The Culture Shocks of Working in The Netherlands As An American / American Living in Amsterdam 

Yoooo Happy Thursday!!! How are y'all! What do you guys think of the way the dutch work and the differences between America?

The idea behind a lot of vacation days is that you are more productive when you actually work. Going on a holiday works like a reset and is beneficial to your mental and physical health so in the end it sort of pays for itself. Happy relaxed people just produce better quality work so its seen like a win-win type of deal.

That's called workers rights. That's what unions are for.

I'm always surprised how Americans keep stating they're such a 'free country' and pride themselves on their 'freedom', when they're basically corporate enslaved. There seem to be no proper work-life balance. And what bothers me even more is that the government doesn't set any rules for this! Like for instance a proper minimum wage. No shady contracts like 38h and then no full benefits. Waiters that have to be tipped extraordinay because they don't earn enough etc etc .But then again probably the politicians can't/won't do anything about it becasue in the USA they don't really seem seperated from the corporations and their money...

In the Netherlands you have to earn or build up your leave days, only difference is, you can use them in advance. Let's say you get 25 days per year, you can use all them basically in the first 2 months of the year. However if in the 3rd month you were to resign you have to pay them back given you didn't work long enough yet to earn the leave you used.

My brother who is a computer analyst/programmer moved about 35 years ago to the USA, hè was given assignments for the entire day but finished them by midday. They were just not used to his efficiency and work tempo to get the job done.

I think the thought about Dutch (or European) work culture is that a healthy and happy worker is a hard and efficient (and loyal) worker. That way we get more things done in less time, so we can have more time for our private live.

Looks like the American Dream is work, work, work and no holiday.

I'm Dutch and I am happy to see you enjoy the Netherlands. Tell your American friends if they're looking for a job

I am currently enjoying a four day work week due to a 'vitality regulation' offered by my employer for employees of 62+ years old. Its very beneficial financially. It's often called a 80,90 100% regulation. 80% work hours instead of your 40-hour work week and you get 90% payed of your 40-hour work week and you keep 100% of your pension accrual! And I think that is a beautiful thing!😄👍

If you get a bit more into labourlaw here in the Netherlands (wich i think yiu should have done prior to this vid, but that is just my opinion), then you will find that you are not allowed to work excessive hours for a long period of time... that is why you do not see a lot of people having 3 or 4 full time jobs at the time, as the say they have in the States (guess they gave different meaning to full time). It has less to do with the kids, but more about the empoyee him-/herself. If you do not get emough rest, you get sick more, you need more people to cover for those people at home etc etc etc... so, by protectimg the people, they found it is cheaper as well for the companies

Just FYI: Dutch law mandates a minimum of 20 vacation days to be taken on working days (your regular days off do not count), of which at least 10 must be taken continiously. So you have a guarantee by law of at least a two week holiday! Most companies give a little bit more, 22 or 25 is quite common. Also, as the years progress more holidays can be added depending on the company. I once worked at a place I was entitled to 35 days/year!

Europe: Work smart..... not long. Us: We are the best country in the world..... and still life in the previous millennium.

sounds like leaving an abusive relationship and entering a healthy one 😂❤

In the Netherlands employers are held responsible for the health of their employees, because when employees get sick by default of their job, the employers have to pay a big part of the money the emloyees gets during sickness. So.. keeping your employees fit and healthy costs less

My mom has a restaurant. Employees always have a bottle of coke or whatever they prefer on hand. You finish your drink go get another. They have a tosti around 1. And wether they work until close ot their shift ends more around dinner, they get a legit meal before they leave, and they're not expected to hurry it down.

I know exactly how you feel: When I worked in Oirschot there were times the job had to be done. Basically I came in at 6 in the morning and worked till 02 in the morning. Basically 2.5 days in 24 hrs. Because the ship had a fixed departure time to sail to Japan. But that was just 8 times per year. Still that adds up, but that always got paid according to the cao rules. Think that is the big difference: Sure, it was 'mandatory' but is wasn't a problem because it was compensated well. The big difference: I had the possibility to say no, whereas in the US it is expected, and you run the risk to lose your job.

At my company you get a work phone (you can choose between an iphone or Samsung), laptop, bagpack, Corporate OV chipcard, a mobility budget (depending on car situation), unlimited education budget and discounts on many products and holidays. And they pay half of my home internet connection. And this is not an exception!

Dutch are good in efficiency! It is cheaper for a company to buy 200 smartphones in a single deal, than to compensate each individual worker for the use of their phone. Contract with the provider is cheaper and company facilities (free calls between all company phones etc) are more easily done. And than an occasional private use doesn't matter, it's far more cost efficient to disregard than to do administration.

