And of course, here in the U.S., there is no guarantee of any paid vacation. Paid vacations are offered as an incentive to lure the most qualified candidates to a corporation. They are not a guarantee. The average is 1 week the first year of employment, 2 weeks after that, and then it increases a day or so each year. Some companies offer more, some less. The service industry typically sees no paid vacation though, citizen or illegal immigrant, it doesn't make a difference.

Hi, Tracy,

True, they're never a guarantee, but these days it's pretty common to see companies offering either a week or two weeks in the first year. Actually, I think for "professional positions", 2 weeks the first year is becoming more the norm. They're standard enough that I'm not sure I've ever seen paid vacations offered these days as "incentives". Maybe it's a matter of semantics: to me, incentives are things like bonuses tied to performance, paying for conferences, etc.

For service industries, again, no guarantees, but I was under the impression that the majority offered at least 1 week in the first year (for full-time employees). Even "permanent part-timers" (20-29 hrs a week) at places like bookstores, mall jobs, etc., often get a week the first year.

Kevin