insurance, not on the issue of protection against dismissal. So don't accuse me of having made a statement, which I have not.
the pregnancy's rules in america, I can totally see the situation where a woman is so ready to give birth at work, water breaks and the manager say to her, "hey, you're gona clean that up before you go right?"
Then they'd follow up with "So you'll be back later to finish your shift, right?"
March 2015 I was diagnosed with cancer. Treatment took 1 year, recuperation took over another year. At some point your salary is reduced with a legal percentage, and so is your amount of vacation days. But I kept my job, and returned after this period of over 2 years. (I worked for the municipality of Rotterdam, the Netherlands).
And I figured: in the US I would have lost my job, subsequently would have been completely unable to pay my extensive medical bills, my mortgage would have been foreclosed - and I probably would have died.
I know of quite a few people who have gone bankrupt and had to ask for their neighbors to donate money to them because of cancer costs. Simply heartbreaking. We can and should do better in America.
So happy you better now.... we as a society have a duty to look after the sick and weak. In your case it paid off and I am happy 4 u 👍
If you had a government job in the US, you might not have lost it. Also, many companies in the US offer long term disability insurance, so that would have covered you, too
@@banicata why is your future survival attached or dependant on the type of job you have or don't have?
@@multirider8997 I'm not saying it's ideal, it's just not as dire as some people think it is
This hits home so much. Why I hate living in the US and am currently packing up to immigrate to the Netherlands. I had to deal with years of unpaid leave to deal with cancer treatments, relying on others generosity to donate their leave and having to work while sick just to have insurance to pay for only a fraction of the medical bill. I just turned 40 with 25 more work years in me and I refuse to live like this anymore. I want a supportive social and work environment. Plus I'm newly married and my hub wants a child. My condition is, sure, as long as it's in a different with good social healthcare and leave practices and won't be a US citizen. I don't want to encounter another crisis that makes me choose between being homeless or extended illness
I remember when I first started working for my company over 25 years ago, my boss had a business partner in Florida. This partner had handed over his company rules to my boss because my boss was interested in them. My boss asked me to translate those rules. And even though I had been married to an American for a few years, I was not prepared for these rules. They shocked me. The one sentence that stuck to my mind was "If you do not work, you do not get paid." The employees at this place received 3 days of PTO only after 5 years of service (none before that) and 7 days after 10 years... and here I was with 26 days of paid vacation, the right to stay home with a doctor's attestation whenever I was sick and get paid, etc. I still feel privileged. My ex-husband has seen the advantages, too: although we split up eventually, he never returned to the States besides on vacation to see his family.
Dankeschön Pumpkin!
Logically, by pure economics and reason, a worker will need to be paid less by productive hour to be compensated for non-work. So getting paid vacation is just accepting that you will make less per productive hour. ARE YOU willing just to hand people money for doing nothing for you? like at a restaurant, for a product, for a car? you just go up and hand people money for doing NOTHING for you? No....
All that paid time off does not come "Free", wages during working hours are REDUCED to pay for it. A contract worker with no benefits can make $75/hour. that same worker as a direct with benefits makes $45/hour. So pay is reduced $30.hour to pay for the time off and insurance.
@@pablopicaro7649 this is corporate BS
Pssst...America is the SCHITHOLE Country you've Heard so much about.......here in MeriKKKa we ALLOW 50,000+ People to DIE Every Year for LACK of Healthcare & Medications that they CANT AFFORD.... .....here in MeriKKKa we have 100's of 1000's of Homeless and No One cares....here in MeriKKKa we have the MOST people LOCKED up than all countries combined... .....and almost half the Population believe in ANGELS.... All Republicans are the Enemy of America and anything decent to move our Nation forward! Corporate Dems are professional CRUMB givers....depending on what their OWNER-DONORS allow them to give.... CITIZENS UNITED / LEGAL BRIBERY is RUINING Our Democracy .......
in my old company we often sent workers to the USA to set up our machines and set them up etc.sometimes for many months.of course they worked under the working conditions here in Germany .that you would go to the doctor there when you got sick and then stayed in the hotel when the doctor in the USA confirmed it.or you took vacation days there, especially if the work there took a very long time.one flew to Germany for the holiday or brought the family to the USA to go on holiday there.the astonishment was always very high with the American work colleagues when they noticed that even the assembly manager insisted that someone who "only" had a cold was sent back to the hotel to cure.or even more astonished, especially among the female employees, when a pregnant engineer said goodbye there 6 weeks before the due date for her maternity leave.and yet everything was always ready on time 😄
If you take time to rest, don't stress if hill, or even work less hour a week, you have in fact a better productivity.
There are a LOT of Jonathan's colleagues who are begging to come to the Germany office, just for the work life balance alone.
@@TypeAshton Why am I not astonished????--Sure it is a drastic change,but might be worth it!
With the US maternity pay only being available after birth is it any wonder the US maternal death rate is higher than Germany's.
The first job I received in Germany after finishing my masters (tuition was free, so that's an even bigger advantage over the US) HR said, you have to take 2 weeks off at least consecutively for vacation to recover. I looked at her like she was crazy and said, excuse me....you mean, I can't take 2 weeks consecutively, right? The emphasis on family time and keeping your mental sanity does not compare.
The thing with the law requiring you to take two weeks together is so to prevent abusive employers to force you to use your vacation days spread out, say between holidays and weekends.
When I had my first baby, I was working in retail for a cosmetics company in Germany. They had to provide a chair and stretcher for me to sit/ lie down at all times. I wasn't allowed to carry anything heavy and after 22 weeks of pregnancy wasn't allowed to work standing up for more than 4 hours a day. At every doctor's appointment, my OBGyn would ask me if I was still ok working or if they should give me a Beschäftigungsverbot (a kind of mandatory medical leave), which is fairly common in the last few months of pregnancy, especially for jobs that can be physically straining.
A friend who works as an ambulance paramedic was actually offered an alternative job for her pregnancies by her employer as she wouldn't have been allowed to carry the stretcher or help to lift patients. That way she could still work during her pregnancy. And there's an incentive for employers to offer this kind of deal because otherwise she'd just get paid leave or at least a doctor's notice that she isn't allowed to do anything that involves lifting.
Wow, this is incredible! It's so great how well you were treated in such an important time.
@@cinnamoon1455 nurses and doctors in a hospital are not allowed to work with contact to patients, when they are pregnant. And anyone working with children (teachers and daycare workers) are not allowed to work with the children either.
In these jobs, they have to do paperwork or stay at home.
@@jennyh4025 That's a myth!They must not do duties,that might endanger the child;like treating infectious diseases:they have an extended protection period before birth.but a positive pregnancy test,does not mean,you do desk duty,or stay home!
@@pebo8306 it’s what happened to every single nurse and doctor I know, who was pregnant. It may be just hospital policy, but they were in different hospitals in different cities and Bundesländer.
Hearing this, I hate to say this and I do not want to offend anybody, but: I am very, very glad that I did not stay in America. And I feel for all people who have to work under these conditions. I feel so privileged that I have such good work conditions here in Germany. Thank you for this video
This is balm for my soul!!
Don't get us wrong, there are wonderful things too about America - but there are so many areas where we can, and should do better. After having Jack, the maternity leave in the US is just so heartbreaking. It literally forces mothers to choose between making money so they can keep feeding their babies or bonding with their babies and healing from a major medical event.
You can not compare these countries. In America you can make serious money in contrast to Germany especially on a net basis, while the risks are higher you are required to take.
Logically, by pure economics and reason, a worker will need to be paid less by productive hour to be compensated for non-work. So getting paid vacation is just accepting that you will make less per productive hour. ARE YOU willing just to hand people money for doing nothing for you? like at a restaurant, for a product, for a car? you just go up and hand people money for doing NOTHING for you? No....
All that paid time off does not come "Free", wages during working hours are REDUCED to pay for it. A contract worker with no benefits can make $75/hour. that same worker as a direct with benefits makes $45/hour. So pay is reduced $30.hour to pay for the time off and insurance.
So Americans this all comes down to laws passed and voting counts! Find out what your state and federal representatives stand for, do they have your better interests at heart or not. Thanks for the informative video. I am an American living in Switzerland and I feel my American friends and family do not know what is possible and how they can push for change.
Based on the fact that the American election system basically forces candidates to collect money it puts them into the pockets of companies. As such they have to "pay them back somehow". Which makes changes unlikely. Also in the worst-case companies will start yelling "socialism" and everybody will scatter red-headed.
You nailed it, Susan! If you don`t know what is possible how could you ask for it?
Very true. It’s been hard to get leave established federally because our politicians continue to think that established and separated paid time off and pay is Socialism. The donor leave, is why I never donated thinking what if I donated and then I need it the following year die to a serious illness.
We certainly hope videos like this will gain some traction in the United States and inspire some change and show perspective. Unfortunately the algorithm has not been showing our videos in the states too much.
It's also a form of Stockholm Syndrome. I have family in the USA and they know about the labor conditions in Europe, but they'll shrug because that's just the way it is over there.