You sure there should be some of both? BCS I'm pretty sure most of us wouldn't swap European work culture for American and I am genuinely unable to find one US thing work wise that would persuade me to move. Life work balance, health insurance, holidays, maternity/paternity leave... Yeah, I'm good.

30 days is not the standard in the Netherlands. 24-26 days is more common.

Personnel is the most important asset any company has. Taking care of it as good as possible is normal sanity.

There's a reason why Dutch kids are ranked one of the happiest in the world, it comes from happy parents that are able to spend times with them because of the working hours, and being home on weekends (depending on the job of course) We have a saying here, we work to live, not live to work ☺️

A colleague of me had a baby and after his wife’s birth leave was over, he started to work 4 days a week, taking all days of paternity leave, vacation days, and the maximum buy-back days and took the rest unpaid leave. He takes Monday’s off, his wife also started working 4 days, free on Fridays. His parents have the baby one day and her parents have the baby another day, so they only need one day of daycare. Because daycare is expensive, very expensive, so this solution is one which lots of parents strive for.

With regards to working hours, I worked in Asia once and worked similar long hours as the US. A Asian ex-colleague of mine wanted to work in the Netherlands as well, having the idea that things would be easier and more laid back. I told her that in the Netherlands, much to her shock, that 8 hours of work really is 8 hours of work. No long lunch breaks, no extra coffee breaks in which you chit chat with colleagues. Work that can reasonably be finished in a day is expected to be done in a day. Putting in extra hours unjustified will get scrutinised eventually. The thing in the Netherlands is that you need to work smart and efficient, not just long hours.

In the Netherlands we have built up a good social safety net, which means that as an individual you need less money for difficult times. Healthcare also costs you less as an individual if you get sick. A lot happens collectively, which provides many advantages. In the USA you have to provide a sufficient buffer yourself. You pay more tax here in the Netherlands than in the USA, but that has little effect on prosperity. The road network is well maintained, healthcare is up to standard, less crime, less poverty, etc. In the USA the differences between groups are much greater. You also see it in politics in the USA you have the Republicans and Democrats here in the Netherlands you have 16 parties in parliament. They will have to work together, which often removes the extremes. With 16 parties it is also almost impossible for a party to get an absolute majority. Someone like Trump could shout all sorts of things here but would be able to make few decisions. He would always have to work together and therefore have to compromise.

10:01, when you turn around and walk several meters, you can go through a gate on your left and stand in one of Haarlems beautiful hofjes. These are very old, nice and auiet places in the middle of a city. Dicover them. The on on the Bakenessergracht is from about 1344. You walk through Haarlem bit you do not know what you see or mis.

Couple of explanations or details; - Technically you get 25 or 30 days off based on a full year. If you would quit earlier, and already took all days off technically you still tok too many. But we give them out at the start as that is way more logical… - People who work four days sometimes work 4x9 hours making 36 total. - Yes, to some extend the days off and such are negotiable. Depends per company. - The 13 months per year can mean two things; you always get 8% in may als holiday pay. A lot of companies ALSO give a 13th month in December. That makes it 14 monthly salaries per year. -

Those are simply statutory rights, to protect employees from unfair treatment. And everything is based on a full time contract of 40 hours per week. So you want to work less, like 36 or 32 hours per week, everything gets based on that. Salary, pension rights, personal paid holiday rights, etc. All depending on you fulfilling your job description adequately to satisfaction. Going beyond and above that may get you perks and bonuses. It's not about being available 24/7, but getting the job done within reason.

I'm from the Netherlands and work for a hardware/DIY store. If you work the afternoon to closing shift dinner is provided for you. If you have dietary restrictions that are not covered by the selection we have you get compensated for bringing your own food. We also get to take home stuff from the store that is cleared, either because part of it broke or because we're getting rid of it for other specific reasons.

I love your editing style. The story flows but the shots differ, love that change in pace. Somehow keeps my crazy brain invested to keep watching and listening. 😅

As someone who's worked in corporate IT here in NL it's actually not that expensive to provide your workforce with electronic devices. It's actually shockingly cheap. The real cost is in support of course but I can guarantee that letting people muddle around with their own devices is much more expensive. To illustrate the difference in culture, I've worked for a good subset of large corporations and the overall attitude from higher management is always that if we're going to ask people to work outside office hours, we have the obligation to provide them with the tools to do so. Some are cheaper about it than others, and lower level managers do often play office politics, but I haven't heard higher management describe laptops and phones as "perks" since the 90's. I don't know about the US but here "perks" count towards income while "essential work tools" are business expenses. Handing out devices selectively instead of to everyone with a certain work profile can really screw you over with the tax administration. Where I'm going with this is that this idea of "work perks" is just another way to keep a leash on employees. I'm fairly certain they're actually spending more a lot more money to be barely efficient. edit: I'm not saying corporate IT departments in NL always do it right. But often the price of devices is used as an excuse. I'm saying it's probably cheaper to do it badly for everyone than to do it badly for a select few.

