8 Years Working in the UK | Honest Opinion 

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I just moved back to America from the UK. I worked in an office for almost 3 years in England and the differences are astounding. I truely miss the British banter. I’ll be sad this Christmas because I’ll miss out on the big “Christmas Do”

I used to be a boss, thankfully I was liked, plus I am strict but the first person to have a laugh. This particular girl who had been working with me for a year, had to have her dog put down, I cleared it for her to have a week off. She became pregnant maternity leave I made sure she was paid full wage for 12 months. I looked after my staff. The best thing was in return every month our targets, were met and more. I retired at 50 that was 7 years ago. To this day I see all 20of them, still go out with them all, god father to 3 kids . Every one let the company within 6 months after I retired. Treat staff how you would like to be treated. It’s simple.

"Do you remember that Alanna who used to work in the office? The one who never contributed to the coffee costs, but always used to drink it? Yeah... that one... ;) " Great vid Alanna

We do forget sometimes just how lucky we are to live in the UK, especially when it’s holiday time. Not only having wonderful places here to visit with historic towns and castles, but, in a couple of hours travelling, we could be in Paris, Amsterdam or Brussels absorbing the delights those cities bring. Spain, Italy, Greece are great full holiday destinations for many of us, as is many of 5he Mediterranean islands.

I'm an American who lives in the US, and filing taxes here is an absolute nightmare. I didn't know it was similar in Canada until I watched this video. These tax companies lobby the US government to keep the system complicated on purpose so they can make more money. I am sad to hear that Canada has a similar state of affairs.😢

I’m not a fan of the after work drinking thing, if that happens where you work - mainly because I’ve just spent 8 hours with those people and they usually talk shop. Much prefer going home!

I worked in an office in Manchester where there was a list in the kitchen of who took tea, coffee, sugar or milk, so anyone deciding to brew up had no excuse not to brew up for everyone. On one occasion my coffee was delivered to my desk by the local beat bobby who was encouraged to pop in for a brew when passing.

I spent my working life in UK schools. Our 'birthday' arrangements were always someone keeping track of the birthdays and organising a joint card from the whole staff to the birthday recipient, which we all signed - and yes, the Birthday Girl/ Boy would be expected to bring in treats of some kind on the day. The school I was in for the last 20 years of my career also started a tradition that if it was someone's Big Birthday (one ending in a zero) there was additionally a buffet lunch or afternoon tea paid for by the school out of the team building/ wellbeing budget, and organised by a small group of colleagues for everyone to enjoy. After work drinks only ever happened for the Christmas 'Do' and the end-of-school-year 'Do'.

I haven't worked in a foreign country but I did work for Air France for about a year. It was cathartic, I would highly reccomend to anyone who has worked in customer service. Our "guest relations" training consisted of learning the phrase "ce n'est pas un problème pour moi, c'est un problème pour toi" also free wine and cheese in the break room!

I worked as en engineer in a small design office in the early 90s. The whole office would go to the local pub at lunchtime every Friday and the senior partners would be buying rounds. Nothing ever got done on the Friday afternoons.

I always go on holiday over my birthday, one because I don't want people to know I'm getting older, and two, because then I don't have to buy chocolates. I hate working from home. There are too many distractions, there's no one to ask advice or bounce ideas off, nowhere to walk round to think, and my flat isn't big enough to have a work space and I don't like working where I live, working at the table where I eat. Great video, Alanna. I nearly always watch, rarely comment but you always deliver.

I am British and have worked in Australia. The main differences are that time off and sick leave is earned pro-rata. So you have to have worked in that job for 12 months before you get your fill entitlement (which is similar to UK entitlement) However you also earn long service leave which is an additional 10 weeks leave you can take after 8-10 years. A plus point is if you leave a job and have not taken your annual leave or long service leave you are paid for those days. On the negative side, the working week is usually 38 hours not 35 hours as in the Uk and lunch time is usually half an hour. Office culture wise, there are 'morning teas' where people all bring a plate of homemade goodies and they are shared. Also people bring in excess produce like oranges and leave them for anyone to take home or eat in the office.

