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What the? That's not what it means here.; what words mean in your country
Topic Started: Apr 24 2007, 05:24 PM (7,345 Views)
Cassandra
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microsofty
Jun 24 2007, 12:52 PM
WOW! 52 weeks for maternity leave! Up to 6 weeks paid leave! Being paid in pounds! I think I'm moving to the UK. Do you guys ever work?!
Oh, are we supposed to work as well? But remember that maternity leave isn't supposed to a holiday! All your holidays sound suspiciously made up ... a bit like Ice Cream Soda day really. I take it there isn't a 'Bad Girls Day'?

microsofty
Jun 24 2007, 12:52 PM
PS I was under the impression that 1 May was observed as Worker's Day around the world - is it not?
Yes it is. Though there seems to be more emphasis here on celebrating the Beltane Fire Festival rather than May Day. Its a sort of torchlight pagan ritual on 30th April to mark the start of summer. Seems to be popular with drunken students. Any excuse, eh?
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aj57
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solitsolano - is Martin Luther King Day a stat holiday all over the States?

microsofty
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PS I was under the impression that 1 May was observed as Worker's Day around the world - is it not?


It's not a statutory holiday in Canada. We do have a Labor Day stat holiday - the first Monday in September, the day before kids go back to school.

cassandra
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Workers do not have a statutory right to paid leave on bank and public holidays.


So, you can get the day off, but no guarantee of being paid for it?

cassandra
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Changes are currently going through Parliament to increase the minimum to 4.8 weeks (from 1 October 2007) and then 5.6 weeks (from 1 April 2009).


That's very nice. I think a lot of European countries have the same sort of vacation time. It would take lots of years of working for a company over here to get those sorts of holidays, if ever.

microsofty
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Zimbabwe we are not! Our interest rate currently stands at 11%.


Did you mean inflation, or the prime interest rate?

cassandra
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I take it there isn't a 'Bad Girls Day'?


If there was to be one, what date should it be? hmmmm....
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Cassandra
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aj57
Jun 24 2007, 02:35 PM
cassandra
 
Workers do not have a statutory right to paid leave on bank and public holidays.
So, you can get the day off, but no guarantee of being paid for it?
No that's not how it works. I think what it means is that a public holiday doesn't have to be an extra paid day, it may count as part of your 4 week annual leave. Or alternatively your company may not take that public holiday at all. If you have to take it because of family commitments then you might be able to take one of your annual holiday days or possibly arrange a day of unpaid leave. (And from that rather woolly explanation, you can tell that I don't work in Human Resources).

aj57
Jun 24 2007, 02:35 PM
cassandra
 
I take it there isn't a 'Bad Girls Day'?
If there was to be one, what date should it be? hmmmm....
Last Friday in November. According to abzug's timeline, that looks like when Helen and Nikki got together .... eventually.
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microsofty
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aj57
Jun 24 2007, 03:35 PM
Did you mean inflation, or the prime interest rate?

The prime interest rate is 11%. The last time I checked, the inflation rate was around 4.7%.

BTW, what is a bank holiday exactly?
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Stircrazy
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microsofty
Jun 24 2007, 11:52 AM
PS I was under the impression that 1 May was observed as Worker's Day around the world - is it not?

So, the world has only one worker! :o Wonder where he/she lives/works...

Seriously, 1st May/May Day/International Workers' Day is not observed as such throughout the world. It is in most of continental Europe, certainly, & has been almost since time immemorial, but not in the UK! Admittedly, we have had a Bank (public) Holiday at the beginning of May, which is known as "the May Day Bank Holiday", since the mid/late 1970s, but it's generally regarded as the early spring Bank Holiday, not a celebration of international worker solidarity: we Brits just don't do that sort of thing...! :party And in keeping with Brit Bank Holiday tradition, it falls on the first Monday of May, so coincides with international May Day only when that falls on a Monday!
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Stircrazy
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microsofty
Jun 24 2007, 02:57 PM
BTW, what is a bank holiday exactly?

Exactly what is says on the tin: a working day on which the banks (& post offices & government/local government offices) do not open for business! ;)
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microsofty
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Stircrazy
Jun 24 2007, 05:17 PM
microsofty
Jun 24 2007, 02:57 PM
BTW, what is a bank holiday exactly?