This is a huge multi faceted topic. As a self employed architect I worked 60 to 80 hours a week for 35 years. At least I worked from home so I could get family time in too.

Really enjoyed the video!! As a Dutchie who worked in payroll and knows a bit about stuff like work benifits and such, what I think is a great (super simplified) example is a company like Philips (the inventor of the cd). They used to make all kind of household stuff; tv's, fridges, vacuumcleaners etc etc. Especially like in the 50's/60's, who is going to buy stuff like that? Just normal people! Who makes these kinda stuff in your factory and puts them together? Those same normal people! So a company that had their employees as their workers is gonna treat those workers in a way that gives the company goodwill towards the employees. This is a really simplification ofcourse, but Dutch company tend to treat their workers not just good because it's mandatory by law, but it gives them something in the long run as well. When sitting down at a bar, you feel more welcome when the team seems genuinely happy to be there. I think this way of thinking (treat your employees right and you get a loyal team back) is a big reason why working in the Netherlands is like it is. Plenty of exeptions of course, but still. Cheers!

I believe that, cause Suriname 🇸🇷 is the same way to, 30 days off and a lot of holidays. The month of December and the World cup season are slow and the everybody is in a party mood. Good topic bro

I work in a big bakery. We have daily overproduction of bread and bunns all calculated in the fact production can go wrong. We are allowed to take a free bread and bunns home and whats left over goes to food pickups that are thight on money to buy groceries

I just want to mention that not all jobs offer this 13th month of pay, nor do all jobs give you 30 days of off time when you start. I work for (ironically) an American company at a site in the Netherlands. I gain 4 hours of off time in a week. And do not have a 13th month. Even though I am legally employed here. Not in the US.

A full work week is 5 days or 40 work hours for most people, depends on the job. "Work to live, not live to work" is the motto. The 13th month pay is a courtesy from some employers. Same for free food and free phones, with some exceptions.

Hours worked: You got a fulltime contract. 32, 36 or 40 hours a week. You're expected to do your job within these hours. When you need to work overtime, there is something wrong with efficiency that should be addressed. Work perks: I work in catering. Company restaurants. Small ones and Big ones. Most guest pay for there lunch. About 98% in my experience. The companies I have worked at that provided free lunch were small.

In The Netherlands we spend our own "free time" to work. This means we keep work and our own private life seperated. When we're done for the day, we stop working unless it's necessary. Also the companies wants to provide everything we need for the job so we are able to work with all the tools necessary.

Average corporate job in the Netherlands: 32 hours a week, work hours 9-5, 25 vacation days, travel expenses, pension, study budget, free or cheap fresh healthy lunches, company phone and laptop, pay for your phone and internet subscription at home, you can work from home and get a small amount per day that you work from home, we even got a budget to buy furniture or equipment to setup a home office. Also very good protection from getting fired. Good work life balance and job security is very important to us. 😂🎉 and I didn't even speak on the benefits you get when you're out sick or actually do get fired, our system is set up so you still get paid through sick days and if you get fired most people get 1/3 of a years salary to bridge the time they need to find a new job. And that's all mandatory by law. And next to that you can apply with the government for sickness benefits (lasts about 2 years) or unemployment benefits.

I can explain that 13th month. It is just a fancy word for end of the year bonus with less tax. Every one in Holland working or getting welfare gets a little vacation money. Every month a small part is set aside and paid out once a year. Some company's might decide to pay you a 13th month as a end of the year bonus. The only difference is. Vacation payment is in summer. The 13th Month is normally an end of the year bonus. It has some thing to do with Tax (surpise) I think vacation money is taxed higher. So you end up with a little more of your money. Thanx for the vid!! ❤ Little edit for work perks.... when you get sick ,sick days are payd. Sick people cost you a lot of money. Burnouts, boredom, depression, stress and work related injuries make proffits go down so do work places that are toxic. Some simple things like a nice place to eat some extras to work more productive might cost you ,but wil make more money in the end. And for the eating servers.... "we know what you pay for that $hit... 😅 better feed us you make enough money from reselling carrots" All jokes aside.. it does not cost a lot to feed your servers and its good PR =even the workers eat here= Must be good must be clean. Never realy thought about that one its just normal here. The more love you share the harder we wil work.