And people ask me when I'm moving back to America lmao... even in the UK we have many similar protections to what you've laid out here... 25 days annual leave usually, theoretically unlimited sick time, extended maternity leave, etc. And if they make a bunch of the company redundant, they have to do a consultation and likely pay out some amount of severance, they can't just throw people to curb overnight because the shareholders are greedy this week. :)
I have known about this disparity my whole life. I have family that lives in Nuremberg and like clock work. They would come to the US for vacation for about a month every other year growing up. Them and thier sons have seen SO much more of my own country than me it's funny. Americans accept such a bad deal in terms of work when compared to other countries it should be criminal. Seriously, most Americans don't have the slightest idea how much it sucks here when compared to other MUCH LESS rich countries. How anyone can willingly vote for anyone to the right of Bernie Sanders is really beyond me. Anyway great video, 👍
America is debunked from A to Z...looove my life in the so called " Old Continent" , I rather call it "wiser" , yes I know the derogatory reflexes , but face it "whát do you guys really knów about us Europeans"
This is largely because of your trained antisocialism. If workers go on the street to fight for their rights,doesn't have nothing to do with communism! Thats human rights.
Germany is 4 in world economy !
@rosemarie brown yes and the US is 1st and has been since about 1890. What's your point?
@madchiller123 point is how many people go bankrupt for med. bills ! I do not know 1 person here that goes bankrupt for med. bills !
here is you a heartwarming story from a (then) young german traveling the US and staying in a small motel on the side of the interstate, some time in the late 80s. I met the friendly owner of the motel when i checked in, and later we got to talking. He was curious what some young dude from germany was doing in the US. I ended up learning that he had retired a couple of years prior and moved to Florida where he bought a condo to live out his old age with his wife of 40+ years. Well, she got cancer. they could not afford the cost of treatment and hospital stays, so he sold the condo, bought a small motel on the side of the interstate where he then worked to pay for his wife's care and treatment. He felt good about taking care of his wife and he hoped that he could do this until they both died. he was 75 or so at the time we spoke. This story of this little old man stuck with me, and occasionally i wonder what their retirement could have looked like had they lived in Germany instead. As i am writing this, my mother has cancer, she is 79, and will probably live a couple of more years, without worrying about her healthcare cost, or the cost of my father who is in a personal care home with dementia.
I'm really sorry to hear about your parents and hope that they are doing well despite the cancer diagnosis and dementia. That has to be an incredible amount to carry as their son. I am happy, however, to hear that they are able to receive quality care without the risk of losing their home and taking on extra employment. The story you shared of the man you met is all too common in the US.
I was once working voluntarily for some time on a farm in Hawaii. The owners of the farm were a couple in their 60ies, both without health insurance. As I asked the woman "What would you do if you get diagnosed with a disease that requires expensive treatment?", she just said: "Well, then I guess I'd have to die. But that's nature, in the wild, sick animals have to die as well." They were both looking forward to their 65th birthday because apparently your 65th comes along with basic health insurance and coverage of basic expenses.
Stop right there: any Pflegeheim is extremely costly in Germany and has to be paid for by the closest relatives, mostly by the adult children.
And they take all of your income that exceeds a certain limit which is quite low, especially for unmarried adult children.
A few years ago the limit for what the government let you keep in that case was 1500 or 1600 Euro per month- the rest of your income goes completely and directly for payment or the care home.
So please stop telling people it’s all free!
@@Celisar1 i am not sure you read the post. we are not talking nursing home or personal care home, we are talking literally about the cost of lifesaving cancer treatment. If you think germany is expensive for a personal care home, i invite you to research the cost in the US.
@@Celisar1 Is that really true? I'm asking, because in Austria this is all paid for by the federal state in case an elderly person's pension does not suffice. In the past, there was a certain amount to be paid by children or close relatives, but this has been cancelled. Now the federal state is paying the difference.
I am an American who lived 37 years in Germany. Early on I attended language courses at the Goethe Institute and paid a private tutor to assist me with pronunciation. That was well worth whatever I spent on it. It's a way to avoid being quickly identified as an Auslaender -- which was important to me. I love your videos.
Thank you very much for your youtube contributions!
I am German, but I describe myself more as an European who lives in Germany. Because I am very proud of what our parents achieved during the last decades in Europe. As more as you have chosen Europe and even morel Germany 😉 as your adopted country. I see it as a confirmation that we are doing some things right in Europe. By far not everything is going well for us either! Some things are even going very badly, but we have the chance and the right to continuously name and adjust this step by step. That is our highest good!
However, the last few years (and weeks) also have shown that democratic social systems like yours and ours are very fragile which need to be nurtured and cared for every day anew. That's why I find your contributions so important. Not only to point out the differences, but also to help the viewer to reorient himself again and again. Because all too often the achievements of our parents are taken for granted!
But why can we afford all this?
Quite simply because, we pay for it and we pay for it as a community.
That is like the principle of community insurance.
Everyone in the world has one thing in common, we all want to be able to live our lives in peace, healthy and in the best possible prosperity. But this is not possible if everyone thinks only of themselves.
Because I am convinced of it, a society must be measured by how it treats its weakest members.
Maybe that's the biggest difference between the societies in the USA and Europe. In the USA, the individual's own commitment is rated very highly. With the negative consequence that many people who cannot keep up here end up on the social sidelines with all its consequences for society.
In Europe, although individual's own is also honored but social support has a much higher value. With the negative consequence that the system is exploited. With side effects to the society too.
As you can see, both variants have their advantages and disadvantages and must therefore be continuously adapted.
Why do we have such a comprehensive social system in Europe?
I think we in Europe had to learn in a painfully way after the years of the Second World War, that it is important to support each other. But we also had to learn, that individual support quickly reaches its limits. The only way out was to distribute the burden (for example reconstruction after the war) on all shoulders of the community. As always, when something is decided, there are not only supporters of such measures. But from today's point of view we were lucky and our governments at that time, together with the USA, created the necessary legal framework. It quickly became apparent that it worked, and so the legal framework of mutual social support was successively expanded. With the result that Europe is seen as one of the most attractive places to live on our small ball. Yes, i am happy to live in europe too.
Please continue in exactly the same way. You are doing a great job!
Personally, I would like to see you not only to point out the differences in the future. I would really appreciate to point out why all this is possible and what a society must be willing to give and to invest that all this is possible.
Take care and all the best for your family…!
Einer für Alle,
Alle für Einen!
Der Grundgedanke in einem Satz..
Danke, du hast es gut beschrieben!
Auch ich fühle mich als deutscher Europäer und danke den Gründungsmenschen der Europäischen Union!
Es ist wunderbar, in einem 'grenzenlosen' Europa leben und arbeiten zu können!
LG aus Hamburg
Thank you so much for this comment. In the future, we hope to have videos "build" upon one another, where the content becomes more and more deep with each episode. The trouble is that so many of these issues or items that we point out have also become so deeply embedded in various institutions.
Take socialized housing, for example. The current status in the US is not only due to historical failures of public housing (Pruitt Igoe) but also developments in Tax Code, federal spending, and social constructs of property valuation.
We are always trying to strike a balance between entertainment, education, and time - sometimes we get it right, sometimes, not so much. But we really appreciate your feedback.
What a breakdown. Thanks for the comment.
Gives even me as a German something to think about.
This is great. I'm an American software engineer and in my travels throughout Europe there's a number of differences, but one difference that seems prevalent in most European countries is with the people themselves - they are happy, content, and relatively humble about it compared to us Americans. I mean, software engineers there don't make the same amount I'm making here in the U.S. but they get more bang for their buck so to speak. Better social welfare like free or nearly free university, cheaper food prices (most places), better/higher quality food is far more par for the course there than here, they don't worry about going to hospital because at most they may a couple Euros for the same treatments that costs us thousands of dollars. The people move at a slower pace and I don't mean this in a bad way, it's like they're comfortable with life and are more intent on enjoying the moment versus rushing to somewhere.
I can work remotely for U.S. wages while reaping many benefits of European life which for me is quite good.
It's just really sad how the U.S. treats work, treats people, and life in general compared to many of our European friends. I'm aware of many of the reasons for it, but I can't help thinking we could still improve and learn from Germany, from the UK, France, Norway, the Netherlands, etc.
I have full health coverage, but I still worry about "what if I get into a car accident?" or "what if I get slip on the ice?" - worried from a financial sense, not even about my own health.
See? There is THE difference. I, as an European -- in case of accident -- would worry about my own health and NOT about financial stuff. Why? Because I don't have to. I will not lose my job, and don't even will get bankrupt if have to be in a hospital some months. ... So yeah, move over there -- it is worth it. I mean what you cannot buy with this little bit more money you may earn in the US is ...time. You even trade your limited time to have some more bucks, that you cannot enjoy because you have no time left to do so! That is just insane!
Logically, by pure economics and reason, a worker will need to be paid less by productive hour to be compensated for non-work. So getting paid vacation is just accepting that you will make less per productive hour. ARE YOU willing just to hand people money for doing nothing for you? like at a restaurant, for a product, for a car? you just go up and hand people money for doing NOTHING for you? No....
All that paid time off does not come "Free", wages during working hours are REDUCED to pay for it. A contract worker with no benefits can make $75/hour. that same worker as a direct with benefits makes $45/hour. So pay is reduced $30.hour to pay for the time off and insurance.
@@pablopicaro7649 No, you're coming at this from the US perspective - which simply does not apply to Europe. The "no benefits"-case simply does not exist over here - so that distinction is completely pointless for comparing the US to Europe.
Also: if you add up all the federal, state, and county taxes, plus private insurance premiums, plus out-of-pocket expenses, US citizens actually pay _way_ more than Europeans for a comparable standard of living.
