American reacts to GERMAN WORK CULTURE

Thank you for watching me, a humble American, react to 5 reasons to work in Germany and work culture

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[vomm]

I always find it strange when someone says you can't make friends in Germany or at work, because practically all the friends I have were once work colleagues. It just doesn't always happen that quickly. It is also encouraged in most offices that employees get along well, coffee breaks are tolerated, there are company parties, people gossip and laugh in the hallways, and drink beer together after work. None of this is a problem. That's how I know it. Germans are social beings like everyone else. You just have to have a little more patience sometimes, give it more time. What is true is that there is a relatively strong separation between professional and private life, but that doesn't mean that colleagues can't become friends.

[turtleflip]

I started my job in 2015 with 30 paid leave days. Due to our union, within two years I got the offer between a 5-6% increase in salary or another 6 days of paid leave. After two more years, the offer got repeated. I chose paid leave because I was happy with what I got paid. Therefore, I had 42 days of paid vacation per year.

[michi]

The theme of friendship depends a lot on the person and on the Company culture. I met two of my best friends at work and next year I will go on a skiing tour with 9 of my colleagues. So if you are open minded you get friends at work ☺️

[carinapusteblume]

The vacation days are only for work days. The legal minimum is 20/24 days depending on if you have a 5 or 6 day work week. On top of that we have roughly 15 bank holidays (paid of course). If you use your vacation wisely you can get long periods off work without using a lot of your vacation days. On top of all of that we have "unlimited" paid sick leave. If you need more than 6 weeks sick leave for one illness your employer no longer pays you, but you get 60% of your net salary from your health insurance. You can apply for financial aid if those 60% are not enough to support you and your family. If you are sick a lot of times during a year for different illnesses, you get your full salary through your employer every time.

[JochenHormes]

If you move to Germany, we will all be your friends.

[stephanweinberger]

regarding PTO and sick days, a very important point was not mentioned: in Germany (and Europe in general) those are completely separate. I.e. if you are sick you get paid sick leave _without_ losing any vacation days. If you fall ill during a vacation you get back those vacation days (because vacation is meant to be recreational, which it obviously isn't when you're recovering from sickness).

[ReisskIaue]

About friendship with co-workers: There is no problem about it at all, but while at work you don't talk much about issues not related to the job. This it what makes a professional worker. For everything else you can meet on weekends or after work (if you are close enough).

[stephanerbe]

The 30 paid leave days and the paid sick leave days came mostly out of a hard fight between labor unions and employers of coalminig and Steel Companies in the late 19th century. The labor unions were very strong here in germany. Today these goodies are so naturally for everybody that most people forgot where it came from and don't think about becoming member of a union.

[noduj]

You can definitly make friends at work, it depends on your job and on the people. I'm a event technician, its a normal thing to be friends with your coworkers, since we travel alot together through europe, from event to event, we always spend our freetime together.

[Roger-npwi]

Dude, the guy in the video is British. Oh yeah, his channel is also called "Brit in Germany".

[beldin]

A work-week is normally 5 days, so 30 days = 6 weeks.
If you have a 6 day week the minimum is 24 days instead of 20.
I mostly took 15 days in the summer and another 15 days around christmas, maybe after christmas in january also since beeing on work between christmas and new year was mostly quite relaxing.

[berndhoffmann]

2:34 workdays, though it is 6 weeks
5:35 day of for funerals, it depends if it is 1st grade like parents it will be 2 days, rest of family from 2nd grade 1 day off.
5:36 day of moving, yet again it depends, if it is within the vicinity it is 1 day, if it is hundreds of miles it is 2 days.
7:58 I am many years older than Benikon, but I have never experienced work colleagues not becoming friends or that is no bonding there. During the marvelous 2000s we went out to party at least 3 times per week with whole departments, and many lifelong friendships have formed. I would say it depends on the people working for the company, but it is not a general point one can make for German professional life.

[ShatroGames]

My company basically forced me to take my remaining PTO in december where I already scheduled vacation over christmas into the new year. So I basically had PTO from start of December til early January.
And I got paid even more than regular because most companies either pay you double your wage or give you a significant bonus as a reward for the work you did that year. This helps employees with their christmas presents, keeps them happy and more loyal to the company.
I've lost a friend due to COVID and my company gave me a week off to recover mentally and it wasn't reduced from my PTO. Also, we got $200 more tax-free for six months because of the "hassle" of suddenly working from home. I have to add that we're not a big company, we're like 15 employees.
Also, sick leave does not reduce your PTO. Companies also cannot fire you for being sick, unless you're hardly at work anymore, of course.

[Jayarbal]

I can not confirm people don't make friends at work here in germany. Many of my co-workers meet on weekends or even travel together on holydays. we usually know at least a little bit of what's going on in each others private lives, and talk about that stuff in our breaks, too. Of course it's possible to make friends at work, it might depend on who you meet, and how the general athmosphere is at the company. I personally get along very well with everybody at work, but I do not have close friends there. Still, I might join a collegue for a concert, a barbecue or else every now and then. We are not that strict. Work is important, but generally I think everybody will be chill as long as work gets done in time.

[tilliboy]

Something that also gets more common in Germany is that companies offer you to work for 2 years with 80% of your salary and then you can take a sabbatical or gap year where you get the other 20%.

[pavelmacek]

According to the Federal Holidays Act, all employees with a 5-day week (also part-timers!) in Germany are entitled to a minimum holiday of 20 days per year. A paid break of 24 days (4.8 weeks) to 30 days (6 weeks) with a 5-day week is now normal in many companies. Not sure how elsewhere but in my company it is allowed to transfer max 5 days to the next year and all those days had to be used till end of March.

[myeramimclerie]

If you have school kids in Germany, you typically take around 2 weeks during the summer holidays, 1 week for the kid's autumnal holidays, a few days around Christmas and New Year and 1 week for the winter holidays. Never heard of anybody taking everything at once 😂

[seorsamaclately]

On the topic of Bildungsurlaub (Educational Holidays), whether you can get it depends on the state you live in. He lives in Frankfurt (Hesse) where it's been granted for ages. You get paid time off work, but the fees are your responsibility. The course doesn't have to do anything with your profession or your actual work, but the courses must be certified for Bildungsurlaub.

[sandrap.]

5:40 in Austria, as far as I know, you get 2 days off for moving. And additionally one for your wedding, and one for funerals of close relatives. You also get paid leave to take care for sick close relatives living in the same household, if your child is sick, one of the parents can take "Pflegeurlaub" to be able to stay at home with the kid for example.

[Sarah-domy]

in the Netherlands the same and mostly 3 weeks in the summer and the rest spread over the other holidays. I used to work more hours and took 3 months in the summer with my son to italia.