There are certain 'Friday night drink from work' experiences that I'll remember for life. I'd once organised a tour around our local brewery for 6pm on a Friday night. All of the places had been filled, but then one guy had to drop out and one of our employer's management invited himself along to fill the vacancy (he was something like our boss's boss's boss!) The tour part of the evening wasn't a problem, but when we were shown into the breweries own bar, we knew he'd probably cramp our style and put a bit of damper on things. The tour guide went behind the bar and said: "Right then, I'll serve you all for your first drink, and after that you can help yourself, and the bar is free until 11pm". He turned to the 'bossman' and said: "What can I get you?" and the answer he got was: "You wouldn't have a dry white wine, would you?" the tour guide's reaction was as surprised as ours. We were in a brewery for goodness sake! We were supposed to be sampling the beer they produced. The tour guide replied: "No I bloody wouldn't!". (He actually followed that with an instruction to go away, though in the form of the two word one, that begins with and ends with 'F') The bossman had a half pint of a lager and then left, and the rest of us could relax. (Incidentally, as 11pm approached we had a whip round (collection) for our guide, who was so appreciative, he extended service until 12am. We actually rolled out of there sometime after 1:30am. One of the best nights, and certainly the cheapest, any of us had ever had.)

Another common thing is for a person to bring biscuits or sweets into the office when they get back from holiday from the place they went on holiday!

So many British people seem to knock the UK these days and don't realise how blessed we are work-wise, compared with some countries. PAYE and at least 28 days hols - marvellous. Mind you, compared to the French we are still in the Dark Ages. Everyone seems to have August off in France and most appear to retire at 55. And get this, according to a Brit friend of mine who lives in France: If you leave your job, you get 80% of of your wage paid by the Government for a year, so everyone seems to have a year off at some point. I have probably got some of the facts on this a bit wrong, but you get the idea.

As a Brit living in the US who's total income was from Britain, I was given the choice of paying income tax either in Britain or in the US but not both. I chose to pay in the country in which I lived. Also, I claim US social security based on being fully paid up into British social security. The two countries have reciperocal agreements.

In Canada we use instant coffee on camping trips and for emergency use when we run out of regular coffee since it has a multi-year shelf life.

If only you worked here in the 80s and 90s. On the first day of my first job I was taken by my new boss to the works bar at 10:30AM, Monday morning and bought two pints. That really set the tone for the office - complete madness looking back!

Worked in France for a few years on and off (3 months UK, 3 months France), for a British company. Due to an agreement between the UK and France, as long as you pay tax in one country, you do not pay it in the other. At the time the taxes in France were around 45%, but they don't pay VAT, so goods were cheap in France, compared to the UK. So paying tax in the UK, and buying every thing you need in France was win, win. Oh!! and to top it off, about once a month, someone used to drive one of the companies diesel hire cars to Spain (2 hours away), where prices were even cheaper.

Regarding sick days, I can only speak for where I work but we have a limit - they use something called the Bradford Factor, which generates a score based on the number of sick days taken, multiplied by the number of instances you've taken sick leave. So if you have 3 days sick in January and 2 days sick in March, your Bradford score would be 10, 5 days, 2 instances. There's a threshold that if you go over it then it's raised as a concern, and if you go way over it without a valid reason then it goes to more serious consequences.

What a delightful lady and great advert for Canada and Canadians. Kudos to her and her work ethic for being employed continuously. I'd love to see her in Switzerland - we have great coffee in the offices typically.

Moved from the UK to the US. The thing I found difficult was in the US, people would just wander up to your desk to chat. In the UK, you're mostly focused on work and chit-chat is reserved for breaks.

Like you, in March 2020 I went from working full time in the company office to working entirely from home, and stayed doing this until I retired in March 2023 even after the office fully reopened (it helped that I was a department of one so I didn’t have to coordinate with anyone else about my work). As I’m pretty much asocial I didn’t particularly miss the noise in an open plan office, nor did I regret missing company social events (which I absolutely hated). Not that I didn’t get on very well with my colleagues - I did - but I got much more work done in my dining room ‘office’ (and I saved on the commuting cost as well).

Re: The Friday night drink, as opposed to the Friday night Meal & Drink: British people are obviously a lot more 'Family' oriented: We're not going to miss the evening family meal, just to eat out with our work colleagues, but it's OK to get home after midnight totally pissed, with a carrier bag full of Indian takeaway!