It's about how you organize a society. In Europe it is accepted, or should one say it is expected, that the state, if not providing basic services, at least organizes them. This applies, for example, to pension insurance and the health care system, i.e. health insurance and care allowance insurance. And, which is not understood in the US, the costs are not collected as taxes but are income-related contributions. The money flows into a large pot from which the costs are then paid. This is where Americans often despair, because they are afraid of possibly paying for something that others could benefit from. Instead of being happy about their own health and being proud to support those who are not fortunate enough, they complain and feel exploited. A mistake in reasoning from a European point of view. And it never ceases to amaze that a certain interest group in the US manages to keep these urban legends alive.
The rewards for Europeans are largely equalized societies with relatively few social differences. This is intentional. In the US, extreme social differences even seem intentional. It often strikes me as cynicism when poor living conditions are propagated as part of the freedom to shape one's own life. These people do not ask themselves the question of what effective options one has for shaping one's life.
I could write hundreds of lines here. For example, about the school and university system in Germany compared to US and, partly, CDN and UK. Nobody in this country starts their working life with a mountain of debt. The state bears the costs of education. In the USA that would be socialism again.
If it wasn't so sad you could laugh out loud.
And socialism is the same as communism 😆
That’s what is taught in USA
Logically, by pure economics and reason, a worker will need to be paid less by productive hour to be compensated for non-work. So getting paid vacation is just accepting that you will make less per productive hour. ARE YOU willing just to hand people money for doing nothing for you? like at a restaurant, for a product, for a car? you just go up and hand people money for doing NOTHING for you? No....
All that paid time off does not come "Free", wages during working hours are REDUCED to pay for it. A contract worker with no benefits can make $75/hour. that same worker as a direct with benefits makes $45/hour. So pay is reduced $30.hour to pay for the time off and insurance.
@@ProctorsGamble well CRITICAL THINKERS KNOW the Diff. - Pssst...America is the SCHITHOLE Country you've Heard so much about.......here in MeriKKKa we ALLOW 50,000+ People to DIE Every Year for LACK of Healthcare & Medications that they CANT AFFORD.... .....here in MeriKKKa we have 100's of 1000's of Homeless and No One cares....here in MeriKKKa we have the MOST people LOCKED up than all countries combined... .....and almost half the Population believe in ANGELS.... All Republicans are the Enemy of America and anything decent to move our Nation forward! Corporate Dems are professional CRUMB givers....depending on what their OWNER-DONORS allow them to give.... CITIZENS UNITED / LEGAL BRIBERY is RUINING Our Democracy .......
@@pablopicaro7649 Productivity, does not rise lineary with working hours, thats been proven. Simply we are not machines. A scandinavian company started a trial with 4 working days a week. The productivity with one day less at work climbed to 8%. Japan with the most working hours has the worst productivity...and very very unsatisfied employees...why? Personally being a sales manager in the biotech field, I can tell my boss after 4 hours of work, that i go for a run or a nap. He does not care, as long I hit target, I can do what I want. You should give people money for doing nothing and have a life (unlike in the US) and recover. I am working for a US company. They would not DARE to offer less than 30 days to european employees, which are all PhDs and make 6 figures as base salary + bonus.The latter will be enough to figure out for themselves how they perform best.
We have the trade unions to thank for many of these legal regulations. For example, in 1956/57 there was a 16-week strike in the Schleswig-Holstein metal industry over continued payment of wages in the event of illness. Many regulations that were initially laid down in the collective agreement were later regulated by law.
YES! I think this would be such a cool topic for a future video.
This is another huge blemish on the American Image of Land of the free... 10 Days Off that are also sick leave is a lot more like modern slavery.
A pregnant woman required working Up to the last hour is just wrong...
We hope videos like ours can at least provide some perspective and inspire change.
Totally agree. But it's's not just morally wrong. Not protecting expecting parents is a threat to the whole society. Just like not providing free education and health care. The most important resource of the society - the work force - is left to the sole responsibility of the individual (who alone is powerless) and free market (which is blind to the welfare of the society as a whole). This is what US Americans often do not understand. It is not just welfare for the lazy and poor ones. A good government protects the children and their parents to raise good people, educate them to good workers and protect their work force by good work laws. The individual extent of welfare is debatable. But it's absolutely necessary for the economic development and public welfare of a society. This cannot be achieved by the free market, as it has major flaws and creates undisirable development. And you know it of you paid attention in your macroeconomics class - even our FDP (liberal democrats in Germany) knows that.
ridiculous exaggerations
@@pablopicaro7649 please elaborate on your Statement. I can't pick up any sarcasm from your 2 words
Hi neighbors! In the Czech Republic, we have maternity leave for 36 weeks: 6-8 prior to the birth and then the rest. And similarly to Germany, we have then parental leave (for mum or dad) for up to 3 years of the child's age. We are entitled to get a certain amount during the paternity leave, and we choose for how long we want to get the money (so if you want to stay at home for one year, you will have a larger monthly allowance than if you want to stay for three years). And yes, your position is protected, but only if you have a full-time job and you don't have a one-year contract.
Just a little correction: The "Bundesurlaubsgesetz" (German Federal Leave Act) dates from a time, when the work week had been usually 6 days long. Hence the 24 day of paid vacation as a required minimum (4 weeks * 6 days = 24 days off). Today the work week is only 5 days long, therefore the legal minimum of paid vacation is 20 days (4 weeks). Most employers will grant more than the legal minimum, f.e. 25 days (5 weeks)
All that paid time off does not come "Free", wages during working hours are REDUCED to pay for it. A contract worker with no benefits can make $75/hour. that same worker as a direct with benefits makes $45/hour. So pay is reduced $30.hour to pay for the time off and insurance.
@@pablopicaro7649 the only difference is who is to pay the social insurance (and the paid time off). If you're a contract worker you have to pay the insurance by yourself so the net-income will be remarkably lower than your gross paid hours. And since there's no employment in the first place, there can't be paid days off. I see no disadvantage in being employed, paying into the social security system and being able to profit from it's benefits.
The minimum is 30 days, nobody works for less. Yes, it would be theoreticly possible to offer 20, you would be laughed at and nobody would apply.
@@solidpain9098 that might be your opinion but that's not a fact. Even some union rates start with 25 days for the first two years of employment, then 27, 29 and up to 30. (I'm a staff executive by the way and yes, I do have 30 days of paid vacation)
@@pablopicaro7649
You really spreading your bullshit everywhere.
The minimun vacation time of 24 days is calculated at a 6 day week. Minimum vacation by law is 4 weeks.
Same in France. So taking two weeks off "cost" you 12 days. Here, when you work, you save a minimum of 2.5 days of paid leave by month. The minimum is 5 weeks per year.
You really make the US sound like a third world country regarding leave days. Keep up the good work to educate your fellow Americans.
Sadly it kinda is it's not the land of the free far from it Europe is so much better period.
Yes it is when coming to social issues. I suspect many people in the U.S. mistake "social" with "socialism". And it's to the unions to work for these really important things as they did here in Europe.
I would say a full-on corporatocracy.
@@michasan6145 Exactly! This mindless fear of anything a bit regulated especially in the social sector is insane - sadly, literally insane.
It don't just sound like it, it is a failed state. A state that allows the weak to be exploited is antisocial. From the minimum wage, no one can afford an apartment. Nowhere. Try living on $7.25 per hour minimum wage in Texas for example. Without health insurance. Without pension insurance. Without protection against dismissal. I don't even want to start with how prison inmates are treated. It is disgusting!
Ich schlage das Friedensfest in Augsburg/Bayern vor. Auf der Suche nach den meisten Feiertagen in Deutschland sollte man nach Augsburg ziehen. Bayern hat die meisten Feiertage und Augsburg setzt mit dem Friedensfest noch einen drauf. Nachdem der Feiertag am 8. August normalerweise in den Sommerferien ist haben Schüler leider nichts davon...
I’ve been here in Germany for 23 years, and this is one of several reasons why I couldn’t imagine moving back to the United States.
Speaking about holidays, while it might not count as one of the most obscure holidays, the situation about Maria Himmelfahrt in Bavaria is somewhat strange. It is only given to employees who live in predominantly Catholic parts of Bavaria. So, when we moved from Würzburg to Nürnberg, I lost one paid holiday. Also, it is a good day to avoid going shopping in Nürnberg because loads of people from the surrounding Catholic areas descend on Nürnberg, the one place in the area where stores are open. My wife works in a small satellite office. As the main office is in Munich, her boss recently decided to give my wife and her colleague this day off as well.
Another difference between my wife and me regarding holidays is Christmas Eve and New Years Eve. My wife has both days off completely (öffentlicher Dienst), and each is a 1/2 day off for me (IG Metall). She also gets 1/2 day off each for her birthday and Faschingsdienstag. So depending on what day of the week each of these lands on, my wife gets up to 3 more days off per year. We both have 30 days paid vacation per year. While we’re at it: another difference is that I get a 50% pay supplement for each day vacation taken. My wife’s employer previously awarded vacation days on a sliding scale, not based on duration of employment, but age. Since I guess you can call us “middle aged,” she started out with the 30 day top end of the scale, whereas her twenty something colleague had less. This was deemed to be discriminatory by the court, and her younger colleague was immediately bumped up to 30 days vacation as well.
