UK vs USA | Why British Workers Have It Better

Comments · 2.3K

• TH

  @TheTudorYank · 4 months ago · pinned

  What shocked me most after moving to Britain wasn’t just the tea, the trains, or the fact that every plug socket looks like it could survive a siege.<br>It was realising how differently work is treated.<br><br>In the US, exhaustion often gets dressed up as ambition.<br>In the UK, people are much more likely to ask, “Why are you emailing me at 10pm, you haunted little spreadsheet goblin?”<br><br>What do you think Americans and Brits misunderstand most about each other’s work culture?

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• DA

  @davebicker8618 · 4 months ago (edited)

  I get the impression that slavery never ended in the US, it was just rebranded as an aspirational thing.

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• AN

  @anthonygraham3341 · 4 months ago

  Whoever linked your healthcare to your job deserves a special place in hell.

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• JO

  @JovianR · 4 months ago

  In the US, freedom means freedom for the rich to exploit everyone else.

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• BR

  @brianferguson7840 · 4 months ago

  It seems that in America all life is precious and fiercely protected &nbsp;right up until &quot;You&apos;re Born&quot; from then on You&apos;re on your own😢

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• SA

  @SandyZappa · 4 months ago

  Old British here, aged 75, we fought for hundreds of years to get our rights,as did the rest of Europe, we pay from our taxes our health service, we have fought for maternity leave, for dads too, proper holidays, sick pay , paid by our government and employers, we don’t need to be labelled Communists or Socialists,we have developed a society that provides safety nets for the poor and disadvantaged, wake up U.S.A.

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• ER

  @Eru_Ilúvatar-79 · 4 months ago

  Had a young American working at our factory back in the 90s. He was only over here for a few years (don&apos;t remember all the details now), but he came into work on a Monday favouring his wrist. Turns out he&apos;d fallen on Friday evening when out at the pub. Thought he&apos;d sprained it. Saturday it was agony. Same on Sunday. Come that Monday we could all see he was pale, sweating, grey in the face. I was a Quality Control officer at the factory, and one of the First Aiders, so I just signed him out and dragged him down to the A&amp;E... but had to FIRST explain to the poor bugger that this wouldn&apos;t cost him 1) a penny to get medical aid and 2) wouldn&apos;t cost him his job, and not even lose a penny for missing a day.<br><br>He&apos;d broken his wrist, and dislocated three fingers. And was trying to come to work... in a factory... with that. Untreated. Ended up taking him home after, and told him to take it easy for a couple of days before even ATTEMPTING to return. Got back to work, explained to the Foreman of his section, and handed him a copy of the doctor&apos;s note the lad had asked me to hand over. He phoned later to confirm (as I&apos;d instructed him) and he was assured that what I&apos;d told him was correct. He did come in on Wednesday (old habits, I&apos;d imagine) but we expected it and we had a job set up in case he did, something he could do with his arm in a cast. God love him, but he was still panicky a few weeks later, expecting a medical bill to drop.<br><br>It&apos;s a massive culture shock to Yanks coming over here - not just about work, and the duty of care EMPLOYERS have for their employees, but the NHS and all that goes with that as well.

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• CA

  @CarolineDay-m6m · 4 months ago

  It&apos;s &nbsp;modern day slavery without the physical whips

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• RO

  @robertlonsdale5326 · 4 months ago

  Misti, it&apos;s not just Britain it&apos;s most of the world that&apos;s realised that you work to live a life, preferably with satisfaction of peace.

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• GR

  @grahamtravers4522 · 4 months ago

  The UK standard response to &quot;What do you do?&quot; is often &quot;As little as possible.&quot; &nbsp; It&apos;s partially joking, but also implies &quot;None of your business&quot;.

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• SE

  @SethClay-p8h · 4 months ago

  Many of these work protections were brought about by Trade Unions

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• EM

  @emmafrench7219 · 4 months ago

  I couldn&apos;t believe it a few weeks ago when I saw what happened in one of the big Amazon warehouses in the US. Apparently some of the people sorting the packages suddenly &quot;heard a thud&quot;, and a man had collapsed on the floor. Some people went to help him and were told by their supervisor to &quot;get back to work&quot;! They were not allowed to attend to him. The man was left dying on the floor with nobody able to help otherwise they would lose their jobs. He died. He was 46 years old! I&apos;m sorry but if that happened, not only here in UK but most countries we wouldn&apos;t, couldn&apos;t just leave him there on his own. I would rather be fired. It is terrible.

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