Love the vlog as always ❤❤❤

It really depends on the industy you work in in the UK. I work in IT. Its not uncommen to get free breakfasts in the office (Fruit, cereals etc). Usually Gym membership too and other assorted perks. Even if you just want an admin job, go hit hit up a tech company. You will probably also bag those perks.

Income Tax was introduced in the UK to fund the war against Napoleon. I think that war is over. National Insurance was introduced to fund NHS, unemployment and pensions yet my parents are facing having to sell their house to pay for their old age care. MPs should be paid minimum wage., PM should pay rent on 10 Downing St.

Great video Alanna! I don't know how people can cope with only 10 days holiday!

In England & Wales, under the extreme circumstances when you might not qualify for any 'earned' holiday days (though I can't imagine what those circumstances might be,) you'd still be paid for the following 'bank holidays' : New Years Day, Good Friday, Easter Monday, Early May Bank Holiday, Spring Bank Holiday, Late Summer Holiday, Christmas Day, Boxing Day. That's EIGHT paid 'days off' at least. (For Scotland and/or Northern Ireland, this might be different, though they probably get even more days off there!) And remember that allowed Holiday days are the legal minimums - some employees may provide more. Vacations abroad are common from the UK, and due to the amount of employees' holiday allowances, vacations farther afield, (to the Americas, Africa, the Far East, and Australasia, etc.) become a realistic possibility. How many Americans live their entire lives, having never left their home nation?

Quick Google search says additional 5 national holidays for Canada, apposed to 8 in the UK. Also 37.5hrs working week!

Interesting comparisons. My experience in Canada was unlike yours: I worked for a Cdn coy for over 25 years (my second career - having been a soldier for 32 previously), these were the typical benefits: upon hiring: 10 days total sick and bereavement leave and 3 weeks of vaca. Every 5 years vaca entitlement increased by a week to a max of 4 weeks a year. Additionally, although the PAYE system is brilliant, I used Turbo Tax for years - and found it simple and straightword.

I used to bring in 20 jam doughnuts ,custard creams and Jammy dodgers from the local tescos on my birthday. The dept had about 25people. When I was working on a project that required a lot of engineering fitting work, Id take some over to their dept to make sure I was their preferred 'customer'. Got to grease the wheels lol

Thanks Alanna for a great video, 10 days holiday in Canada blimey 😮 is that the work till you drop scheme. We haven't always had good holidays in Britain when I started working we used to get two weeks in summer and a week at Xmas and that was it.

My first job was back in the 1960s, think it was two weeks holiday back then plus Bank Holidays, which I believe started as compulsory holidays for bank workers. During my second job it was four weeks of holiday, but no longer than two weeks at a time. Wanting to do a holiday in Australia I gave a years notice of my plan so I could have a month off. Certainly glad not to deal with USA holiday culture! Now it's one long holiday following retirement, but still things to do.

Thanks girl for sharing Have an amazing wonderful day. ❤❤

When I started work the holidays were ten days plus bank holidays and one extra day for every five years at the company. When I finished work they were 25 days plus bank holidays. Forty years ago I worked in Germany. There employees had six weeks holiday (with full pay) and for every day off we were paid the equivalent of an extra half days pay! However I don't know if that was for all companies or just a local arrangement between our works council and the employer.

I'm a retired medical professional. I have worked in more than a dozen countries in three continents, and I have NEVER had to 'file taxes' as a routine.

The legal minimum paid time off for a UK employer is 28 days, although this can include the 8 bank holidays, so it would be 20 + the bank holidays. I currently get 25 plus bank holidays so 33 in total.

You’ve only seen the tame version of drinking culture. In the 90s we would usually go to the pub at lunchtime for a couple of pints, almost always without food. After work we’d go again for another 2-3 pints, usually with crisps or nachos for people to share. This was every day. I worked for the government and the building even had a bar inside it so that we would waste less time by having to walk to/from the pub. Ahhh, the good old days…

I worked for a company here in the UK that paid for weekly supermarket deliveries of tea/coffee & milk as well as fruit, crisps, chocolate & cereal bars, cereal, the list go's on...