Depending where you live you have a few holidays more or less. Like some Bundesländer have the 31.10. as an holiday, because of Martin Luther. Other Bunderländer don't have it, since the catholic side had more influence there. So you have the state-holidays and the church-holidays. The holidays set by the state are everywhere the same. The church holidays can differ. like is it more catholic or evangelic where you are living.
You lost one holiday but gained another. Predominantly catholic parts have Maria Himmelfahrt, predominantly protestant parts have something else (can't remember what).
@@realulli actually, no. We have exactly one holiday less than in Würzburg or Munich. I should know: we moved from Würzburg to Nürnberg, and my wife’s employer has one office in Nürnberg and one in Munich. Augsburg is the only other exception: on 8 August, Friedensfest is a legal holiday there.
@@Netreek we do have it good in Bavaria. 8 Bundesländer have 10 holidays, 6 have 11, Baden Württemberg and Bavaria 12. The predominantly Catholic parts of Bavaria have 13 and Augsburg has the most in Germany with 14.
This leads to some strange situations: I grew up near Schweinfurt, which, for a very long time, was predominantly Protestant. So, on Assumption Day, we would not have time off, while the Catholic pupils at our school would also only return to school on Ash Wednesday during the second or third lesson, after mass (which, for us Protestants, was actually chilled, as the teachers would not do much in those first two lessons with half the class absent).
It came as a bit of a surprise when, having moved back to Lower Franconia a few years ago, we found that no, we could no longer go shopping in Schweinfurt on Assumption Day, as the makeup of the population had obviously changed [curse those Catholics for mulitplying faster than us ;)]. However, the town of Kitzingen turned out to have an - ever so small - protestant majority, which meant that it was ABSOLUTELY heaving, as half the districts of Würzburg, Schweinfurt and Kitzingen decided that shopping was better than celebrating the Assumption of Mary.
I'm always disgusted, when I find people actually defending the US system. Most times it turns out, quite expectedly, that those are people in a strong bargaining position, so they can get most of those benefits from their respective company.
However, there is still an astonishingly high number of people, who clearly do NOT benefit from the US system at all, that will still defend it based on patriotism (?) or a general aversion to anything associated with communist ideas. As someone who tries to base most oft his decisions on rationality, I'm utterly flabbergasted by that attitude.
It's a large percentage of American's who will defend how things are simply because that's how they are. They have their 'reasons' however they are often not fact.
All that paid time off does not come "Free", wages during working hours are REDUCED to pay for it. A contract worker with no benefits can make $75/hour. that same worker as a direct with benefits makes $45/hour. So pay is reduced $30.hour to pay for the time off and insurance.
they're the Idiots whom constantly Vote against their own Interests because Jesus, God, Gays and Guns ..Racism or some such Republican Lead BULLSCHIT Pssst...America is the SCHITHOLE Country you've Heard so much about.......here in MeriKKKa we ALLOW 50,000+ People to DIE Every Year for LACK of Healthcare & Medications that they CANT AFFORD.... .....here in MeriKKKa we have 100's of 1000's of Homeless and No One cares....here in MeriKKKa we have the MOST people LOCKED up than all countries combined... .....and almost half the Population believe in ANGELS.... All Republicans are the Enemy of America and anything decent to move our Nation forward! Corporate Dems are professional CRUMB givers....depending on what their OWNER-DONORS allow them to give.... CITIZENS UNITED / LEGAL BRIBERY is RUINING Our Democracy .......
@@pablopicaro7649 while that's partly true, it's totally besides the point, even less so with imaginary numbers.
Yes, actual net pay is reduced by our system, everyone's aware of that. Not in the least because neo-'liberalists' won't stop complaining about it.
Mostly, it's a solidarity system, to prevent people from being additionally punished for already suffering from an illness.
However, this would probably not exist to the extend it does, if companies didn't profit somehow, too. Your contractor going to work even if he's sick can potentially shut down a whole company for a time. The worker returning from a week of vacation will bring an increased productivity back to work.
Finally, let's work with your imaginary numbers a bit. Your contract worked will need a private health insurance, taking a good chunk out of his 75$. He needs to take into account every day he won't be working. Some of it voluntary - vacations count double, as not only will you have to pay for accomodations, but also not earn anything during that time, which is hugely stressful (been there) - some involuntary. That broken leg will really set you back. And will it heal cleanly, if you're forced to rush back to work prematurely?
@@pablopicaro7649 That might be true _within_ the US, but it simply isn't the case when comparing the US to Europe. The ratio between income and expenses is much better in Europe; in other words: Europeans - on average - have more money left in their pockets at the end of the day (plus time to actually enjoy life with that money).
Living in Germany. We had two children 14 months apart. My wife took 6 years off from her full time job during the first 5 and 6 years of the kids life. 4 of the years she got about 2/3s of her net salary. Bavaria extends the 1 year federal regulation to two. We decided she should take it all and I would work as normal as my income loss would be higher. On top we got Kindergeld for each little monster.
When I speak to family, friend and colleagues back in the US they either A) don’t believe it or think the country will go bankrupt, or B) that we pay 90% taxes to support all this.
Not familiar with the US but do you Pay less Taxes in the US?
@@kalterverwalter4516 you pay less taxes... then you pay for healthcare and other services with your salary after tax, which in the end leaves you poorer after all.
The US method to finance this is short sighted and inefficient in the long term.
@@juanjosedelrio Wow That sucks I am sorry to hear That. I Wish you the best and more Importantly Change.
@@kalterverwalter4516 In short, no. But many Americans, only look at the surface and think that Germans pay a lot more. I think though, overall it is the same, but maybe slightly higher in Germany on average. Personally, I pay less in Germany than if I had the same income and lived in the the same states as I used to back in the US.
However, some states in the US do not have a "state" income tax. There is only federal tax and VAT (which is usually lower in the US than Europe). For example Florida has no state income tax. The state gets its money through other revenue streams, like tourism taxes. This is fine as long as you have those natural advantages to do so. I doubt Montana would be able to stay solvent on tourism.
On the flip side, here in Germany the government delivers much more and at a higher quality services for the money. Generally better roads, infrastructure, mass transport, schools, environment etc... And for those Americans who might be reading this, there is no National Health Care organization like UK, Spain, or France in Germany. There is however rules and regulations, a framework, on insurance companies (for profit and for non-profit) which keeps the costs low however still competitive. There are public and and private hospitals. And doctors have their own private practices which they run as businesses. So not all Europe is the same.
@@brucemc1581 What I do agree on is that the actual tax rate (both average as well as median) in Germany is higher than in the USA. If you lump in all of the fees (including healthcare, pensions, etc) Germany's average deducted gross salary can range up to 42%. Totally agreed, that is steep. But then comes the question what you get for that.
If for that money you get all the benefits Jonathan and Ashton listed in this video, plus healthcare even when unemployed, employee's rights and laws, good infrastructure (on average), affordable good food (supported by a low VAT of 7% instead of the standard 19% VAT on most staple groceries), unemployment benefits, social welfare, etc. then I'd never want to *work* in the USA.
If I won the lottery in one those huge multi-million jackpots then I might consider popping over now or then to vacation in the USA but certainly not for a long time. Heck, if I ever get sick in the USA, heal me up to be transport ready at the minimum cost possible, set me on a first class airplane transport back to Germany, and let me get treated here. It will still be cheaper by a long shot than the average US hospital bill.
At the organization I work at, PTO covers everything. Maternity leave, vacation, sick leave. All of it. If you get sick right before a vacation, and that sick time can cut your vacation short. You aren’t guaranteed any certain amount of time either. We accrue 5 hours of PTO per pay period. And if you don’t have the PTO hours available, you simply can’t take the time off. They don’t allow for unpaid time off
I wish your videos would get millions of views, because I am pretty sure that people living in America would like to have these benefits too, but they don't know that they exist and they are being told that it is unaffordable and the country would go bankrupt if they would provide something like 24 days paid time off.
You narrow it down to Germany but in reality it goes for all of Europe
Yes you're right. Unfortunately we are not as familiar with the other European countries and it's difficult to pile them all into one video. I think in the future we can expand our horizons and provide more information.
@@TypeAshton There are for sure differences to some extend but the general consensus alongside the countries is in europe the same I think. The State is there to provide some basic rules to make sure every citizen has a decent live and doesnt have to live on the street.
And what for - if not that - is the state for? I do understand the striving to make things different, thats what made people go to the new world in the first place I think. But not all in europe was or is bad and it is no treason to the ideal or the idea of america, to adopt things from europe.
I have the feeling a large proportion of US citizens are so blinded that they call whatever other countries do that benefits the general public, they call "socialism".
That would be a great idea for a video probably. Why is the US political system as it is? Why only 2 parties?
You did a very good job in saying "Arbeitsunfähigkeitsbescheinigung"! Once again an informative video. Thank you and greetings from the Westerwald-region.
And it's all documented on the Arbeitsunfähigkeitsbescheinigungsformular!
@@Michi-yv8rs Yeah and often doctor's offices now don't use the prefabricated "Arbeitsunfähigkeitsbescheinigungsformular" any more - they use the "Arbeitsunfähigkeitsbescheinigungsformularausdruck" from their own programs and printers in the office. For which their software surely provides some configurations which perhaps can be called as "Arbeitsunfähigkeitsbescheinigungsformularausdruckeinstellungen" - okay, okay this is a little bit exxegerated, but it also is how the German language works ...
