The first difference between working in Canada and working in Holland is that 99% of jobs are covered by a union contract. Sometimes the contract is specifically developed for a particular company. The big companies want contracts that cover their situation, such as having branch offices in another country. But if you are the sole employee at a restaurant, then you are covered by the restaurant workers' employment contract.
And when you get a job, you sign a one-year contract. The employer is obliged to keep you until the end of the contract, unless you do something egregious in which case they have the right to fire you. You can leave anytime, with one month's notice.
After the year, you get another contract. Same rules. If the employer isn't going to renew your contract, they let you know a month ahead.
The second difference between Canada and Holland are wages. In Holland you never need to tip, because all those restaurant workers covered under that contract earn enough to live on. The minimum wage here works out to about €8,50/hour. Which is about CDN$11.50/hour. Assuming a 35 hour work week, that's just over $20,000 annually. And while yes, Holland does have high taxes, they are progressive the same way as in Canada. We all get taxed the same on the first $x or €x that we earn, and then as people earn more they get taxed more on the amounts within the next tier. So no one in Holland legally earns less than $20,000/year, pro-rated for part-time workers.
A third difference is illness. When you are hired in Holland you get instructions on how to call in sick. Sometimes you call your boss, sometimes you call another company as well as your boss. In either case, you have to tell them what's wrong. You describe your symptoms and answer any questions they have about what medication you're taking, if you have a cough or a fever, etc. In Canada, your boss isn't allowed to ask you about your medical situation! Most jobs I held in Canada, I had to call in every day I was sick before 8am, and if I was sick more than three days I had to return to work with a doctor's note stating that I had been too ill to work on whatever dates. In Holland, once you've called in sick, you have to call in well again before they let you go back to work. If you're sick for quite a while, your company will send a doctor around to visit you. When you call in sick, you are expected to be at home until at least 2pm, at which time it is understood that you might have to leave the house to pick up your kids from school or get some groceries. Of course a doctor's appointment is an exception.
But the biggest difference is your relationship with your boss. Bosses in Holland care about having happy employees. Their job is to keep people happy and satisfied, and to work with them to find a solution if things aren't going as well as they could. Bosses' primary function is to make sure that the people who are supposed to be getting the work done are doing it well.
During the first year I lived here, I worked as a mail-deliverer. I was shocked when a Dutch friend suggested I talk to my boss when I was getting frustrated with my schedule. I had assumed I would have to just go get another job. I called my boss, who adjusted my contract, reduced my hours, and got me working in another area closer to home. He was happy to do so, and in fact had a couple of other suggestions that made my job easier as well. I just about fell over from the shock!
My next job was a receptionist in a busy gym, offering aerobics and spinning classes, fitness facilities, squash and tennis courts, a large lounge as well as a sauna and steamroom. I expected the language to be a big challenge, but the job itself was certainly not beyond my capabilities. What I have found most interesting is that my boss sees himself as equal to me. If I have a concern, a question, or feedback of any type, he is glad to hear it. He doesn't always agree with me (shock!) but he is absolutely open to how I see things. And this is just how things are in Holland. In talking with my Dutch colleagues, most of whom have work experience elsewhere, I have learned that Dutch bosses value employees who understand the business' priorities. And the best way to get employees to value the business' priorities, is for the business to value the employees.
We get presents at Christmas and we get compliments when things are going well. When things aren't going as well, we are invited to a meeting to figure out how we can do better. All ideas are welcome. I have to tell you, it's a wonderful feeling.
I worked for almost 20 years as a secretary in various positions in several companies in Canada. Twice, for about a year each time, have I had bosses that treated me with respect. That was, by far, the exception.
I was usually treated a bit like the photocopier - there, with a job to do, and very annoying if I broke down or didn't produce as fast as desired. In the course of those 20 years, I had two extremely bad bosses. What they shared in common was the idea that I had been hired to do their bidding. I got jobs such as going to another building to see if a key worked, or making photocopies of a schedule that had been used 30 years previously. Nothing wrong with those tasks, if it was part of something. But I was just told to have it done within the hour.
Good bosses, on the other hand, have treated me like a prized consultant. It was assumed that I could do whatever they asked, so they didn't waste my time or theirs breaking a job down into baby-steps. They told me their goal, and expected me to figure out how to reach it. It was a trusting relationship, and I loved the challenge. And they loved the results.
The two bad bosses? I wasn't the only secretary to leave within 3 months.
Showing posts with label Social Customs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Social Customs. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Sunday, January 2, 2011
More of 2010 Draws to a Close
So we went to dinner at the Landhaus Waldschlosschen. It was very kind of the hotel receptionist to call around for a restaurant for us to have our New Year's Eve dinner, especially considering it was just past 8pm already.