I'm pretty sure my dad would usually keep instant coffee around when we were young for when friends/family/other farmers came around.

When I started working, it was in a large office in the City. By coincidence, in the first few weeks two or three people had birthdays and brought in cream cakes as was the custom. At the time I just thought we had cakes once a week! Still love that top, Alanna.

I had a hospital job where you could get egg and chips free anytime day or night as often as you liked. Often 4am at close of play! Quick sleep before doing it all again at 9am. Got about £150 a month accommodation provided. They didn't like us taking holiday allowance much so we didn't bother. Colleague went on horse riding holiday in South America. We had to work extra hard for that. Loved that job obviously PAYE. Are others seeing comments other videos "Adventures and Naps" says.....!?

I work from home four days a week and have to go into the office on only once. This way we get all the benefits of home working but also get the social aspect of working with others. This is helped by also having daily “Teams” meetings where we do online quizzes etc

I have worked for my current company for 30 years. When I first started, we finished work on a Friday at 4:30 pm. After about two years they changed so that we finish at 1 pm on a Friday, yes 1 pm. I would be extremely unhappy to have to work a full day on a Friday. Also, at our office we have a Coffee Bar with a full time Barista, as well as a free on-premise 9:56 gym and full time personal trainer. Gosh yes, and 28 days hols per year. Gotta love working in the UK.

My son-in-law works for a company in London where there are various different restaurants of different styles, all with good quality food / meals. They are allowed to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner at work all for FREE if they so wish. They also have coffee shop grade coffee machines and the company runs free 'barista classes' so the employees can learn how to make really good coffee. And you guessed it the coffee and any and all other drinks are totally free.

Just a minor clarification, as Canadians we’re responsible for getting our tax returns filed but we don’t have to do them personally. There are many companies and accounting firms that do tax preparation and you could even let your brother-in-law or someone else do them if that was there thing and they were a lot more competent than you are, but you’re still responsible for the results. My Wife uses Turbo-Tax as well and it’s worked very well.

I have been self employed for most of my working career and the self assessment is definitely a pain but by the sound of it I think I much prefer the UK working arrangement, particularly the Bants and the cake. 😊😊😊

The birthday treats situation is exactly what we do in elementary school in the US haha. We used to bring in our own cupcakes for our birthday in first grade! Never heard of it as an adult though.

I always envied office people who could spend a large part of the day drinking coffee. If anybody just left the shop floor to buy coffee, that would be their last day in that job. I once had a Christmas "do" in June. At one company, we had a woman on the shop floor who had been trying for a baby for years and was getting near the upper age limit. one of the bosses brought out a few small parcels then somebody else brought out a few more then more then more she ended up with enough to fill the company box van. The best birthday was a woman who was a professional standard baker she would make a variety of cakes and bring them in.

I worked for a cuppla American companies here in London, for a very short time, and they used to close down on a Friday, at around 4pm, and have an informal get together and food was supplied by the Company, plus SOFT drinks and it was very nice ... we could NOT leave the office, someone had to deal with the phones and any queries, but generally we chilled out, and no real work was done. They used to call it something, but I can't remember what . . . Something like Happy Friday or some such name 😮😮 It was good 👍💯

THANK YOU.

You can self certify for a week, which for most people will be 5 working days. Also there is Statutory sick pay and Company sick pay. Statutory sick pay is what the company must pay you, but many company's have more generous offers in their contracts that will top it up. SSP is £0 for the first 3 days off sick, and then it is up to £116.75 per week (part time and temporary employees qualify, but they wont pay you if you normally earn less than £123 per week and they only pay you for the days you would normally work) you qualify for a maximum of 28 weeks in a rolling year. Many Employers will pay you extra after you have been there a qualifying period with the maximum you can get going up each year - so topping up your sick pay for to full pay for a week after you have completed probation is not unusual with your entitlement going up each year. Some employers also take out permanent health insurance for their managers so even if you can no longer work you will still get an insurance payment.

2 hours in the pub on a Friday then 3 hours trying to stay awake till hometime 🤣 You had to be working in the 80's to understand how normal it was .