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Thanks so much, we are glad you enjoyed it!
Wow this video again is personal and so well researched at the same time, therefor it is entertaining and - to put it simple - a great video.
For the topic of holidays: it may not be a perfect match to this topic, but in the most "Bundesländer" (federal states) in Germany schools have so called "bewegliche Ferientage" which can be translated to movable vacation days. These days are often used by the school when there are regional or traditional holidays or to put them as bridge days after or before a common holiday to connect it to the weekend.
In the town where I grew up our school would use one of those days for the "Rosenmontag" (the monday of carnival-weekend) and one for the monday during towns fair.
And just to mention it this carnival monday is very common to be a vacation day for many, many people (not just school kids) in NRW espacially in the "Rheinland" - rhine area.
Once again - well done!
Thanks for your channel.
As always you've always made excellent research on your subject.
I'm living in Denmark and most of the things you describe in this video are very similar between Denmark and Germany. In general the numbers here are a bit higher than in Germany, but not much.
One of the things, that I missed in your comments was that at least in Denmark; and I believe also in Germany; many of these benefits were actually achieved by the trade unions and then made into law.
It would be very interesting to see a video on how you see the role and influence of trade unions in the US an Germany.
Thank YOU so much for watching! And yes I totally agree - I think it would be SUPER interesting to make a video someday about unions and the history of unions in the US and Germany. These benefits didn't come without a fight, and there's a lot of backstory to this.
I am doing my best to not take things like this into consideration when I am thinking about the possibility of moving to Germany. I don't want to be "that American who moved to Germany just for more vacation time." However, the more I start to pay attention to the often exploitative labor practices here in the US compared with pretty much every other country on the planet, the more difficult that becomes.
Fortunately it's really all of Europe which has these benefits, we are just the most knowledgeable with Germany. There are many options available.
If a company offers you better working conditions, you don't have to be ashamed to accept it, do you?
@@arnodobler1096 That is a fair point. I have several reasons for wanting to move to Germany, including this one. I just don't want this reason to be my primary reason. Perhaps it is my own pride talking there, but even if the average German would not see it that way, I would see myself as having moved primarily to take advantage of a more favorable labor system. Or I am just overthinking things, which I tend to do with major decisions, and it doesn't really matter why I move to Germany, just that I make it work.
moreover, these are not gifts but rights.if you work as a us citizen here in Germany then you also pay in solidarity with it.Nobody will insinuate here that you only want to take advantage of the welfare state here.you still have to work hard here.germany or the EU is not paradise. Ashton and Jonathan are also not in bed all year and when the payslip comes then you will already see that nothing is free 😄
@@westfale520 I understand that the system is not free, and I fully expect to contribute my share. As I said before, I am probably overthinking everything. I know that Germany is not a utopia, but it certainly seems to treat those that live and work there better overall than the US does.
Great video but one small correction in the holiday section: the Urlaubsanspruch of part-time workers is not calculated by the amount of hours they work but instead the amount of working days in a week. That means someone who works for 5 days with 4 hours has the same amount of paid holiday as someone who works for 5 days with 8 hours.
Addition to the above: The part time days then are paid by tbe normal hours worked.
And if you only work a day of 7,5 h ( as an example) pro week, you still have 5 weeks paid holidays ! 5 weeks of 7,5h paid !
That is actually the same as having the "Urlaubsanspruch" calculated by your work hours. You just don't do the math with individual hours, but weekly hours. This is possible due to our 'Arbeitsrecht' making it easier to calculate work times on a weekly basis, thus having as employee stable weekly hours and sometimes more and sometimes fewer work hours per week. Core of this is, that due to that Arbeitsrecht, we kinda have to calculate work hours on an average per day for a week. So, if you have a 39 hour week, your work day is calculated with an average of 7.8 hours a day even if you actually have different work hours on each day.
Obviously this way of calculating could be exploited by someone, who, let's say gets "sick" on long work days and only shows up for short days, yet technically having still 7.8 hours per day. If an employer recognizes a person doing this, they are definitely in for a serious talk, but usually this is very rarely the case and it actually evens out throughout the year, with people usually not getting sick on purpose for specific days, but relatively random.
But in the end, due to how we calculate work hours on a weekly basis, the relative amount of paid vacation stays the same. You can calculate it on week hours or individual hours.
For your example of 7.5 work hours a week, you'd have, per vacation week, 7.5 hours of paid vacation / aka time you do not have to show up for work. With a 39 hour week, you'd obviously have 39 hours per week you wouldn't have to show up. So, with increased work hours per week, you obviously get more "vacation hours". It's too obvious, I know.
So the amount of work hours you do not have to come for are changing with the hours you'd have to be working without vacation. So yes, you can calculate it through the amount of hours and not on a weekly basis within our system. It'd be just a step more to make. It may be simply too obvious, but the math is more or less the same, however you try to calculate work hours.
Great video, I knew that it was bad in the U.S., but not this bad.
I remember mostly taking my vacation days for extended weekends for a few months, because I was living away from my family, and my boss gave me a stern talking to that vacation was meant to provide me an opportunity to really take a break and relax, and that I shouldn't waste it all on single days but use a week or more at a time :D
I feel that shows the difference in how the topic is approached.
I need another thumbs-up for the bloopers, especially the epic struggle with "Arbeitsunfähigsbescheinigung" (which is mostly referred to as "Krankenschein" or abbreviated to AU for obvious reasons :).
hahaha thank you so much. This was a fun one to film.
Kein Mensch weiß heute wo der Begriff Krankenschein herkommt. Es ist einfach an der Stelle die falsche Vokabel. Krankenscheine wurden vor 40-50 Jahren von den Krankenkassen ausgegeben um gegenüber dem Arzt die Berechtigung zur Behandlung und den Nachweis der Versicherung zu dokumentieren. Der Arzt hat diese Krankenscheine dann benutzt um seinen Aufwand gegenüber der Versicherung geltend zu machen. Heute läuft das komplett über Rechenzentren und der Versicherte hat nur noch eine Krankenkassenkarte.
Das ist das Schöne an der Sprache, die Leute nehmen die Wörter, gebrauchen sie, wie sie sie gerade brauchen und wenn sie passen und alle sie verstehen, dann werden sie fröhlich benutzt, auch wenn sie dazu umgedeutet werden mussten.
In diesem Sinne wünsche ich Dir/Euch/Ihnen/Allen einen schönen Tag.
@@berulan8463 genauso ist es. Mein Hinweis gilt mehr für unsere Neubürger. Denn diesen historischen Zusammenhang kann man nicht googeln.
@@martinjoest856 Ja genau, die Klasse der Fragen, deren Antworten man nicht googeln kann - oder überhaupt im Internet findet - ist eine interessante Errungenschaft des digitalen Zeitalters. Irgendwann werden aber auch die Bewohner des Metaverses herausfinden, dass die Realität der einzige Ort ist, an dem Man ein anständiges Wiener Schnitzel bekommt. (Sehr frei nach Douglas Adams).
Beautiful work, very explanatory and well cared for, with serious and detailed support data despite the conciseness. Entertaining the final addition, it showcases that you are human and not error-free machines, but at the same time it also demonstrates the work involved in editing. I am only sorry that judging by the comments, your work is appreciated almost exclusively by the Germans, useful for their self-esteem but in my opinion it would be more useful for developing the critical sense of an audience of different nationalities. Here in Italy we are not in very bad shape, we have protections similar to Germany but unfortunately there are also some Americans. In the last twenty years, entrepreneurs have waged a bit of war on the working class and managed to obtain political victories that allowed them to deregulate protections a little in favor of greater flexibility. New forms of contract have emerged that give businesses more freedom and workers less rights, but luckily, thanks to the union battles of our grandparents, we are still in pretty good shape compared to the US.
I do hope this video makes it to the US sometime soon. I think it would be so great to start a real discussion about how the US could, and should do better by its citizens.
Ich liebe deine Videos Ashton. so professionelle richtig gut. euer Urlaub war sehr schön
Danke!!!
Great video guys. For holidays an interesting one is in Augsburg where only the city of Augsburg shuts down and every person there has a free day. Than state holidays can alsp depend in Germany if you belong to a specific recognised minority, for example the sorbs in Saxoniý and Barandenburg get extra free days for some of the catholic holidays the rest of these states don't get.
Yeah, it's called "Friedensfest".
Yes! Great point. We also have quite a few religious holidays here in BW too.
It is worth mentioning that this 6 Weeks sick leave is 6 weeks in a row OR 6 weeks in between 6 months for the same reason. I had a shoulder surgery which takes me out of my job for 4 weeks. But 2 months earlier I had 3 weeks sick leave because I can't use my shoulder and had a lot of hospital/doctor appointments to find out what is going wrong in my shoulder. The surgery was the last step for my to recover my shoulder. For me (40 years old german) was this complete new cause I never had such a log time sick leave.
Great point!! Thank you!
In Berlin ist der 8. März, Internationaler Frauentag, ein gesetzlicher Feiertag.
Ein Argument bei der Einführung war, dass es in anderen Bundesländern viel mehr religiöse Feiertage gibt und es dadurch in Berlin weniger arbeitsfreie Tage gibt.
Very quick: I just love you two and your videos! 👍🏻
Awe thank you so, so much.
Thanks again for your great video... This always brings some appreciation for what we have here, thanks to the unions.