Exactly what is says on the tin: a working day on which the banks (& post offices & government/local government offices) do not open for business! ;)

But why? Do the banks need time to count their money and the others just thought it's a great opportunity to get in on the deal? With most public holidays around the world the day is indented to commemorate something from the past, but I fail to see what the purpose of a bank holiday would be. You also seem to have more than one a year? And does a bank holiday mean a complete shut-down in the UK? It's only with Christmas Day that we have an almost complete shut-down in SA. With all the other holidays it is business as usual for most people.
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solitasolano
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aj57
Jun 24 2007, 05:35 AM
solitsolano - is Martin Luther King Day a stat holiday all over the States?


Yes, Martin Luther King Day is a federal/national holiday. There appears to be 10 federal holidays.
Found this site which lists the actual day the holidays are on up til 2010. http://www.opm.gov/fedhol/

New Year's Day
Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Washington’s Birthday
Memorial Day
Independence Day
Labor Day
Columbus Day
Veterans Day
Thanksgiving Day
Christmas Day

I don't know what are federal or state regluations about vacations or family leave...6 weeks is the norm for family leave....in US civil union and domestic parternship states...family leave applies to same gender couples and families, (Vermont, New Jersey, Connecicutt, New Hampshire, California, and Oregon next year unless the homophobes succcessfully get an amendment on the ballot to stop it). All other states forget it.
Individual corporations will have there own policies.
As for vacation, the US is nortorious for allowing only 2 weeks... don't know for sure because like I said earlier, my situation is different. Through my union deal, I get "paid" for vacaction after the fact. Union signatories pay a certain amount for days worked and I get a ck the next year...never very much. Some signatories and payroll services pay as you go along. For these, on top of my weekly guarantee, I would bet a small amount for holiday/vacation pay.
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Stircrazy
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microsofty
Jun 24 2007, 04:02 PM
Stircrazy
Jun 24 2007, 05:17 PM
microsofty
Jun 24 2007, 02:57 PM
BTW, what is a bank holiday exactly?

Exactly what is says on the tin: a working day on which the banks (& post offices & government/local government offices) do not open for business! ;)

But why? Do the banks need time to count their money and the others just thought it's a great opportunity to get in on the deal? With most public holidays around the world the day is indented to commemorate something from the past, but I fail to see what the purpose of a bank holiday would be. You also seem to have more than one a year? And does a bank holiday mean a complete shut-down in the UK? It's only with Christmas Day that we have an almost complete shut-down in SA. With all the other holidays it is business as usual for most people.

Why not? Of course we have more than one a year, but not as many as you appear to believe: “Bank Holiday” just happens, by an accident of linguistic history, to be the term by which natives/residents of the UK have come to know a national or public holiday. It has bugger all to do with the banks “need[ing] time to count their money”. It is a weekday, observed as a national holiday, on which the banks (&, by extension, post & other national & local government offices) are closed by law. Many of those are simply religious, i.e. Christian (still the majority here), festivals, viz. Good Friday & Easter Monday, Christmas Day (+ one extra day if that falls on a Saturday or a Sunday) & Boxing Day (St Stephen’s Day in certain other countries, also one extra day’s holiday in years when that falls on a Saturday or a Sunday), what was once Whit Monday having mutated into Spring Bank Holiday Monday, i.e. the last Monday in May.

By common consent, the UK, as a nominally Anglican country (which automatically reduces our "religious" entitlement), has the fewest public/national/Bank holidays in Europe. The only others we have, over & above the “religious” ones quoted above, are New Year’s Day (+ an extra day in years when that falls on a Saturday or a Sunday; 2nd January is also a holiday in Scotland), the first Monday in May (“May Day Bank Holiday”), the last Monday in May (“Spring Bank Holiday Monday”) & the last Monday in August (“August Bank Holiday Monday”). Of the four countries that make up the United Kingdom of Great Britain & Northern Ireland, only N. Ireland has a public holiday on its “saint’s day” (St Patrick, 17th March); some inhabitants of Wales (St David/1st March), England (St George/23rd April) & Scotland (St Andrew/30th November) may mark the occasion, but most go to work as usual: there is no official holiday. And no, the rest of the country certainly does not shut down when the banks are closed. Many shops & supermarkets open, though often for fewer hours than on a normal working day & even on religious holidays, many shops/businesses owned & run by non-Christians open for as long as the law permits…
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microsofty
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Stircrazy
Jun 24 2007, 07:27 PM
Of course we have more than one a year, but not as many as you appear to believe: “Bank Holiday” just happens, by an accident of linguistic history, to be the term by which natives/residents of the UK have come to know a national or public holiday.