The pandemic changed things where where I work we now have a hybrid way of working from home and going on site as well. I found WFH full time very lonely, missed the banter! I suppose. However, I'd hate to work on site full time as well. So that's a change. Its hard for someone from a different country understand banter and I really admire you and others that move countries and fit in.

I've just retired (yay!) but was unfortunate to be sick for the previous 14 months. In that I got 6 months full pay and 6 months half pay... 😮 I did get a bit harassed by HR and their 'absence management' policy though, some of which is really dumb. I've never worked anywhere which had less than 33 days holiday. The last place, in addition, you could either buy or sell five days. The one before you could request an additional 5 days unpaid (same as buying really). In schools and colleges 'term time' employees (including teachers) only work 195 days... that's 13 weeks holiday!

On tax I had the reverse experience. I moved (permanently) from the UK to France. I had never even looked at a tax return before, now I was faced with a French return, in what was then a foreign language to me. I hired an accountant. Office coffee and tea? I never worked for a company that asked for contributions to a tea and coffee kitty. That said, I never worked for a company that provided decent tea or coffee. Always the store's cheapest brand. Paid holidays in the UK usually include bank (or public) holidays of which there are 8. So in reality a Brit would regard his 28 days paid holiday as 20 days. Pretty much standard across Europe, though a few companies grant 25 days, but I do not know if that includes public holidays. My cousin lives in Saskatchewan. He gets 15 days paid leave, but tells me that is just Saskatchewan, and that other provinces get the (in my view inadequate) 10 days + 5 paid public holidays. Sick pay. No comment, except that the system in the UK seems better. Christmas parties. I hated them! I'm now happily retired in France and no longer need to worry about work. But I do like your videos. It reminds how lucky I am to be retired and have the wherewithal to enjoy having nothing to do for anyone but me.

I really couldn't imagine only having 10 days of annual leave... 28 days feels like too little as it is 😅

I've been self employed for years, but worked in a variety of jobs with colleagues when I first arrived in the UK for many years, first in Alberta and then BC. The one constant I have seen - or been a part of, is the acknowledgement of American thanksgiving. I've never worked anywhere, or attended a college, where that there wasn't at least one American working and no matter what, there will always be at least a pumpkin pie brought in to have with coffee and an acknowledgment that they are away from home and its a big day. 4th of July and stuff can just slide by, but never Thanksgiving

I retired a few years back, but some of this makes me slightly nostalgic for office culture.

I worked for H&R Block in Ontario - that was certainly interesting! 😀

Being a 19 year long visitor working in UK, I have never got used to the drinking with no food thing after work. But when I order munchies to share like fries or nachos everyone will partake!

Two exceptions I've seen to the kitty thing, some fancy firms give free tea and coffee, milk, sugar etc. And the other one is if you work in catering. Then it's assumed that you not only get free tea, coffee etc but whatever meals you are serving you get to eat that too (whatever is left etc). I mean catering, like working in a staff canteen, a nursing home etc, not working in a restaurant, I've done less of that and I think in many you don't get fed, but I could be wrong.

I worked in schools in France in 1999 as a language assistant and as far as I know the coffee (real coffee) was free. I also got a free lunch but that was only because I helped take the children to the canteen (which we had to walk through the town to get to). I didn't have to do that, but I was friends with the people around my age hired to do that and I'd rather go with them than sit for two hours alone while most teachers went home, or sit with older teachers for two hours in the staff room!

Tax returns used to be the same in NZ, it changed around the late 80s or early 90s so it was done automatically. I find it crazy that US/Canadian citizens have to practically beg the government to get their own money back, especially in these days of computers and automation.

Regarding vacation days in Canada: to be fair, two weeks (10 days) is the government-mandated minimum, what an entry-level employee will receive. Anyone being hired at a more senior level, with experience, if not initially offered more time will certainly have leverage to negotiate for it.

TY 🙏🙏

When I worked in large IT companies, there was not a lot of banter (swearing was definitely frowned upon). But there was always free tea and coffee, and one company also provided fruit squash, decent biscuits and fresh fruit daily. But I think age of employees makes a big difference - my first company was full of mostly single people in their 20s and had a very lively social scene, but my next company had a lot more older people who usually wanted to go home to their families after work.

Personal taxes in the UK is pretty straight forward. Its when you deal with business taxes when what you described what happens in Canada is exactly the same here. Purposely complicated is a spot on description..