So, one nationwide Feiertag might be interesting: 1. May, "Tag der Arbeit", the day of the labor movement. And according to a quick research, this special holiday seems to have its origin in the US.
Another "fun" holiday is Mariä Himmelfahrt, 15. August. Because...it is just a holiday in "Saarland" and these Parts of Bavaria, which are considered mainly catholic, depending on the "Volkszählung"...
So, I guess, the topics for you will never run out
ah these are really great suggestions! Thank you.
I am employed at a state university in Texas, where workers have 13 paid holidays a year, plus 12 vacation days. Vacation time goes up with longevity, so I actually have 17 days per year. The total is 30 days per year, which makes my paid vacation comparable to the graph at 5:40. We also have leave for things like bereavement, voting, donating blood, etc. that do not count against our vacation. I also have 16 weeks of unused sick leave, so it must be pretty generous.
That does sound pretty generous but I should mention that Germany's paid vacation does NOT include paid public holidays. This year, I got 30 vacation days from my employer, plus 14 paid public holidays.
However, your University sounds really quite generous. ❤️❤️❤️ I'm really happy that they support you so well.
Your a Government worker, the Government has guns and lawyers to confiscate money from taxpayers,. Government can provide nothing or horrible service and still be funded. it is not reality of a free market,. most Taxpayers have to work on those days you take paid holiday you take - where you think that money comes from.
You are the rare exception, not the rule. Plus it's the State. Totally different than Corporate.
I think the large amount of vacation days is one of the secrets why Germany is so successful in the international market. People who are not constantly worried about things (e.g. do I have time to do thing X for my house, can I afford to get sick?) are happier, and happier employees will produce higher quality output.
I wonder if a German company could implement a similar regime in the US, e.g. 30 days of paid vacation, unlimited sick days, etc. and be successful. The main problem I see is, the salary will be quite a bit lower, since all these things have to be paid somehow. On the other hand, the increased output in the time people are working might make up for that to a large degree.
I agree, I think this is a HUGE reason why German workers are also so productive.
Well, just take a look at what happens in the other direction. US companies operating in Europe suddenly _are_ able to pay their workers fair wages _and_ provide paid time off _and_ adhere to the in many cases stricter regulations - and they still make a profit (else why would they operate over here?).
The classic example is McDonalds. Their European employees earn almost 3 times (!) as much than their US counterparts (for _exactly_ the same jobs, as McD operates in an extremely standardized way). And they get their 25 paid vacation days, paid sick leave, paid maternity leave (i.e. effectively they actually earn about 3.5 to 4 times as much per working hour); _plus_ even the quality of the products is higher (i.e. the ingredients are more expensive).
McD has an annual profit of about 6 _billion_ USD. They could easily e.g. raise the salary of every single one of their 36,500 employees in the US by 25,000$ per year (i.e. effectively double or in some cases even triple it) - _and_ _still_ _make_ _5_ _billion_ _in_ _profit_ !
It's not that they _can't_ - it's that they _wont_. Because shareholder value is infinitely more important than their worker's wellbeing.
The answer to your question is: Yes. Yes, they absolutely can and are already doing it. My spouse's aunt works for a German company but is stationed in America (as are several of her colleagues) and all her insurance, PTO, sick leave etc is regulated by German laws and standards. The company is *thriving*. And I can assure you if they so much as *hinted* at implementing American standards instead, they'd lose their employees faster than they could blink.
@@Aghul That's excellent news! :-)
Hello BFF, such a great topic. I feel lucky to have lived and worked in Australia. But as others have pointed out, fair work conditions don’t just happen. I am nearing retirement and watched change happen over my life, and for the better. We invest such a large portion of our life to work to not only enjoy some small pleasures, but also to hopefully create a better & fairer world for all future workers, our children. Thanks for your insight on Germany and America.
Great point! Thanks so much for watching. 😊😊
Great work.
I am an employee of an American company in Germany. I have all the benefits, like 30 days payed vacation a year, extra money in June for vacation, a 13 month of extra paycheck before Christmas, fully paid when I am sick and so on. But now I see what is going on in the new Tesla factory in Germany and now I fear that German employer's try to adopt the American regulations in order to save a lot of money and make more profit 🤔
Let's hope some of these American companies in Germany do not influence politics the wrong direction. I know I would much rather work for Tesla in Germany than in California. :)
Did you also read the latest news the Tesla plant made?
- They weren't able to recruit all the staff they needed.
- Many left after a few months discribing the situation as terrible to be polite.
- Most of the remaining have quit mentally.
- Add to the way the employees are treated the 'murican way of management and anti trade union policies Tesla is going to fail for the same reasons as Walmart did.
@Andreasarno Althofsobottka agree. UK is going the same way. More and more companies are trying zero hour contracts.
@@snafufubar Though I do understand the term (zero hour contract) I dont get the point behind it. In respect of work I've been living under a stone since 2012.
If Walmart with its shitty labor abuses couldn't sway German labor laws, I doubt Tesla will.
In addition some employers offer the possibility of short term paid sick leave without an „Arbeitsunfähigkeitsbescheinigung“ for up to two two (or even three?) days. After that you‘ll need a sick note from your doctor if you need more time to recover. But that‘s up to your employer and not mandated by law.
True! Jonathan's employer allows him to stay home for 2 days without one, but on day 3 he has to have a note.
It seems like that is the Standard for most employers (at least in NRW)
It is mandated by law (Entgeldfortzahlungsgesetz 3days) or by Tarifvertrag or Arbeitsvertrag. The employer can only mandat it differently for special reasons (abuse for example). If there is no contract the Entgeldfortzahlungsgesetz applies.
And, notably, if the employer has reasons to suspect abuse by a specific employee, they are entitled to request one immediately from that employee.
@@ohauss Yes Oliver he can even send him to a doctor (formerly Vertrauensarzt today medizinischer Dienst). However it is smarter to notify the KK (I'man old HR....)
One special holiday back in the 60‘s in Houston, Texas was a day off from school for the first day of the Fat Stock Show every February. That was to allow everyone to go visit the parade downtown. They stopped the practice some time ago. However, along with Lincoln‘s and Washington‘s birthdays (now combined into Presidents Day) we got 3 days off from school every February!
I really enjoy your videos. They are fact based and give a good understanding of Germany for ppl living outside of Germany. Please continue with these vlogs.
I must admit, that I have seen many videos on CZcams about topics like health care, ptos, free university etc from many youtubers, but I haven't yet seen a video on workers rights and especially about the hire-and-fire-culutur in Germany compared to the US. I am a german employer myself and I think a topic that is overlooked a lot is "Kündigungsschutz". I'd love to see a video about that.
Anyhow, please keep up the work that you are doing, this is great content and I do enjoy it a lot (although being from NRW, I don't agree with all views you do share about Germany, I often tell myself, they are right about bawü and southern Germany, but this not apply to the rest of Germany 😅)
You missed the fact that it is illegel to fire an employee who is sick or a pregnant woman ! People can concentrate on recover without worrying about their income and their job !
So, so important.
While this is true, the company still has the right to lay you off, if you are constantly or regularly sick for a relevant amount of time. You'll be covered by the welfare system then. And if you are a temporary worker or during your probation at the beginning of your employment, many companies use the restriction to the workers protection laws to lay you off. I'm just adding this, as many US Americans think our companies don't have any possibilities to "protect" themselves from "dead" headcounts.
The Arbeitsunfähigkeitsbescheinigung is colloquially called "gelber Schein", due to its color, and because not even Germans want to say that word..
Thank you this helped me so much
You're welcome!
Another great benefit is Bildungsurlaub. You can get a week paid time off from work (specifics differ slightly by Bundesstadt) for educational purposes. You do need to pay for the class yourself, and it needs to meet certain minimum requirements set by the state (e.g. minimum hours per day, etc.). Typical classes can be related to your job, or language learning, or even wellness.
That is SO awesome. I know I'm an "Academic" but it is really cool that the continuing education is still important enough to be regulated here.
The more I learn about the USA, the less impressed I am! Land of the free? More like land of the exploited! Outrageous behaviour, and asking others to donate paid leave to someone who is ill is super douchbaggy!
Maternity leave, the US' take on this is almost dangerous when you combine it with your expensive health system. $10k to have a baby plus no paid time off is a double whammy of suckiness, then lump on zero parental leave and you have the triple 👑 of exploitation!
Great video, helping to open the eyes of the world and Americans about how poorly they are treated!
Keep it up!
The US is the land of the free... US-Americans are freed of workers rights, freed of properly health insurance system, freed from a functioning political system (they have a very heavy-handed winner-takes-it-all mentality), freed from human rights in prisons, freed from a broadly open and tolerant school system that teaches its students everything they need to know...
True but 10k is a very hard example thats in my believe the very upper End of the table correct me if im wrong?
and insurence YOU are absolutly right a total mess!!!
@@Hightower301 $10k came from another of their video's, but still, that's a lot of money to 90% of ppl!!
2 of my kids were born in the UK on the NHS, & 1 in Germany. My wife had 3 cesarean sections (1 of which was an emergency), so I'd hate to think how much that would have cost us if we'd been in America!!! $30k each perhaps.....scary 💰
True that would’ve be expensive
I hope your family is alright and healthy after this experience
Fair play to the NHS and German healthcare far from perfect but way better then the USA
@@Hightower301 Actually - no it is not the upper end. It is the average what people WITH ensurance have to pay. Without insurance prices of 30,000-50,000 are common, depending on the location (obviously not all states and cities as well as individual hospitals will be the same).