Employers here often offer 2 extra benefits, one is in the law and mandatory and the other is voluntary. Under the law (art. 15 Wet minimumloon en minimumvakantiebijslag), every employee has a right to 'holiday pay' (vakantiegeld) which is equal to 8% of their gross earned income, which is their basic pay and overtime. This is saved by the employer every month, and normally paid out with the salary of May, so employees have a little extra to afford a holiday in the summer months. At some jobs, especially temporary jobs, they pay the 8% extra monthly with each salary (which is permitted) but then it has to be specified on your payment slip accordingly (then an employee does not receive it 'at once' in May). The 13th month is a voluntary benefit offered by many employers, and is an extra month's salary paid in December, so their employees have a little extra for Christmas gifts and dinner, or holiday etc. This has to be agreed contractually, as it is not in the law, but is a benefit commonly offered by employers. Some have other systems, like bonus-systems, but many employers don't like paying bonusses at the end of the year as their annual financial reporting is only due in the middle of the year and then it can be formally determines whether the company made a profit over the year. So if you like a rough indication of your gross annual income, and have a 13th month in your contract, you have to multiply your monthly income by 14 times. Both the holiday pay and the 13th month are built up over the time you have worked with the company. So you only get the full amount if you have worked the full year, and otherwise pro-rata over the months you have worked with the company. I have seen employers being nice, who paid a full 13th month to employees not being on the job for a full year, but it's not a right. When it comes to vacation days, every full-time employee must have by law at least 20 paid vacation days per year, and more is possible by contract. In most lines of business, 25 - 30 holidays is the norm, but there are sectors where it could even be more. For part-time employees the same applies, but pro-rata. So if you would 3 days a week, you get 12 paid vacation days, which also equals the same minimum of 4 weeks off. The 20 mandatory holidays, need to be used within 1.5 year and otherwise they may lapse (I have never seen an employer who did that, but formally this can happen. Easy remedy; enjoy your holidays!). The additional holidays over 20 you may build up and keep, but many employers encourage their employees to use them as they don't want to keep large financial reserves for holidays on their balances.

2:05 That depends on the job. It's called secondary job benefits. Some companies offer a 13th month of pay as a bonus. Some don't, but offer other benefits. As for time off: the law requires companies to give you 4 weeks vacation and the company often throws in an extra month. You want even more? Then at some companies you can buy extra vacation days. Sick leave is also something that's regulated by the government I believe. It does come with some specifications about your salary. First 2 days you don't get full pay I believe. The company I work for also has a rule that if I don't take sick leave for a year, I get an extra day off the next.

We also had free coffee, fruit, soup, beer but you had to bring or buyyour own lunch. When making over hours you got an amount of money on your paycheck for dinner and at some customers when working in the evening, they offered food ( guys, did you eat already? No? I am getting some. What would you like to have?). And many times costumers were so happy with how effiecient we did the work that theycame by and brought a taart and very nice koeken for the guys and one lady. Already in my first week a did some overwerk and they said: the key is under the flag pole and put it back there when you leave again. We all had a car, phone and laptop with mobile printer. Many overhours, also over the limit and a good bonus. No union so we had a free profession(vrij beroep) and a higher wage. Also when just working an hour you still get paid the minimum that the costumer has to pay. For example 2 hours. I did not work 4 days but 5 days (40 hours).

Great video! Rethinking my life journey!

My late mom worked at CBS in the 50’s. Moved up from secretary pool to color tv model to Frank Sinatras assistant, and later, she executive produced his TV show. She had some wild stories.

In Germany, a 2014 law prohibits managers from calling or emailing staff after work hours, except in the case of an emergency. They have been trying to get a similar law passed in the Netherlands. However at present your employer can try and contact you, but you are not obligated to answer. Except obviously if there is an agreement between employee and employer.

Free food is not a thing in the national civil service. It is subsidized a little. The only exception is if you have to stay late because of the budget of your department is in parliament that night. Then you can have a free meal. If you have free food, by the way, it is taxable income in the Netherlands.

Having worked in the US and NL. You work longer hours in the US, but it doesn't result in higher productivity or much higher rewards. You are paid more money in the US, but the costs of living is much higher, which levels things out pretty quickly. (Phone plans in the US are ridiculously expensive).

Hey, that’s funny. I’m on my holiday right now watching this, and I’m pretty sure you were working on this video right before my holiday started…. While drinking the coffee I made for you ;) See you next time ☕️

I love how giggly you are, even after 3+ years! As an entrepreneur myself, I do work hard, but I also could never understand how Americans can only have 1 or 2 weeks off a years. Just nuts to me. 8:50 Also, regarding children, I believe most "first world countries" with low birthrates have been implementing lots of incentives for people to have kids, mainly European countries and Asian countries. How's your Dutch coming along? In my experience, it's one of the harder languages to learn.

You're in Haarlem. Great city. I live 10 min. from Haarlem and i work there. ❤

Yes you will recieve your PTO sometimes in advance, but if you stop working for them you pay those days back to them! You still have to work for it, be carefull.

