[DeTomaso] NPC - Europe's July/August holiday

[Charles McCall]

We're mixing two things here. 

One is the number of vacation days an employee receives per year. A
completely different issue is a socialist state with heavy safety nets and
benefits. 

We say that we receive 5 or 6 weeks of paid vacation but the reality is that
they are unpaid. I took a rather large paycut when I left the US, as
salaries are lower in general in Europe than their American counterparts.
All this is perfectly logical. If we are shut down for 6 weeks out of the
year, then we aren't producing, we aren't billing customers, and therefore
we can't pay the employees for that period. Our company has their business
plan based on 11 months. We basically don't bill anything in August. So our
income is 11/12 what it would be if we worked year-round and workers are
paid accordingly.

Roland "pays" his workers if they go on vacation, but if they aren't
working, then he can't bill customers. So his company's income is less than
if they worked year-round. If they worked one more month, he could bill
customers for one more month worth of work, and could pay his employees for
one more month. It's pretty simple, but people talk about "6 weeks paid
vacation" but it isn't quite true. Nothing is free. 

The other issue, and completely unrelated imo, is the social protection.
Unemployment, health care, education, retirement benefits.. things that the
state pays for. 

Personally I like the idea of having a month of vacation a year, even if it
is unpaid. It allows me to attend things like Le Mans, or Spa Italia, and
have a vacation each year to see part of the world. I've generated a lot
more memories with the Euro-vacation plan than I did when I worked in the US
51 weeks a year. Sure, the paycut hurts, but I can put food on the table and
have a GT5-S in the garage, so life isn't that bad. I'm not generating
retirement income like I did when working in the US, but I should have
enough to survive. 

I don't want to open up a debate regarding socialism, but I think that if
you want a strong economy you need to look at which countries have one and
what system they have. Look at countries that have a weak economy and look
at their system. It may give a hint. 

Charles McCall
1985 DeTomaso Pantera GT5-S #9375
"Raising Pantera Awareness Across Europe"
http://www.poca.com/index.php/gallery/?g2_itemId=2323

-----Mensaje original-----
De: detomaso-bounces at realbig.com [mailto:detomaso-bounces at realbig.com] En
nombre de Roland Jaeckel
Enviado el: domingo, 09 de enero de 2011 22:59
Para: detomaso at realbig.com; Larry Finch
Asunto: Re: [DeTomaso] NPC - Europe's July/August holiday

This was the rule in the most mediterain states like France, Spain and 
Italy. It was never the rule in Germany.
Maybe, that it the reason, why we are so successful.
My workers get 24 days vacation plus 6 six plubic free days full paid per 
year. Paid public free days vary, because we only have to pay, if it is not 
on a saturday or sunday. It varies between north and south Germany. Also, if

they are sick, they get full paid by me. I get a payback by the social 
insurance.
Some times i don't like it, because i have to pay, but i also see the 
benefits we all have  from it.
No one over here has to steel or kill just for food and a warm place to 
live.

Roland

--------------------------------------------------
From: "Larry Finch" <fresnofinches at aol.com>
Sent: Sunday, January 09, 2011 10:40 PM
To: <detomaso at realbig.com>
Subject: [DeTomaso] NPC - Europe's July/August holiday

>
>
>
> Charlie wrote -
>
> July/August in Europe is really magical - most countries basically shut 
> down
> and go on vacation!
>
> --------------
>
> Charlie, please explain something I've always wondered about.
>
> If everyone goes on holiday in July/August, who is left to take  care of 
> all the tourists, hotels, restaurants, etc?
>
> Larry
>
>
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