To have to pay less than 10 k is extremely rare in the USA - and most likely the monthly premiums for such an insurance would be so high that it doesn't matter anyway.
It's funny, every time I talked about the differences of sick leave and vacation in Germany and the US (I am a German who lived and worked in 3 different states in the US for 6 years) everybody stared in disbelief about working conditions in the respective other country. When I lived in the US the only Americans who got similar vacation days or health benefits as the Germans are those in the military.
funny the US Military is the most social"ist" Place in the US
yeah from what ive heard - the military is one of the few employers in the us who cares about the condition of their employees... turns out, if you want people able and willing to perform at peak performance at any moment - you need to make sure that they are well rested, healthy and overall content
the airforce in particular seems to be pretty active on that front (for example in supporting their LGBTQ+ folks against the hateful laws in some of the us states) for the exact same reasons - they need them able and ready to do their job at any moment (well and their training and qualifications are much more difficult and time intensive to aquire)
meanwhile the industry just throws people into the grinder...
💚 Alles Gute und weiterhin viel Erfolg
Viel Glück, tolles Video
Tolles Video, viel Glück und weiterhin viel Erfolg
Probably the most common reason to roll over vacation days to the next year is being sick on vacation close to the end of the year. I had 3 weeks of christmas vacation once, where i was sick for 2 weeks, thus i started the new year with 8 vacation days, which I had to use up until the end of march. In case you were sick for long enough you were unable to take all the vacation until the end of march, those will even be protected longer for you to use as far as i know.
Here in the northern parts of the US, if you work in the private sector you can expect you may have to use some of your PTO if you don't want to have to drive in snow/sleet/etc. in the winter since private companies rarely every close their offices for bad weather. Government jobs on the other hand close at the drop of a dime.
For your next video I'd recommend two German holidays to look at:
First is labour day or in Germany mostly just known as 1. Mai. It's interesting because many union members use it to demonstrate and at the end point of the demonstration route not only are there speeches, but there's also food stands and it's kind of a fair. People meet, talk a lot, eat a lot, drink some beer, meet some old friends and from the early afternoon on they just enjoy the rest of the holiday. Others just use it as a regular holiday. Of course this might border too much on politics, so just think about it!
Second is actually two more or less holidays concerning carnival, especially in Mainz, Cologne and Duesseldorf. On Rosenmontag, which is pretty much the high point of carnival, hardly anyone in the three cities mentioned above (and often also the surrounding areas) will work and schools stay closed as well. It's not even an official holiday in the respective states of Northrhine Westphalia and Rhineland Palatinate, it's just customary. However, I for example live in Cologne and work in Duisburg which is just a few kilometers north of Duesseldorf and I don't get a holiday on Rosenmontag. Personally I'm fine with that because I hate carnival (lol), but still it might be an interesting fact within a video.
Best whiches from Phuket, we'll be here for another three days!
I am from Bavaria and when I was a child (long time ago!) I remember, that "Rosenmontag" - at these times there was not a holiday - was a day off for pupils (and teacher) only, BUT the day had to catched-up on the following Saturday.
Those were the ONLY days I was reported sick from my parents, even though I felt fine.
At that time there were two additional holidays: "Tag der deutschen Einheit" (June, 17th) and "Buß- und Bettag" (Wednesday, before the last Sunday before Advent).
The first was cancelled after re-unifaication when "Tag der deutschen Einheit" on October, 3rd war introduced. The second was cancelled in 95 as a holiday, except in Saxony.
Thank you so much for the list!
@@o21211671 I never knew that there was a "Tag der deutschen Einheit" on June 17th before 1990. Somehow it's a weird idea. Anyhow, thanks for sharing that info!
And I thought that the USA had abolished slavery. Silly me.
Regarding regional holidays: My hometown of Augsburg has the most public holidays in Germany, because it is located in Bavaria, which already has the most of all German states, and Augsburg adds to that with the Augsburg Peace Festival at the 8th of August every year. It remembers the end of the 30-year war in 1648.
On the template PTO, they show only .77 PTO per 40 hours worked. 😳 We were shocked.
@@TypeAshton if Germany still had legal slavery, there would be regulations providing for more „owned time off“ than .77 hours/week.
@@chrisalf995 There was serfdom on the territory of present-day Germany, but never legal slavery. Serfdom would be abolished about 50 years before the founding of Germany.
@@knutvoberg4236 thanks for the important correction. So I should change my posting to „If Germany ever had had slavery, there would have been …“
This turns out to be a joke rather on germans than on worker‘s rights elsewhere.
I once had to do a calendar program. Augsburg was the reason I had to add "town-specific holiday' to the menu with the types of holidays and integrate that into the prognosis of energy use per day. No way I ever forget that town.
Hi BlackForestFamily,
you make great videos with a whole lot of information and research behind it. I enjoy your videos and like getting the american perspective on those topics. I always if americans dont get educated about stuff that is going on in other countries. Because in politics we not only learned how the german and EU stuff works but also the american and many other countries over the world. Even though just the basics of it.
Also I wanted to mention, that germans get 4 weeks of vacation per year according to the law, because the 24 days are for a 6 day work week, which was the case when the law was created.
Rolling over vacation days in Germany is highly dependent on the company. My current company needs me to take all my vacation days from 2020 by March 2022. Yes, that's 1 year more time than usual!
Sad part..only a few Americans (those living abroad in say Europe) will see the difference and shocked. The rest still brlieve they are living in the best country in the world.
If only they would know ...
Reading the comments from many Americans, it seems like this is generally the case. We've been surprised at how many are arguing that it is great employers are legally allowed to treat people this way.
I am born in the United States my family is in Berlin I spent my life going back In forth between both countries. I think your audience might find the German high school system interesting. My opinion it’s much better in Germany
While "Arbeitsunfähigkeitsbescheinigung" is the offical term, in everyday use you'd usually call it "Krankenschein" or just "Gelber Schein" (the form used to be yellow, before they changed them to the current pinkish-red color).
There also is the colloquial term "gelber Urlaub", implying that someone got a sick note just to get a few more days off.
In Frankfurt, there is the Wäldchestag on the Tuesday after Pentecost. It isn't really an official holiday, but some local companies will give you half the day off, and most importantly lots of schools coincidentally require a deep-cleaning on that very day so lots of students get off. On that day, there is a huge Fest in the Stadtwald, the city forest. Its origin is in 1372, when the Wäldchestag became the only day of the year on which Frankfurters were allowed to collect wood in the city forest.
For Frankfurt's bankers Wäldchestag stopped being half a day off when JFK visited Frankfurt and people traded the day in. That interrupted the 'betriebliche Übung' and so it was gone. (At least that is the tale, that is told in my company. So now we keep an eye at Fastnachtsdienstag.)
Woah! That is really interesting!
Workers in Germany, have rights and privileges that are unimaginable in the USA.
And another thing is that when your employer signs off a vacation time an employee wants to have he is not allowed to revoke it. The reason (amongst others I guess) is that the employee might already have booked his vacation and potentially can’t call it off for free.
This is AMAZING. I have heard so many stories of American workers whose employers are like "yeah I know we told you that you could have the day off... but we need you to come in now." And this is totally normal.
@@TypeAshton I was recalled from a preplanned vacation last year (as in, I was told 2 weeks before it was supposed to start that I can't take it) due to an actual emergency that actually threatened the existence of my employer if it wasn't resolved, so totally fair - and even without me asking, they said they will cover each and every cent that I might have to pay if I have to cancel a pre-booked trip. This was not necessary in the end because due to covid rules I could cancel everything without a fee anyway, but it sure was a nice gesture to offer it up-front without me even requesting it.
@@kuldan5853 That is not a nice gesture(yes,it is),but it is actually the law!
@@TypeAshton Not quite true:An employer "CAN"call you back in case of(perceived)emergency......but:1.) He must be able to reach out to you!(never answer the phone,while on vacation);2.) Every day off, spent till this moment is void,and employer mandatory has to compensate any costs,that arise!I,personally had an employer sent a certified telegram,because he could not get me on the phone.In this case you HAVE to return,but,in theory you can sue the employer,if reason was not justified.
@@pebo8306 Well yes, but they could be bitchy about it instead of offering it upfront. That's the gesture part :)
Just found your channel and am now torn between at least 3 different countries in Europe I want to move to!.
I also loved the bloopers at the end. Made me think of something from a video by "Feli from Germany", which is the longest word in German.
Donaudampfschiffahrtselektrizitätenhauptbetriebswerkbauunterbeamtengesellschaft
(one word, no hyphen) (die, 79 letters, 80 with the new German spelling that adds one more 'f' in ...dampfschifffahrts...)
Even the definition is a mouthful: "association of subordinate officials of the head office management of the Danube steamboat electrical services" (the name of a pre-war club in Vienna). This word is not really useful; it's more of a desperate attempt to lengthen the word below.
Donaudampfschifffahrtsgesellschaftskapitän
In Frankfurt there is the "Wäldchestag" which was a town holiday up to 1995 where the businesses closed down. It was a day for the people to go out and have fun.
Today the day still is being celebrated but it is no holiday any more.
Ah that is super interesting but also so great that they try to coordinate it with the adult's time off as well. Thank you so much for this info! We will try to work it into the video.