I've worked in factories or workshops all my working life & there is a machine that you pay 10p or 20p for a coffee,hot chocolate or tea. I always took my own teabags & milk. Got a larger quantity & weren't paying for it.

As a single man, I can't relate. I'm not into most things most others are, when I leave work everyone else drinks and goes out I go home cos I don't drink. Good coffee and movie at home for me. Ha

As I work for the NHS and have for 45 years I often have 2 weeks leave at the end of holiday year and take the first 2 weeks of the next years leave giving me a full month off

Every company I have ever worked for in the UK has provided free tea and coffee. I did work at one where you could pay 20p and upgrade to a coffee pod if you did not want the instant.

I’ve only ever worked in UK offices and never had a kitty for refreshments. The employer always funds the refreshments.

as a student I worked for a year in hospital admin - and someone would bring fresh toast from the canteen for elevenses, delicious!!

My Canadian family referred to the instant coffee I much preferred to that stuff with paper filters and beans, in a poor attempt at a Scottish accent as “awfee cawfee “ when I was visiting from the UK

A lot of pubs do meals, you could've eaten with after work drinks. No need to copy each other.

Hi I came to canada in 2018 I have a LMIA and it runs out 2026 and im heading back to uk once I get my taxes done for 2025….. I do long haul drive 🇨🇦 🇺🇸 🇲🇽 love the country but I’m struggling to book holidays as everything is so far away and 2 weeks is not enough time go away I find it tough it’s all work don’t have a life out here and I’m payed by the miles

It should be noted that there is no legal requirement in the UK for an employer to provide any sick pay, though many employers do. The amount and number of days is usually stated in your contract of employment and may increase with length of service. Everyone however is entitled to Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) claimed as a state benefit. Though I am now retired, my employer paid a maximum of 120 days in any 12 month period at 100% of my salary.

A swift half after work = ten pints and a curry. I used to work for a company where we would have a works christmas doo which usually involved occupying a town hall or hotel with a ballroom and bars and .. never being invited back. Only a few hundred of us with a free bar. Fun times.

Instant coffee is *not* coffee. My US friends are not double taxed in the UK, there's a dual tax treaty but they do have to file, any taxes paid in the UK can be set against any the US might raise. There's issues with things like ISA for example which the US just regards in the same way they would a GIA.

That difference in vacation time was a huge and welcome change when I moved from the US to Asia so many years ago. I went from 2 weeks to 8 weeks PLUS public holidays of which there are many, in my new home. After this I knew I would never be able to move back to the North American paid slavery system That was over 25 years ago and I am now retired and at the moment enjoying the UK. I split my time between China and the UK with much travel in between.

Instant coffee just reminds me of petty grievances. My parents always keep some on hand so that when they are arguing over who emptied the last pot without making a new one, the aggrieved party can just make a sad instant coffee.

On the sickness front: after four days of self-certifying you can then go on statutory sick pay which last a maximum of 28 weeks. After that your next recourse would be either New Style Employment and Support Allowance (which is contribution based) or Universal Credit (which has a health element and is income based). Remember you have employment rights, for example your employer must make reasonable adjustments to help you back to work. They might be able to dismiss you on the grounds of capability if that doesn't work though. Think of someone going through cancer treatment and how that might affect their ability to work. A reasonable adjustment might be allowing them to work less hours, or work from home more. Claiming a disability benefit called Personal Independence Payment might also help them get work done.

Pubs have crisps!!😅😅😅

In Belgium I get an email that my taxes are available. I can then look and change things, or just do nothing. This is a HUGE improvement over a few years ago, where I had to click OK. I have 40 vacation days. On top of that there are several holidays. What I do is from April on take 1 week per month. And I take a city trip with most of them for a few days.

Hi we had two things which I guess is fairly common in New Zealand a weekly lotto pool and either instant coffee and tea morning and afternoon at the same time every day.