Greetings from Haarlem , 00:50 my first house , sold in 1993 . I work 3 days , monday , wednesday and friday.

On average in NL, if you need a phone or laptop to perform, your employer will supply you with three tools you need. Mostly on a 'loan', meaning you can have at long as you work for them, and they'll make sure you get an update/upgrade every 3 years or so (the time it takes to write off electronics) And never forget; US -> you live to work NL(Europe) -> you work to live

Yes, we do things more efficiently and we communicate more efficiently, certainly when taken this video as a benchmark.

13 month, is a bonus we usually recieve. Or when you get paid every 4 weeks instead of every month. This means you will get paid 13 times a year instead of 12

I have a full-time contract for 38 hours. But I work 4 9 hour days and take 2 hours of leave every week. That 'costs' me 12 days of vacation, but I get 52 in return, at least that's my reasoning. By the way, I still have enough vacation days left that together with accrued overtime I can sometimes take the entire month off. Almost half of all employees in the Netherlands receive an end-of-year bonus. Sometimes it is a full monthly salary and it is called a 13th month (although this is taxed extra, so the net is often not a real 13th month), sometimes it is only a bonus amount and not a full month's salary. There are also companies that do the bonus by 12 and pay out a portion every month. Then we have holiday money, paid out in May. This started shortly after the end of the Second World War, also as a bonus, so that people could really go on holiday. In 1968 it was even regulated by law.

In The Netherlands, if you are working 40 hours a week on a contract or if you are on the payroll, you are entitled to a minimum of 20 vacation days a year (usually you get 25) and on top of that, 8% of your year's salary as holiday allowance. Some companies offer an extra month of salary as an end-of-year allowance, the so-called 13th month. But in the end they're just part of your salary package. And you can't just start somewhere, take all vacation days and leave, because a proportional number of them will be deducted from your salary. Also, there are laws governing your workplace, so with the mandated work-from-home during Covid years, employers handed out computers , monitors, desks and chairs to their employees. After Covid these features were kept so a lot of expensive office space could be saved. My kid works after school in a small butcher shop and because he works there, we get 20% off on every purchase. Oh, and we have very good and affordable health insurance and if need be you have 365 sick days (366 in a leap year). I would never want to work in the USA, ever, and I've been there for work twice.

The difference is....we ARE working when present on the job. Being present for almost 24 hours does something with your focus and concentration. So if you are present doesn't mean you are actually productive.

Although all my jobs have been UK-based, I have worked for companies that are US-owned several times. When you work for a foreign company in your own country, they have to abide by local legislation - they can't import their own ways of work. As a hospitality industry worker, we got 5.6 weeks paid holiday a year, a reasonable wage, sick pay, a year's maternity pay, uniforms and meals provided, plus 'the tools to do the job' and these where all provided as a statutory right, set down in law (whether we were full-time, part-time, seasonal or casual employees). If these US companies could comply with these laws in the UK and remain profitable, I always found it shameful that my US counterparts weren't entitled to the same benefits that I got from the same company - but then again UK and European governments legislate for decent employment rights whereas US governments think this is too 'socialistic'. Sad, isn't it - I think the definition of that word got lost in translation

You work to live, not live to work.

You get paid every 4 weeks (28 days) but months have 30/31 days. Those spare 2/3 days add up to a 13th salary month, normally in November.

Also in the Netherlands it's in fact a build up for days off and holidays. If you leave before your contract ends you''d get the bill if you used over ratio compared to the worked time. Same for the 13th month and paid holidaybonus. Days off for illness are another thing, those are not limited unless a dr ( in service of the company) decides you can do lower impact activities for your company thans your usable job.

Not trying to diss either but my experience is that NL work is focussed on productivity, quality and efficiency, while US workers are praised for presence, putting in the hours and working their @ss off on their way up. And that way up is so subjective, usually it's not how you perform but who you impress. Sweet talking much? 🤣🤣 Again, this is in general, there's a story to everybody, US or NL, we are all persons, not just nationalities. .

With my employer (medium size in home goods) we get a company mobile phone or a fixed monthly compensation for the use of a private one. Every Monday we have a full on company lunch provided for and a monthly "borrel" (drinks and snacks) after work. Full time for us is 40 hours per week but a lot of staff work part-time. A woman at work has no kids and in her early thirties. She takes every other Friday off just because she wants to. She has a 90% contract. This is more about wanting more of a life outside of 5 days in the office. You get paid to do a job. If you get your job done well then that's all that really matters. Generally speaking 😉 Burnout is also a thing here. An employer should make it possible for you to get the job done. That's why you're there. A contract works both ways. Holiday pay is 8% of your annual salary (usually paid in May) but taxed at a higher rate than normal (just as overtime pay is). One of the reasons why people don't fancy working overtime or longer than necessary. Enough left for a pretty decent holiday. And yes, I get 33 days per year, as I work 40 hours per week and at an age where I get extra leave benefits. 😇

