Did you enjoy the Easter long weekend? How good are public holidays! Already looking forward to the next one? Well, sorry to tell you that you may not get a day off work for ANZAC Day.
You see, ANZAC Day falls on a Sunday this year, and in some states that means no Monday off. In New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania there’s no long weekend. But if you’re in the ACT, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia or the Northern Territory, you’re in luck. Enjoy that extra day off work.
Look, as one of those missing out on the public holiday this year, I get it. ANZAC Day is a day of commemoration, time for reflection. It’s not an excuse for the entire country to hit the beers (although that is a rant for another day). I certainly will be baking ANZAC biscuits though.
If it makes you feel any better, spare a thought for those in the US who didn’t get any time off over Easter. I don’t mean people who had to work on Good Friday or Easter Monday because their jobs are essential — we have that here too. I for one did a lap through the Maccas drive-thru on Good Friday for a Fillet-o-Fish.
But in truly horrifying news, the US doesn’t grant any public holidays for Easter. None. Nada. Zip. They get zero time off to enjoy hot cross buns and chocolate eggs and big family dinners that inevitably end up in heated debates.
I knew the US had some pretty cooked industrial laws — the fact every American I met on my travels was so shocked when I told them Australians get four weeks of annual leave minimum kind of gave that away. But I just assumed Americans were at least getting Easter public holidays. They have an Easter egg roll at the White House and are such big church-goers. It’s not like they just forgot Easter was happening.
Just look at this list of Federal Holidays. Sure, they get public holidays for things like Memorial Day and Thanksgiving, but again, no Easter Holidays. There isn’t even a legal guarantee that private-sector employees in the US get a day off on all Federal Holidays — that’s at the discretion of your employer. Clearly, I am very upset about this on their behalf.
And to make matters worse, America does not observe Boxing Day — the greatest holiday on the calendar, according to me. To be fair, it’s very much an Aussie celebration with all the leftovers, cricket and big fancy boats sailing from Sydney to Hobart. Never take that from us.
So to my American friends: you’re getting ripped off, mate. You’ve got to fight for your right to a four-day weekend dedicating to stuffing your face with too much chocolate. I’ll back you up.
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