I recently discovered Bildungsurlaub. In Hesse we are entitled to take another week off to educate ourselves in politics or social skills. It has to be a certified program but it can only be refused by the employer once.
There is also a rule for people organizing and leading youth groups. The employer gets compensation from the government for the paid wages.
Same in Saxony-Anhalt you can get a paid-week off for "Bildungsurlaub" where you get educated by a "Bildungsurlaub"-certified course, in Saxony-Anhalt there is even the option to transfer not used "Bildungsurlaub" from last year to an maximum of two weeks of "Bildungsurlaub"
Very interesting! Thanks for sharing.
The response from >70 % of US politicians to this video would be like: "That's socialism!" But what is building new football stadiums with billions of public money? The 80 years old Bernie Sanders is one of the few politicians who understands what's going wrong in US.
That's why I voted for him, but stupid Rep Trump got elected because of the Electoral College. *eyeroll*
Thanks for this highly informative video. I really enjoyed it. However, one small correction: 24 days of minimum vacation are based on a 6-day work week. If you work 5 days a week (which is mostly common nowadays) it's 20 days.
Hi there - 100% right. We included this as a sub-note in text during the video for additional clarity.
Auf den Punkt gebracht..👍
Thanks for this very informative Video. Everyone know the term "happy wife, happy life" but germany and the companys known the term " only a good recovered and healthy employee is productive ". For example, in my job it is NOT allowed to show up to work if you don't have spend a minimum of 11 hours away from work. If I leave my job at 6 am ( nightshift ), I am not allowed to come to work again befor 5 pm that day, this means if I have an important meeting that day at 2 pm, I have to leave work at 3 am, so I have the 11 hour gap between my work. But America is the Land of the free I think? This sounds not very free to me, rather the opposite. And btw in Baden-Württemberg you have nearly all of the public holidays, 13 days and only 4 of them are on Saturday or Sunday.
Yes, this a law and has to be obeyed. And you have to be compensated for the time you couldn't work because of this.
Most of the benefits you rave about did not fall from the sky, but were hard fought for by the unions since the founding of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1949. The trade unions are inextricably linked to this and were and are the main driver of social progress. Every sector of trade, craft, industry and the civil service has its own trade union, which are united in the German Trade Union Federation (DGB - Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund). Representatives of the unions sit in the major political parties and on political committees and have a strong influence on the legislative process.
The unique position of the German trade unions is also documented by the Works Constitution Act of 1952, which stipulates the rights to establish a works council and to participate in all major company decisions. A look at the Works Constitution Act (website of the Ministry of Justice - there is even an English translation available), is helpful to understand on which foundations employee rights are based and since when, from where and why the world of work is organized so much differently in Germany than in the USA for example.
The Works Constitution Act is one of the supporting pillars from which other labor laws derive (example: Vacation Act). Another pillar is the constitutional right to form independent trade unions, as well as the principle of collective bargaining sovereignty between trade unions and employers' associations. State intervention in the autonomy of collective bargaining is excluded.
Absolutely! I think some day soon we need to make a video on unions.
@@TypeAshton Absolutely!But.....you should point out,that this worker protection also makes it difficult to get rid of people,and there are a lot,that perfectly "play"the system!---When in slightest doubt about a person,a German employer will not hire you!
And also let us be clear. Companies still find a lot of ways to get around a lot of those requirements. It is a constant struggle.
All that paid time off does not come "Free", wages during working hours are REDUCED to pay for it. A contract worker with no benefits can make $75/hour. that same worker as a direct with benefits makes $45/hour. So pay is reduced $30.hour to pay for the time off and insurance.
@@pablopicaro7649 are you a troll or a robot? Same senseless answers all over the comments.
Loving your videos and binging them as I’m in the process of applying for jobs through my current company to move to Germany (with my family) Thankfully we are a German/American company and from day 1 I get 4 weeks vacation time, 12 weeks maternity leave plus 12 weeks paternity leave (just had my 3rd a year ago) and while it’s still nothing close to Germany or European standards it’s far better than anyone else in my friends or family get. It’s so sad how Americans think the US is so great when so many issues they complain about are better in European countries but they just shrug it off.
Best of luck for your plans!
Go for it!
When I was 13, I got diagnosed with a very rare tumor (Nasopharyngeal angiofibroma) that only male teens can have. This type of cancer would at some point affect my brain, if not removed. On top of that, after the initial operation, I had as side effects of multiple strokes which caused right-sided paralysis. It took about six months until I recovered to a level where I could visit school again. All the costs for the diagnosis, the medical treatment, the operations, the dozens of MRI Scans, and the rehab were taken by the health insurance, my parents had to pay nothing for this. In the US, they would probably forced to take multiple loans for my operations and the rehab - but here in Germany, they had to pay nothing.
"Arbeitsunfähigkeitsbescheinigung"! Very funny, how you struggle with this terrible word. In colloquial language we call it "Krankenschein", "Gelber Schein" or just "der Gelbe". Unfortunately I can't get a Krankenschein any more because I'm retired. I get paid without doing anything ever. Best time of my life! However, I don't get back my sick days while on vacation...😎
Speaking of terrible words... The first place newly arrived foreigners need to go when moving to Germany is the Kreisverwaltungsreferat. Always struck me as a bit of twisted German humour.
It should be noted that all these things you appreciate about employment laws in Germany did not come out of the blue. They were fought for by unions against a conservative political establishment and company owners. I would encourage all Americans to join a union or run for office to fight for these changes. There are labor shortages in many industries across the US, the employers need you more than you need them.
Absolutely!! Have you heard about how (some) Starbucks recently unionized?
To be fair, there was a conservative branch which had a more paternalistic view of the state, so they were not as against many of the reforms. You still see that today that the major conservative party is not trying to rewoke such reforms like the Republicans in the US. But generally yeah unions did us all a huge favor.
class struggle in a nutshell and it's GREAT
Hi guy again a great video and fair presantation of differences between GER and USA and awsome try to say Arbeitsunfähigkeitsbescheinigung but epert level ist still this: Donaudampfschifffahrtselektrizitätenhauptbetriebswerkbauunterbeamtengesellschaft ( I as a German have difficulties to say that) Hope you guy are relaxed and had a great Urlaub
Bis bald
Oh and a weired Day to Celebrate when I grew up was a Hungerian "Holiday" it is called Namesday(Namenstag) on ( Born in Romania to half Hungarian and Romanien/German)
hahaha OH MAN that word is something else. I think we are going to have to make a video soon where we try to pronounce some of these... holy moly!
"Arbeitsunfähigkeitsbescheinigung" wow you nailed it!
hahah Thanks!
Hey guys 😌, I'm very impressed with your pronunciation of the word Arbeitsunfähigkeitsbescheinigung 👍😁. It's a long and difficult to pronounce word, even for Germans, I think. Where I live now (Bavaria), we abbreviate it and call it an AU (eine A U). I'm happy you like it here. My partner is Irish with American passport and citizenship. His kids are born in Germany and have lived mostvofvtgeir life in the US. They moved back to Germany to study here (actually one daughter did get Bachelor in Amsterdam and her Masters degree in Erfurt). They have no student loan that needs to be paid back, as a result. His other daughter did her Bachelor degree in the US and her Masters degree in Bremen, Germany. Both girls did did English tracks here and it was much more affordable than US. Education is a human right and not a privilege for the wealthy!
Maybe a topic for another video?
Yes! We have the US education system (specifically University cost/experience) on our list of videos for later on this year. We are looking forward to filming that one!
A U is only Arbeitsunfähigkeit
Some additional facts about vacation time in Germany:
Carrying over vacation days to the next year have to be taken - as you have stated - until end of march. That’s what the law says. However, if there are other stipulations in place (and that goes for all stipulations in general) then those overrule the law as long as they are better for the employee (Günstigkeitsprinzip). For instance employees of the hessian state have a union rate that says that employees can use their carried over vacation days until September.
Wow!!! I bet that is really really nice if you are planning an extended holiday over the school break in August.
@@TypeAshton yes that is why I embrace the unions here. The union rate they have negotiated is such a godsend!
The first company I worked at, did not have any expiration date for the vacation days. After some years there were colleagues that had more than three months of vacation. That can become dangerous for a company. If one of those guys would cancel his work contract (three month before end of quarter, as usual), he could disappear the next day.
We have to take all of our vacation until the end of the year. Transferring it I to the next year is only allowed if there had been serious issues that kept us from taking it in time. The employer has to make accruals which my company wants to avoid...
@@wora1111 Not true!Being that long there,you also have an extrem long"Kündigungsfrist"-resignation period!Employer does not have to let you go before,and can pay out rest of holidays,which then is taxated!
I would love to see you guys talk about "Bildungszeit" as that's something even a large portion of Germans doesn't know about. It's a federally mandated opportunity for you to take time off in order to educate yourself either in regards to your job or (and I think that's way cooler) for ehrenamtliche (how do you translate that?) engagements you have e.g. to become a trained coach in your sports club.
That sounds like a great topic for another video! Thank you so much.
I didn't know about "bildungsurlaub" until 2 months ago. and indeed I think that's a highly valuable thing to have and to use. should be far more publicly known and encouraged.
ein weiteres interessantes Thema zu Eurem Video:
- Bildungsurlaub
in Köln gibt es häufig Firmenurlaub zum Karneval :-)