Monday, May 26, 2008

Legislated paid vacation...

"The United States is the only wealthy industrialized nation not to legislate any paid time off and holidays for its workforce."

Is this a big problem in the US?

I type this on a paid holiday and haven't taken a vacation in four years...but am going to Targhee, Idaho next month for a week. I suppose there are employers who make their employees work 40 hours a week 52 weeks a year but I can't believe there are that many. Anecdotally, I find that those working those 60-70 hour weeks do so by choice.

2 comments:

Stephanie said...

If you're trying to make ends meet working a minimum or low wage job (paid by the hour), this is a big deal. It's not that they need the time to take a trip, but because they need the time off for illness, sick kids, sick parents, etc.

Scooter said...

I guess I'm never going to be convinced all this is going to be affordable.

With the Europeans not reproducing, I don't know how they'll ever be able to pay for all those wonderful benefits. As our social security and Medicare ponzi scheme catastrophes loom on the horizon, their pipers are coming much sooner. If they figure out a way to pay for all this stuff without political disaster, maybe I'll be convinced. We're not even allowed to discuss reforms.