The 13months pay is easy, when you get pay every month thats 12 payments a year but the monthly is a little bit higher because the worked days and hours are a little higher. Without the vacation payment which is also an benefit. When you have a 13th month, you get payed every 4 weeks if thats the case to cover the year, you get 13 payments a year. So thats a "13th month"

Regarding the days of and the hours: you are an employee, not a slave

Holiday works like this: you build up hours for 5 weeks a year. So if you work less, you get less hours, but still 5 weeks in total. If you leave that work sooner than expected and took more than you've build up, you pay it back. I'm an employer and I have a formula for it to calculate the right amount of hours that someone gets.

Regarding the "13th month"; By law you build up vacation money. That vacation money is paid out in May. It amounts to around 8.5% which is 1/12th of your yearly salary. So in that regard you get a 13th month. The gov wants people to save up money to actually be able to spend it to go on vacation, go to the beach, have a good time. You can spend it however you want, though. Many people save up on top of that and spend their vacation money on hobbies and other stuff. Sadly, some people need the vacay money to actually scrape by and pay off accumulated debts over the year. Regardless, it's set by law for employees. If you're self employed then it is assumed you take your own responsibility to save up enough. Apart from that, some company also have an actual 13th month, like a bonus. But this is specific to certain sectors or companies. Edit: LOL 5 years for 30 days?!? How does that even work?

Days off are by law accumulated in the Netherlands. If you work 40 hrs a week a whole year....you'll get 4 times that off...so 160 hours or 4 weeks. If you resign half throughout the year you only get 80 which can be nasty if you have taken a 3 week holiday (120hrs) already before you resigned. They can deduct that remaining 40 hrs from your payment since you did not lawfully accumulate the time off. A bit sour but since you had that week off also justified. Most companies offer more days off, and that's usually around 25 days on avarage but thera are companies that provide up to 40 or more! When you are older some companies give you some extra days which are sarcastically 😂 nicknamed ouwe lulle dagen...or old fart days...usually from 50 or 55 years you get a day a month off or something. We also are experiencing the downside of the 3 or 4 day work culture currently in some branches because they are hugely understaffed. From a personal standing point it might look great but it is weighing heavily on society. And don't forget you pension and sickdays are also calculated based on that 32 or 24 hours a week so if you want to work less you mist take those thing in consideration as well.

‘Damn I had to work on the weekend because there was another school shooting’ America is crazy man. Doesn’t fit the frame ‘underdevelopment’ but it certainly corresponds somewhere in that frame

When i had a job interview in the Netherlands i always said that if they expected me to be available by phone they should provide one because i wouldn't use my own for business.

The one thing I hate is the lack of outdoor restaurants and cafes. You’d think in CA, where the weather year round is pretty great, that there would be a ton of options. Not so the case. Same thing with balconies and apartments/condos. They’re usually so small! One of the first things I noticed when traveling Europe. How much they enjoy outdoor spaces. The baby thing is crazy though lol.

Lol I work 28 hours a week but it’s not really 28 hours , some weeks I got 48 hours other weeks I,m free etc etc but end result has to be 52x28 hours in a year . Loving my job . My wife works 10 hours a week and we are doing just fine , gotta say been very lucky with buying and selling my houses .

Productivity and efficiency is really (!) Important in the netherlands

I’ve always felt that in the US they hold back on those perks (30 days time off from the beginning, work phone, free or discounted food, having a reduced work schedule due to family events, or parental leave, sick leave, etc). And I believe in the US they hold back as if it were a sort of distrust. Like you said, even though it only makes sense to have a work phone, you’d have to prove you actually need it, and jump through so many hoops. I’ve always hated having that sense of guilt requesting time off, or even feeling proud to say I’ve never taken sick leave, and when you finally do, that one time you do take leave, you are questioned so much and have to provide all kinds of proof. Meanwhile, in Europe, they want you to take that sick leave, they want you to see the doctor, they want you to be healthy, they want you to be happy, they want you to spend time with your kids… because they understand that a healthy and happy employee will always perform better and will also be more likely to stay with them company.

I’m from the Netherlands and over here it’s total normal that the employer provides everything you need to do your job. Things like a company phone, computer, laptop, displays, even office furniture if you work from home. Sometimes even a company car, if you need to be places for your work. Plus there’s a ton of benefits, like a preset amount of days off, vacation allowance (that’s often 8% of your yearly income) which you get in May, and some (not all) companies also provide a so-called 13th month (also 8% of what you earn per year), or a bonus of sorts at the end of the year. I work for the government and they have a different system. There you get about 17% of your what you earn per year extra. This is set aside for you monthly and you can choose how to spend it. It’s possible to get a part when you go on vacation, a part at the end of the year, spend some of it to buy extra time off etc. Both new moms and dads can get (partially) paid parental leave, which is usually one day per week for a few months, so that explains why so many people work less after having a baby. Living and working in the Netherlands definitely has its perks! 😉

Nice vid, thanks! Salaries in the US are higher in the US that in Europe and the gap is getting bigger. Having said that, in Europe, we get more holidays, we eat better, we live longer, and we can go see a doctor...which is nice.

