It’s starting to do well to always hit the Americans for no reason. Under the pretext that they make war everywhere, plunder the oil of poor countries and have people who bother them assassinated, are they considered the big bad guys in the film? Excuse me, but that’s a little too easy. And since you are really in bad faith, I will give you a few points on which they are squarely ahead of the rest of the world: the labor code. Believe me you’ll shut your little mouths after this.
1. No mandatory contract
There you have it, excuse me, but it’s impressive: no need to sign a contract to start working, sometimes a handshake is enough, we call it an “at will” contract. So you don’t have to waste three hours reading the incomprehensible piece of paper that supposedly promotes workers’ rights, you arrive and work straight away. Especially since it protects the employer, and we too often tend to forget the employer.
2. So no mandatory reason for ending the contract
That’s the good point: since we don’t sign a contract, we don’t really need a reason to end it, we can do it without reasons and especially without notice unless it’s for a dismissal massive. There are only three cases for which you are not allowed to fire someone: as revenge after the employee has spoken out about the company, for discrimination or for violation of the public interest, which means nothing enough to mean everything. So it’s a catch-all thing, if we have to fire you we will.
3. No legal working hours
If in France most contracts count up to 35 hours of work per week, some exceptions may exceed this duration. In the United States we don’t even bother with an average duration, most employees work an average of 40 hours a week and again that’s the losers, the real ones do it in three days and don’t complain.
4. Very low minimum wages
Depending on the job you do and the state you are in, the minimum wage may fluctuate a lot. If an office worker will have a fairly respectable fixed salary base, some trades have a much better system for the employer: tips. You hire someone and pay them a pittance because your clients are stealing their pay, the bosses’ dream.
5. The labor code is divided between that of the federal laws and the laws of the federated states
It sounds like a nameless brothel said like that and it is completely the case. Depending on the state in which you work you will not have the same rights or the same advantages and it depends on which legislation has been privileged. However, in the event of a dispute, we note that according to the texts, we must generally favor the settlement that benefits the employee. Well, that’s what the texts say, huh, don’t believe that it’s always respected.
6. About 10 days annual leave
Already, you should know that paid vacation is not mandatory, we speak more of a benefit than an obligation, but on average almost all Americans have paid vacation. On the other hand, forget the five weeks of the French, in the USA it is between 9 and 10 days. Honestly, it puts a system like this in your place, don’t you think?
7. Almost no strike authorizations
If you work in an environment that could “paralyze” the country if you don’t do your job, you are not allowed to strike. At random like that, I’ll give you an example: the railway companies cannot go on strike. Even if strikes can be difficult for users to manage, it is still a rather essential right.
8. The mess of sick leave
The more you will do a low paid job, the less you will be covered. That’s a bit of an extreme summary, but that’s pretty much how it goes. Depending on the trade, you can receive your salary up to 7 or 8 days a year for sick leave, but this is not the norm. Finally something that prevents these lazy employees from putting anything on their couch at the first cold.
9. Increasingly efficient internal work tools
The society Amazon would have found the solution for the well-being of its employees: remove certain words from its internal chat application. “Forced labor,” “union,” “jail,” “living wage,” “slave labor,” and even the word “toilet” would simply have been dropped from the app. Wondering why “toilet” is there? Because apparently the company’s delivery drivers have such tight goals in their workdays that they piss in bottles right in their truck.
10. Have the chance to work for iconic bosses
Imagine working for Elon Musk who tells his employees that they can telecommute during the covid crisis but decides to fire those who do so in stride or for Zuckerberg who his own employees call the eye of Sauron so much he monitors them in permanence. The dream of being able to work daily with such inspiring personalities. And rich.