And I love going out to eat with J... if the place is awesome he really enjoys it, and the place is not quite awesome, he enjoys that too.
This place was less than. Oh my, but it was interesting!
There were several challenges I faced. First of all, I am fluent in two languages, and passable in another. None of those are German. So even asking for a table for two was, well, iffy. Fortunately, the waitress spoke enough English to figure out that we were the couple sent over from the hotel. And, to tell us the rules.
Yes, rules.
It was a New Year's Eve buffet dinner. We could eat as much as we wanted until 9pm. Drinks were extra, even juices and teas. Here's the challenge: it was already 8:25.
I am a very slow eater at the best of times. And, I find buffets very stressful because I always want to eat 2-3 times my bodyweight in order to get my money's worth. How could I possibly do that in 35 minutes!!!
And of course, the rush and the buffet dinner made the long, lingering dinner that J and I so enjoy impossible. But there were compensations.
In general, the food was pretty good - which, I must admit, I don't really expect from buffets. The schnitzel was very disappointing, and a couple of the desserts were far too boozy-tasting for me to eat, but there were quite a few very nice dishes.
I showed admirable restraint and put only one or two bites of about 5 different things on my plate on each go-around. So I was full after two plates, which gave me just enough time to load up my dessert plate before they started dismantling the buffet.
Then we ordered a coffee (well, tea for J the coffee-hater), and leisurely ate our dessert. Ahem. I ate leisurely. J eats so quickly this meal-time-crunch was a non-issue for him. I usually eat about half as much as he does, starting before him and ending after him.
While enjoying the non-rushed part of the meal, we took the time to look around. The decor was early-demented-Grandma. By that I mean, there was a carving of a witch hanging from one of the rafters, and a disembodied Santa-head on the wall. There was an assortment of unexpected Christmas decorations, such as small Christmas rocking horses, stockings hanging below pictures on the wall, and lopsided mini-trees bedecking every table. We also noted a couple of ceramic pigs placed about the room. Interesting.
For some reason our credit card didn't work there, even though we'd just used it to pay for the hotel. Luckily, we could pay by PIN, which was news to us. We'd always been able to use our PIN to withdraw cash from an ATM, but not to pay in a store outside of Holland before.
Anyway, we were the last guests to leave, and drove safely back to our hotel, trying to avoid looking directly at the silent-meditation people on our way back to our room. The usual Dutch tradition is to set off fireworks at midnight, although of course the 10 days before someone somewhere is setting them off. J and I watched some Dutch New Year's Eve programs and set off some private fireworks of our own instead. Wink wink!
What a great end to a great year!
And I love going out to eat with J... if the place is awesome he really enjoys it, and the place is not quite awesome, he enjoys that too.
This place was less than. Oh my, but it was interesting!
There were several challenges I faced. First of all, I am fluent in two languages, and passable in another. None of those are German. So even asking for a table for two was, well, iffy. Fortunately, the waitress spoke enough English to figure out that we were the couple sent over from the hotel. And, to tell us the rules.
Yes, rules.
It was a New Year's Eve buffet dinner. We could eat as much as we wanted until 9pm. Drinks were extra, even juices and teas. Here's the challenge: it was already 8:25.
I am a very slow eater at the best of times. And, I find buffets very stressful because I always want to eat 2-3 times my bodyweight in order to get my money's worth. How could I possibly do that in 35 minutes!!!
And of course, the rush and the buffet dinner made the long, lingering dinner that J and I so enjoy impossible. But there were compensations.
In general, the food was pretty good - which, I must admit, I don't really expect from buffets. The schnitzel was very disappointing, and a couple of the desserts were far too boozy-tasting for me to eat, but there were quite a few very nice dishes.
I showed admirable restraint and put only one or two bites of about 5 different things on my plate on each go-around. So I was full after two plates, which gave me just enough time to load up my dessert plate before they started dismantling the buffet.
Then we ordered a coffee (well, tea for J the coffee-hater), and leisurely ate our dessert. Ahem. I ate leisurely. J eats so quickly this meal-time-crunch was a non-issue for him. I usually eat about half as much as he does, starting before him and ending after him.
While enjoying the non-rushed part of the meal, we took the time to look around. The decor was early-demented-Grandma. By that I mean, there was a carving of a witch hanging from one of the rafters, and a disembodied Santa-head on the wall. There was an assortment of unexpected Christmas decorations, such as small Christmas rocking horses, stockings hanging below pictures on the wall, and lopsided mini-trees bedecking every table. We also noted a couple of ceramic pigs placed about the room. Interesting.
