Most people are aware that the United States is the only industrialized nation that does not cover all its citizens with medical insurance. Now we learn that is not the only thing denied to many American workers.
American workers have created the world's biggest economy, and yet we are the only advanced country that does not guarantee a paid vacation or paid holidays to workers.
Economist John Schmitt says, "The United States is the only advanced economy in the world that does not guarantee its workers paid vacation days and paid holidays. Relying on businesses to voluntarily provide paid leave just hasn't worked. It's a national embarrassment that 28 million Americans don't get any paid vacation or paid holidays."
Once again we learn that many businesses think only of the bottom line, and even then only in a short-sighted way. They still don't realize that a happy worker is a more productive worker.
Fortunately unions have established paid vacations as a benefit in most larger industries. But even then, it's only a small portion of what workers are guaranteed in most industrialized nations. While 28 million American workers get no paid vacation, and most of the rest get a week or two, here's what workers in other countries get:
Finland - 30 days paid vacation and 9 paid holidays.
France - 30 days paid vacation and one paid holiday.
Other European countries - 20 days paid vacation and up to 13 paid holidays.
Canada - 10 days of paid vacation and 8 paid holidays.
Japan - 10 days of paid vacation.
Remember, these are guarantees in these countries. All American workers should be guaranteed at least 10 days of paid vacation by the government. Although this would be only half of what workers in most other advanced countries receive, as least it would be a start.
It's a crime that 28 million workers in this country get no paid vacation.
I could go on at length about the economies and unemployment levels in the countries with "enlightened" policies about paid vacation time and other entitlements (France being the most blatant; more than half of the electorate recently expressed their hope that Sarkozy can turn this around), but I believe this is a basic philosophical issue.
ReplyDeleteCorrect me if I'm wrong, but based on this and other posts of yours that I've read, I get the impression that you hold to these two premises:
1) Everyone is entitled to be comfortable all the time in every aspect of their life;
2) Since there is no God (or if there is, he's either unwilling or unable to guarantee our comfort), it's up to the government to do so.
(cont'd)
My philosophy is radically different than yours. The Declaration of Independence lists three rights that are inalienable: "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness." [Emphasis added.] Based on this, these are my two premises:
ReplyDelete1) There is no inalienable right to happiness, only the pursuit of it.
2) In order to secure that right, there must be equality of opportunity, but equality of outcomes only leads to complacency and stagnation.
(cont'd)
I found it interesting that the article you cited made no attempt to categorize the 28 million jobs that don't offer paid vacation. My guess would be that many of these jobs are entry level (where the worker has yet to contribute enough value to his or her employer to justify paying him or her not to work), or small businesses with profit margins so tight that paying the few workers they have not to work might result in the business going belly up, leading to the unemployment of those same workers.
ReplyDeleteI also found the first sentence of the second page of the article very interesting:
Despite the lack of government guarantees, 90 percent of U.S. employers offered vacation, the study found.[Emphasis added.]
So even without governmental arm twisting, all but 10 percent of U.S. employers acknowledge that vacation for their employees is beneficial - leading to happier, more rested, and more efficient employees when they are at work.
(cont'd)
Whether it's a "livable" minimum wage, overly generous welfare benefits, or in this case, guaranteed paid vacation, making everyone comfortable demotivates people from seeking a better lot in life. And when people aren't motivated to move up to the next rung of the ladder, there become fewer and fewer first rungs for next generation to get started. This is what happened in France, where many youths with no job and no hope express their frustration by torching cars.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, for 20 years I worked for an employer that guarantees every employee (even entry level) 30 days paid vacation a year. It was a sweet deal, but that's not why I stayed. There were other factors, such as travel, educational opportunity (I earned two Masters degrees and learned two new foreign languages) ... oh yeah, and a little bit of patriotism, too.
My former employer: The United States Army.
P.S. If you'd like to read some more about my views on the pursuit of happiness, check out this link.