As I haven't posted anything for a while, I made this is a long post: As a Brit who has lived in Oz for 17 years, here are some of my observations working in Sydney. I have no doubt other parts of Australia do things slightly differently. All the companies I have worked for in Sydney, and there are many, have always provided coffee, tea, sugar etc. at the companies expense. Never had to pay for it. It's seldom I see whip rounds for birthdays, but there's always a whip round when someone is leaving, and a pleasant lunch and a few drinks. Bringing in cakes on your own birthday I have never seen here, and that's something I do miss about the Brit workplace. We have office banter, but it's different, I've found it to be quite tame in comparison. Occasionally people do go for a few drinks after work, but many people often start work early, and finish early and head off somewhere to enjoy the rest of the days sun, maybe the beach, or some surfing, or sailing. I prefer to hit the gym. It is common for the company to put on some special event for staff during the day, to celebrate some event, morning tea, or a barbeque, or even a team building day, love those...not. Going to lunch as a group or team once a week is also very common. Xmas parties are a big thing, and I usually get very, very drunk... Typically vacation time is 20 days, and paid sick leave is 10 days. We do our own tax returns, but there is online software provided by the government, but it's easy to get help, you can pay a tax accountant a small fee, it's not expensive.

It's been a few years ago since I worked, but in the UK you legally have to submit a tax return even if you are P.A.Y. However if you are a 20% P.A.Y.E the authorities never chase you. However if you fall into this category and you earn more than £1000 interest , not including tax ring fenced items like Isas etc you do have to complete an income tax return S 2:30

It is really quite amazing how culturally similar Canada and the U.S. are, considering they are two separate nations. Yes, there are differences, but they extremely minor, for the most part. It's only when you start comparing one to any other country that it seems we have the same culture between us.

I’m a Brit but I’ve worked in the US with people who take their annual vacation and arrive back at work after a few days because they were bored. When I first saw this I couldn’t believe it. Most people seemed to take long weekends and not much more. They didn’t know what to do with themselves if they weren’t working. I once took a three week vacation (the company at that time allowed us to buy an extra week) and the people I worked with were totally shocked. I think I was supposed to ask the company for permission to do that but didn’t.

If you have never watched the only fools and horse's episode,the jolly boys outing a must see !!!😂😂😂😂

Regarding the 'Christmas Do', in the UK business are allowed to spend money (up to something like £150 per employee) on these 'do's with no tax liability to the employee. It doesn't have to be Christmas but it does have to be in one lump. I had to deal with this as a self-employed contractor where I had to find ways to spend this each year that were acceptable otherwise my accountant would nag me for not making proper use of my allowances as an employer.

Once whilst working for a major fish processing company in the north of England, I was rushing about to get home early, because Manchester United were in the champions league final, the team beat Chelsea, anywho I sent £30k of premium salmon to the pig farm, and the major London based food court got a load of off cuts, getting to the crux of the matter, I used my seven days self cert, then sick noted for three months, until I found a new job, 😂.

In the UK paid sick leave really depends on the type of role you're in. Better paid jobs and some office roles in general have paid sick leave. Workers in supermarkets, lorry drivers, restaurant workers and similar, often get no paid sick leave apart from statutory sick pay. In that case you get 3 days unpaid followed by SSP. But SSP is much lower than minimum wage. I feel like it used to be higher proportionally when I was younger (I'm in my 40s) but I'm not sure. So you can self-certify for the first 7 days, but you're not necessarily getting paid/paid much during that time. So it's such a two tier system, because many people do get full pay when off sick, that is (within reason) limitless. Others get a certain amount of paid sick leave each year (I get up to two weeks on full pay). And then many get only SSP after 3 days off.

me and my partner lived in Canada for four years till last year. She only got 15 days off in her last job. Let's just say I'm not shocked we moved back.

The banter is something that happens most in smaller organisations. Big companies have more forced santised environments these days.

The odd thing about instant coffee is that it was, I believe, an American invention, to keep the troops going in world war 2, it's just that we in the UK adopted it, perhaps because of rationing, and you in North America didn't. Also, regarding a tax return, I remember a book: "Have Spacesuit Will Travel", I think it was, where one character, maybe the protagonist's father, used to never file a return but simply handed the IRS man who came to investigate a pile of money, stating "You don't have to be literate to pay your taxes!".

I worked in a couple of offices in New Zealand. For the most part it was frighteningly similar to the UK, slightly longer hours, but like your experience language and use of certain words would sometimes confuse me.