BTW it’s great to see how, just after walking through your favourite street, you basically walk into a back alley and still appear to feel perfectly at ease. You seem to are becoming Dutch, sir 😉 As for your topic: secondary benefits like the ones you named: company phone, laptop, travel reimbursement, retirement plan etc. are expected here. Even tiny companies, while not as elaborate, give ‘perks.’ I never worked in retail, but during my days working for a large civil engineering contractor, food at the office was quite cheap. On site however, they often took it a step further: usually the crew would have a system where you crossed off your days at work. For each day, about a euro would be subtracted from your paycheck. The lunches you would get for that €1,- however were ridiculously lavish. It was clear that the company paid for a large part of the bill and our “contribution” was mostly a token gesture. (Reason: it gave the folks who bought the food a good indication of the amount of food they needed to buy. Efficiency at its finest).

I worked at Apple twice, actually it was a temp agency that staffed for them. Trillion dollar company: why did they have employee potlucks there? Okay, they did have lunch events there once in a while and you had to wait your turn to go. But you could go for only half an hour. And then one time they DROPPED our pay because the team went from working overnight to working during the day. And overnight paid a little more. I also got to train my replacement because these contracts last one year and they like to replace you.

As a temp, you are employed by the temp agency. So the vacation days are for the entire year, and don't just apply to your 8-9month temp contract. They apply to all the work you'll be doing through the temp agency during the year. 20 days is mandatory legal minimum. Employers are required to do everything they can to offer you two consecutive weeks off on a yearly basis. Isn't it lovely to have worker rights?

yes.... not exactly, vacation days are 21 days a year by law based on a full time workweek of 40 hours (scales accordingly with lower or more hours), which builds up actually, its about 2 days a month. non negotionable. the rest 100% is. Most, not all, company's offer variations to full time. meaning you can do 4 days with 10 hours. When doing this additional rules may apply, like a mandatory 45 minute lunch break instead of the usual 30 minutes. food isn't per-se free in all businesses. but depending on how big the organisation is, they might have the obligation to provide either food services or reimbursement for food at work, and in the latter case, its generally easier to just provide what you serve anyway.

Hey SKY it's been awhile!! Good to see you doing well. I unfortunately worked a bunch of different jobs growing up due to a constant changing lifestyle/location and just wanted to throw some of my experience in the mix! I'll also clarify I mostly worked low-mid skill jobs bc I was working on building up my dog training business on the side, so keep that in mind. As far as restaurants were concerned, I was lucky to get a free meal during my shift, let alone snacks. I generally had to pay for the food or whoooo a 25%-50% discount! It was balls. I did temporarily work the registers in the HQ cafeteria at Apple for a summer and they offered a free meal and whatever drinks/snacks we wanted from a pretty big side cooler- and ok, you expect more from bigger companies but it was never not feasible to offer more from the companies, they're just cheap! Other types of jobs, you almost never even get vacation days that don't pool with your sick days. When I did, they wouldn't allow you to accumulate beyond a year or three and I would've never been able to take an extended time off without them calling me in or asking questions. I never had a company appropriately prepare for someone to learn the job I did unless I was permanently leaving, and often not even then. I also think working a 4 day work week without kids is super desirable for a lot of people! If I were able to get a typical day job here, I think it'd be ideal for me. It's always very interesting when you talk about your preferred work lifestyle, because I have such a shift in my feelings on the matter lol. Love that for you though :3 I can't think of more rn, but that's the gist!

For gadgets It's like you said in the video: if you need something to do your job more efficiently, you gain more value cuz you might be doing your work faster. You will also feel more appreciated so you don't go looking at the concurrent. For restaurants (in my opinion): they give you free food or discounts to keep you there. If restaurant A gives you free food, a good salary and stress. But restaurant B gives you no free food, same salary and no stress. Then for some people the free food is worth a little more stress, cuz it also gives a feeling of appreciation.

The 'work 12 months and get payed 13' is what a lot of big companies and government adds to your salary, just to be grateful for you being employed for a full year of work (independend of days being out of office bij sickness through accidents or special circumstances like funerals, weddings et cetera) but is not obliged to do. All depends on the agreements made with the union for that trade. Greetings from The Netherlands ❤

We don't know how good we have it. Thank you.

