In the US you probably get 2 weeks of flexible PTO and about 5 days where everybody gets a day off. Even that is not guaranteed US law doesn’t require any PTO.
Another shocker for others, maybe, is that many companies require you to use those same pool of days as your sick leave. Get sick and no vacation for you. Japan does this as well (though Japan actually has ma-/pa-ternity leave which is more than I can say for the US)
Holy shit… if I get sick during my vacation, I’ll get those vacation days refunded so I can use them later, when I’m not sick anymore. I can call in sick for up to three consecutive days, 25 days total per year without a doctors note. You only need a doctors note if you exceed those limits, and with a doctors note you have paid sick leave until the doctor says you are fit to work (although the government covers your salary, or part of it, not entirely sure about the details, after the first two weeks or something).
Doctor’s notes are usually up to the company to decide. There are various insurances and such as well that can kick in for long-term illness. Japan has a program that pays 60% of salary for some period of time, though I don’t know the details.
To clarify a bit: what I mentioned above is the legal minimum an employer can give me regarding sick days. They are of course free to do more, and I my personal case, I’ll usually just work reduced from home (answer mails and do lightweight administrative stuff) if I’m starting to get a cold or something, get better in a day or two, and come back full time, without logging any sick days, because my employer prefers that I’m available for small stuff and get well fast rather than that I take “full” sick leave if I’m just mildly sick.
In the US you probably get 2 weeks of flexible PTO and about 5 days where everybody gets a day off. Even that is not guaranteed US law doesn’t require any PTO.
Another shocker for others, maybe, is that many companies require you to use those same pool of days as your sick leave. Get sick and no vacation for you. Japan does this as well (though Japan actually has ma-/pa-ternity leave which is more than I can say for the US)
Holy shit… if I get sick during my vacation, I’ll get those vacation days refunded so I can use them later, when I’m not sick anymore. I can call in sick for up to three consecutive days, 25 days total per year without a doctors note. You only need a doctors note if you exceed those limits, and with a doctors note you have paid sick leave until the doctor says you are fit to work (although the government covers your salary, or part of it, not entirely sure about the details, after the first two weeks or something).
Doctor’s notes are usually up to the company to decide. There are various insurances and such as well that can kick in for long-term illness. Japan has a program that pays 60% of salary for some period of time, though I don’t know the details.
To clarify a bit: what I mentioned above is the legal minimum an employer can give me regarding sick days. They are of course free to do more, and I my personal case, I’ll usually just work reduced from home (answer mails and do lightweight administrative stuff) if I’m starting to get a cold or something, get better in a day or two, and come back full time, without logging any sick days, because my employer prefers that I’m available for small stuff and get well fast rather than that I take “full” sick leave if I’m just mildly sick.