I mentioned in my last post that I just started my first job in the UK last week. and it's been pretty good so far! but it's also been incredibly eye-opening after working exclusively in the US my whole adult life.
in america I've worked retail for mega corporations, admin/reception for incredibly small businesses, and did a brief stint in a warehouse during lockdown. these jobs were across several years and two states, and the contrast in work culture and infrastructure when compared to my experience here is incredible.
of course some of these things I knew would be different, but there are more subtle aspects which are making me realise just how bad my american workplaces were.
I have a month's paid time off (plus bank holidays) which I don't have to accrue or wait until I've worked for X months/years before I can use it. also paid sick time.
the culture encourages you to take time off, it's a non-issue
breaks are also encouraged throughout the day
I've been given a work mobile, with no expectation that I use my personal phone for work tasks/chats/etc
paperwork! everything is explicitly in writing, from the contract outlining pay/leave/notice period/duties/etc to the ~50 workplace policy documents I had to e-sign
infrastructure for the job is already there and well-managed by someone else, I'm not expected to set everything up and maintain it myself
I'm sure there are more. some of these may not seem like such a novel thing if you've been lucky to work for functional companies, but my previous jobs were lacking most if not all of these things and the result was an incredibly unpleasant, draining, and dysfunctional workplace which made me miserable.
little things like having to have the work WhatsApp chats on my own phone with my own phone number meant I could never get away, poorly managed or non-existent systems put the burden on me to sort out how to run everything, and lack of clear contract (plus no HR) meant I had no idea what I was entitled to.
and of course no time off and no health insurance.
my company here is not that large, I don't really agree with the company mission, and it's an entry-level position, but I already feel so much more secure than I ever did working in the states. knowing I'm encouraged to take time off for whatever reason (without loss of pay) makes the prospect of full-time hours less daunting, and everything about it just feels so... do-able. stable.
(also they do cake for everybody's birthdays.)
