Hmm... that's pretty crappy. Everyone at my company starts with 3 weeks + 10 holidays. After 2 years, it's 4 weeks, at 6 years, it's 5 weeks, and at 10 years, 6 weeks. On top of that, artists get an additional 6 weeks, though the company can dictate when they can take it if we're in a slow period. There's no cap on the amount of vacation we can roll over. This is, of course, all negotiable.

In addition to that, we have the option of taking our overtime hours as time off (at 1.5x the number of hours worked), or getting it paid out. (At the moment, I have ~6.5 weeks of this comp time.)

Oh, yeah -- and every 5 years, we're given two months paid time off for sabbatical. (3 years, 2 months to go!)

I'm not sure what the rules are for freelance workers -- I doubt they get the 6 weeks additional, as when we're in a slow period, we just wouldn't renew their contract.

I guess that's probably as close to European vacation time like as one gets on this continent.

(My previous company in Canada gave 2 weeks, 3 @ 5 years, and 4 @ 10. Non-negotiable.)