I think most european countries have 4 weeks counted as weeks not days and american ones usually only count work days so 15 days is actually 3 weeks. At google I had 25 days in my last year = 5 weeks which is not too bad. Amazon is traditionally a shit show with only 2 weeks your first year and 3w thereafter
The UK has 28 days minimum, that includes "bank holidays" (USA: Public holidays?) which are days decided by the government as holidays for everyone - like Christmas. So it's more like 5.6 weeks total in the UK, and the UK aren't particularly generous - your final year in Google, an exceptional comapany, barely meets the statutory minimum in the UK.
That might be the difference, nobody (that I've met) in the US would count a public holiday in PTO time.
Google's not super exceptional in this matter (that's mostly their pay/on-site experience). I have 4 weeks (20 days) at the moment, and have for a few years, along with 8 paid holidays (28 days total). Next year I get a fifth week (33 days with holidays). I don't work at a FAANG/MANGA company, but just some random company in the Mid-West.
But I've also worked service jobs before with 0 paid days. Holidays were mandatory work days because everyone who did have decent jobs were off and wanted to eat at a restaurant. The talk about the bottom in the US being below elsewhere isn't a myth. The US doesn't like putting floors on matters this side of the 60s.
Google also had around 14 holidays so no it far exceeds uk min requirement. Most us companies dont count holidays in their pto numbers and most have around 10 holidays
Is it still common in the UK/EU to only grant "holiday pay" (i.e. you get paid a fraction of your normal salary) during PTO? In the U.S. it has always been standard practice to get paid your full salary on PTO and national holidays. Even if that is so, I still think I prefer the European system.