For some reason our credit card didn't work there, even though we'd just used it to pay for the hotel. Luckily, we could pay by PIN, which was news to us. We'd always been able to use our PIN to withdraw cash from an ATM, but not to pay in a store outside of Holland before.
Anyway, we were the last guests to leave, and drove safely back to our hotel, trying to avoid looking directly at the silent-meditation people on our way back to our room. The usual Dutch tradition is to set off fireworks at midnight, although of course the 10 days before someone somewhere is setting them off. J and I watched some Dutch New Year's Eve programs and set off some private fireworks of our own instead. Wink wink!
What a great end to a great year!
Saturday, January 1, 2011
2010 Draws to a Close
I had a great ending to 2010!!
We booked a room for New Year's Eve at the Schloss Gnadenthal just over the border in Germany. J very nicely came to pick me up, and like the wise and wonderful husband he is, brought some snacks. He'd already packed for me, bringing what he thought was 2-3 times more clothing than one person could possibly wear during a one-night trip. It was just enough.
He'd programmed in the hotel into our GPS, and we were on our way from the parking lot outside my work. The hotel is about a two-hour drive away. About 30 minutes into the trip the GPS recommended a detour to avoid a traffic jam. J, in his manly wisdom, decided to ignore the GPS warning and continued on his merry way. One curve in the road past our detour-exit, we found the traffic jam. And stayed there for 45 minutes!! Fortunately, we found some very entertaining radio shows, with ridiculous Best-Of playlists. We entertained ourselves by quizzing each other and singing along.
One interesting thing about sitting in traffic is you really take note of the people beside you. There were a lot of cars full of people who weren't talking to each other at all. There were a lot of smokers, and a few guys blaring really bad music. Most interesting, however, was the guy who travelled with his budgie in a cage in the back seat. I wonder what he and his budgie had planned for New Year's. Speculation abounds.
It got really foggy about 30 minutes from our destination, so J slowed down and we just followed the lights ahead as we could barely see the lines on the road. Fortunately the worst of it only lasted about 15 minutes, and we were going through a populated area so there was some ambient light. We found our turnoff, which had been driven on but not properly ploughed, so it was quite icy. J is a great driver, but not as cautious as I am which drives me nuts as the passenger. I closed my eyes for much of this part of the journey.
We slid into a parking spot, grabbed our stuff, and walked around to the side of the building to the main entrance. As soon as we'd stepped out of the car, J commented on the silence. It was indeed vewy vewy quiet! As we waited to register, I noticed that even inside it was very quiet. I checked with the receptionist, and he confirmed that the restaurant was closed. Apparently most of the hotel had been booked for a silent meditation evening, and so all the normal noisiness, such as the restaurant, had been cancelled for the evening. Shhh.
All well and good, but it was just past 8pm and we wanted to have a nice dinner! So the receptionist called around and found a place for us to go to dinner - the Landhaus Waldschlosschen. It was very kind of him to help us out like that, and he advised us to hurry up as it would only be open until 9pm.
I'm going to have blog about our dinner experience another day... it was really something!
We booked a room for New Year's Eve at the Schloss Gnadenthal just over the border in Germany. J very nicely came to pick me up, and like the wise and wonderful husband he is, brought some snacks. He'd already packed for me, bringing what he thought was 2-3 times more clothing than one person could possibly wear during a one-night trip. It was just enough.
He'd programmed in the hotel into our GPS, and we were on our way from the parking lot outside my work. The hotel is about a two-hour drive away. About 30 minutes into the trip the GPS recommended a detour to avoid a traffic jam. J, in his manly wisdom, decided to ignore the GPS warning and continued on his merry way. One curve in the road past our detour-exit, we found the traffic jam. And stayed there for 45 minutes!! Fortunately, we found some very entertaining radio shows, with ridiculous Best-Of playlists. We entertained ourselves by quizzing each other and singing along.
One interesting thing about sitting in traffic is you really take note of the people beside you. There were a lot of cars full of people who weren't talking to each other at all. There were a lot of smokers, and a few guys blaring really bad music. Most interesting, however, was the guy who travelled with his budgie in a cage in the back seat. I wonder what he and his budgie had planned for New Year's. Speculation abounds.
It got really foggy about 30 minutes from our destination, so J slowed down and we just followed the lights ahead as we could barely see the lines on the road. Fortunately the worst of it only lasted about 15 minutes, and we were going through a populated area so there was some ambient light. We found our turnoff, which had been driven on but not properly ploughed, so it was quite icy. J is a great driver, but not as cautious as I am which drives me nuts as the passenger. I closed my eyes for much of this part of the journey.