Ah OK, it all makes sense now! What you call a bank holiday, we call a public holiday. At first I thought you had bank holidays in addition to public holidays, that a bank holiday was something else entirely. Thanks for clearing it up.
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Cassandra
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microsofty
Jun 24 2007, 05:02 PM
But why? Do the banks need time to count their money and the others just thought it's a great opportunity to get in on the deal?
Thanks stircrazy. From a Scottish point of view, I don't think bank holidays have the same status here as they do in England, which is why they are not necessarily holidays here. In Scotland a bank holiday is effectively a statute holiday across the whole of Scotland whereas a public holiday is really a local holiday which varies from region to region. Some Scottish bank holidays used to fall on different days from English bank holidays (e.g. we get 2nd Jan but not Easter Monday, early Aug instead of late Aug and so on). However the banks harmonised with the rest of the UK about ten years ago so no longer observe Scottish bank holidays. So we have the confusing situation where some workplaces might observe a Scottish bank holiday when other workplaces and the banks are still open for business. And vice versa. B)

ETA - In our workplace for example, we get 5 Scottish bank holidays (Jan 1&2, Dec 25&26 & first Mon in May) plus 3 local holidays.
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aj57
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solitsolano
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I don't know what are federal or state regluations about vacations or family leave...6 weeks is the norm for family leave


When you say family leave, does that mean parental leave, i.e. after you have a baby? If so, that seems relatively short.

solitsollano
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in US civil union and domestic parternship states...family leave applies to same gender couples and families, (Vermont, New Jersey, Connecicutt, New Hampshire, California, and Oregon next year unless the homophobes succcessfully get an amendment on the ballot to stop it). All other states forget it.


I'm a bit surprised New York state isn't in there. What about Massachusetts?

stircrazy
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The only others we have, over & above the “religious” ones quoted above, are New Year’s Day (+ an extra day in years when that falls on a Saturday or a Sunday; 2nd January is also a holiday in Scotland)


Having witnessed the odd Hogmanay party when I was a kid, I can see why the Scots would need that extra day on January 2nd. (Surprised Cassandra didn't mention it, but then again...). ETA, just saw your post where you mention jan 2nd.

Not really totally related, but do they still celebrate Guy Fawkes Day with bonfires? I know it isn't a holiday, but i seem to rememeber the odd bonfire as a kid.
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Cassandra
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aj57
Jun 24 2007, 07:00 PM
Having witnessed the odd Hogmanay party when I was a kid, I can see why the Scots would need that extra day on January 2nd.  (Surprised Cassandra didn't mention it, but then again...).  ETA, just saw your post where you mention jan 2nd.
Actually one of the local holidays I mentioned is the 3rd Jan. So we need an extra couple of days to recover. Ha!

Yep .... remember, remember the fifth of November. Guy Fawkes - bonfires & fireworks. Any excuse for fireworks!
("Bonfire Night celebrates the failure of the Gunpowder Plot in which a group of conspirators, including Guy Fawkes, attempted to blow up the Houses of Parliament in Westminster on the evening of 5 November 1605")
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solitasolano
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aj57
Jun 24 2007, 10:00 AM

When you say family leave, does that mean parental leave, i.e. after you have a baby? If so, that seems relatively short.

Yes, family leave of which maternity or parental leave would be part of. Plus family leave can also be used to take care of a ill family member...And yes, 6 weeks is a pathetically short amout of time...remember, only 2 wks usually granted for vacation.

How could I forget about Massechuttes? I guess I'm so used to thinking of marriage as marriage, that I didn't think to include Massechuttes....

Stircrazy, thanks for the great explanation of a bank holiday...makes total sense. I was thinking of that when I posted US federal holidays because I realize there's a few more which the banks also close for...
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Lisa289
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Cassandra
Jun 24 2007, 02:24 PM


aj57
Jun 24 2007, 02:35 PM
cassandra
 
I take it there isn't a 'Bad Girls Day'?
If there was to be one, what date should it be? hmmmm....
Last Friday in November. According to abzug's timeline, that looks like when Helen and Nikki got together .... eventually.

I vote "Bad Girls Day" to be June 1st. Unless I'm mistaken, that was when the very first episode aired in the UK :)
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