(Apologies for the mixed tenses; I’m writing this on July 2.)

I know I said I wouldn’t make this blog all about work, but I had something to say about working in general.

For those who don’t know, my day job is with a company based in Europe. I work for their US division, and as such, we are subject to US labor laws. My European colleagues get a ton of time off, and when they’re on PTO, they’re on PTO. They don’t answer their phones; they don’t check their email.

Contrast that with US workers. It would get someone fired if they didn’t check their phone on their day off. And if there’s an un-missable meeting on your day off, you have to log in and attend it.

Recently I was given a comp day in exchange for working eight days in a row on a job site. I decided to take it on July 3 (with my boss’s permission). However, on June 30, I got an invite to a meeting on the 3rd at 9am. I reviewed the meeting invite and talked to the person who invited me and it was determined that I really did have to attend the meeting — otherwise, I would miss a lot of important information that I needed to known right then.

Then, on the 2nd, I messaged one of my European colleagues a somewhat-time-sensitive question; he said he had just left the office and would get me an answer the next day. Well, I suppose I could have told him I’m off, but I’m going to be on for an hour anyway, so I might as well collect my answer when he sends it to me. Once he does, I may need to do some additional work after the meeting. And then, at 4pm, I have an all-staff meeting that was scheduled the day before a holiday for some reason — I kept hoping the scheduler would change it but that seems unlikely. Oh, and I have three new people starting on my team on Monday the 7th, so if something comes up with their transfers I’ll need to deal with it at that time, since Friday is a holiday.

So, really, I’m not going to be off on the 3rd. It’s a comp day, but it’s not a comp day. And I can’t change it; we don’t actually have a comp day policy, so my boss is helping me out by giving me an unofficial one. I don’t want to push my luck.

It really annoys me that American companies feel entitled to your time even when you’re off work (supposedly), but then, most jobs are in right-to-work areas, which really means that the company has the right to fire you for any reason that isn’t protected by law. And so few reasons are protected; taking your time off certainly isn’t one of them. Especially if you’re a manager. Hell, I forgot my work phone when I went to TASSP this year and had to have it overnighted to my hotel, and good thing, too, because some stuff happened over that weekend that I needed to know about.

Of course, if I was working for our European divisions, it wouldn’t have mattered. But because I’m American, it does.