I have friends with no kids who work full time hours but 4 days a week. 3 day weekends are needed!

Free meals depends on where you work and what hours. Defenitly not everywhere you get free food. Most places you don't. But there are rules. If you have to work overtime then in some cases they have to give you a meal. Yes we do work overtime, but the best part is, usually you get time for time... if you worked 4 hours extra some week, you can get 4 hours off sometime the week or months after that. Some companys just pay you the overtime, and then, sometimes you get the choice.

I'm a male nurse, working "full time" 32 hours a week. Went back from actually a "full time" 36 hours a week. Because it actually costs me money having an extra 2 days of daycare a month for our 2 daughters. Because of those extra money of income i would get into a higher scale. Wich means i get less money back from the government. + and this is a big one. I get to have more time with my 2 daughters 😁

It's a bit less outside of Amsterdam and outside of the big internationals. There's a shortage of workers, especially around Amsterdam so it's easier there to get a lot of benefits, but also much more expensive to live there.

I worked in a broodjeszaak and yes, we ate and drank for free. I now work in a clinic for psychiatric care, and I eat for free over there too😊

You do have to accumulate the vacation times in Europe too. You earn 2-2,5 days per month worked. If you end your work contract before a full year is up and you have spent all 30 days off, you have to pay back the days taken but which were not accumulated.

Economically speaking, the 'productivity' is amongst the highest in the world, lowest amount of hours per employee per year. Include cost of living, third wealthiest nation in Europe (EU) after Ireland and Luxemburg. Also: besides city states: most densely populated nation in the world (organized to the square inch). Don't forget, above €75K/year: almost 50% tax. Food? Is taxed if the company provides free lunch. So: you get taxed! Then they can offer a meal. No (real) unemployment, so employees can choose. Housing though: major challenge! How is that in LA? Which city is this, nice!

Dutch contracts don't "just offer xx days off"; that is based on working a year for the company. If you join a company with e.g. 24 days vacation and you work Jan-Dec (12/12 months) of 2024 for them you can have 24 days in 2024. If you only join in July you will get 6/12 of 24=12 days off. If you started in January and quit in Februari, you were only allowed to 2/12= 4 days off. In general you have to use the days before 1 July of the next year, saving them up isn't allowed by law as we think it isn't healthy for you to only work and don't have days off for holidays (of course there are all kind of exceptions like couldn't take them due to emergencies etc.) and your employer is compelled to allow you to take these days.

Wait but if they switched from 5 to 4 days, they're not fulltime unless they work the same amount of hours that they did, just in 4 longer days. They would only be considered fulltime employees if everyone in the company works 4 days maximum. The company basically decided a maximum hours of work per week, it's most often 40, then you're a fulltime employee when you work 40 en parttime when you work anything less than that. The only exception to that might be that they use (parental) leave to take 1 day a week off but are still fulltime in their contract. Eventually that leave will run out and they either have to switch back to 5 days or adjust their contracts and officially become parttimers. And that does affect your days off too, you get 20 days per year by law and companies usually add at least 5 to that, but thats when you're fulltime. If you anly work a percentage of what's considered fulltime in that company you'll only get that percentage of days off. It's still a better system, but there's some nuances to be made 😊 But yeah people without kids often go fulltime because honestly it kinda feels pointless to have that day off when everyone else is at work? I mean unless you've got a LOT of money and can spend your days on hobbies/volunteer work/etc., you might as well go and make some money because no one's available to chill anyway 😂 but when you have kids, the tiny humans are always up to chill! And there's really not many people out there you'd rather chill with anyway. The alternative is sending then out to chill with someone else (daycare, nannies, whatever) and you going ro work just to pay for them to go there 🤷🏼‍♀️ so yeah if we can afford a day or more off, we usually take it. Often both parents take at least one day off so they both get to spend quality time with the goblin while simultaneously covering two days of not having to pay for daycare. Now I've never worked at a restaurant so I don't know about that, but I've worked at several (IT) companies that offered free lunches, fruits and drinks (like softdrinks, not just coffee and tea). I think it's an overall mentality of rested and fed workers are productive workers, happy workers are loyal and commited workers, etc. You can earn money anywhere, they wanna show you why you should make money there, for both you and them :)

Upscale restaurants do have what is basically free food. They tend to sit down and eat together before service begins to make sure that their staff is at their best for the customers and to promote a team atmosphere. A hungry worker usually is not a great worker.

in europe, you will just get by just make just enough money to live your life. however you will have to work til ur 67 in america you can work hard and save up a lot in the early years. to retire at 50, so thats a 12years difference.

My company never gave us free meals. The coffe and tea was for free. You had to pay for your lunch yourself or you brought your own lunch from home. This is very common in the Netherlands.