We slid into a parking spot, grabbed our stuff, and walked around to the side of the building to the main entrance. As soon as we'd stepped out of the car, J commented on the silence. It was indeed vewy vewy quiet! As we waited to register, I noticed that even inside it was very quiet. I checked with the receptionist, and he confirmed that the restaurant was closed. Apparently most of the hotel had been booked for a silent meditation evening, and so all the normal noisiness, such as the restaurant, had been cancelled for the evening. Shhh.
All well and good, but it was just past 8pm and we wanted to have a nice dinner! So the receptionist called around and found a place for us to go to dinner - the Landhaus Waldschlosschen. It was very kind of him to help us out like that, and he advised us to hurry up as it would only be open until 9pm.
I'm going to have blog about our dinner experience another day... it was really something!
Sunday, December 26, 2010
A Dutch Christmas
Christmas is far less important in Holland than what I was used to in Canada. And I am lucky enough to have awesome in-laws with whom to spend Christmas!!!
Saturday afternoon, the tweede Kerstdag, we headed over to my mother-in-law's apartment in downtown Leiden, and were greeted with three kisses, a hug, and a cup of tea. As a Dutch friend of mine explained, Dutch people always offer a cup of tea or coffee before you've had time to take your coat off because they worry you may have travelled as much as 30 minutes to get to their home, and are thus on the verge of falling faint with exertion. Canadians will laugh at that, given that it takes 30 minutes just to get to the grocery store. A few hours travel to visit a friend or family member is not unusual!
Exchanging gifts for Christmas isn't a tradition within our family, but I don't know if that is just our family or all Dutch people. We did have a special meal, but it was nothing traditional, just very nice. My sister-in-law is a wonderful cook, and always prepares a meal that is not just delicious but also looks great. I'm a great cook too, but I tend to plop my meals on the plate, whereas hers are much prettier to look at! Unfortunately, my laundry is a little behind so I was wearing my tight pants... and couldn't eat as much as I wanted!
We then played games. We played a game with quiz questions about the Elfstedentocht, which, suprisingly, I did fairly well at. Until the end, when one roll away from the end, I got a bad-luck card and had to return to the beginning. Sigh. We played the boardgame for Ik hou van Holland, which I actually won!! Which is a surprise, since the only answers I could really give were guesses! Then we played a game about grocery shopping which was a bit silly, and then Dutch Scrabble... I came in last, but with only 17 points between me and the winner!! I'm quite proud of my Dutch language skills!
Then we chatted a bit longer, and went to bed. The next morning the four of us walked around a couple of neighbourhoods in Leiden as my husband and I are thinking of moving there. And then Sunday afternoon we headed home.
It was nice and relaxed (and delicious) and all done in Dutch! I'm so blessed with a wonderful family in Holland!
Saturday afternoon, the tweede Kerstdag, we headed over to my mother-in-law's apartment in downtown Leiden, and were greeted with three kisses, a hug, and a cup of tea. As a Dutch friend of mine explained, Dutch people always offer a cup of tea or coffee before you've had time to take your coat off because they worry you may have travelled as much as 30 minutes to get to their home, and are thus on the verge of falling faint with exertion. Canadians will laugh at that, given that it takes 30 minutes just to get to the grocery store. A few hours travel to visit a friend or family member is not unusual!
Exchanging gifts for Christmas isn't a tradition within our family, but I don't know if that is just our family or all Dutch people. We did have a special meal, but it was nothing traditional, just very nice. My sister-in-law is a wonderful cook, and always prepares a meal that is not just delicious but also looks great. I'm a great cook too, but I tend to plop my meals on the plate, whereas hers are much prettier to look at! Unfortunately, my laundry is a little behind so I was wearing my tight pants... and couldn't eat as much as I wanted!
We then played games. We played a game with quiz questions about the Elfstedentocht, which, suprisingly, I did fairly well at. Until the end, when one roll away from the end, I got a bad-luck card and had to return to the beginning. Sigh. We played the boardgame for Ik hou van Holland, which I actually won!! Which is a surprise, since the only answers I could really give were guesses! Then we played a game about grocery shopping which was a bit silly, and then Dutch Scrabble... I came in last, but with only 17 points between me and the winner!! I'm quite proud of my Dutch language skills!
Then we chatted a bit longer, and went to bed. The next morning the four of us walked around a couple of neighbourhoods in Leiden as my husband and I are thinking of moving there. And then Sunday afternoon we headed home.
It was nice and relaxed (and delicious) and all done in Dutch! I'm so blessed with a wonderful family in Holland!
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