Get a Widget for this title
RSS FeedShould US workers be guaranteed more vacation time?
Title endorsed in part by:
Results so far:
| Yes | 75% | 492 votes | Total: 659 votes | |
| No | 25% | 167 votes |
Yes
Write now
Print
Invite a writer™
Add to FavoritesAfraid to ask the boss for time off during the current economic climate? Or perhaps willing to take one, but unable to because your employer doesn't offer paid vacation? You must be in the USA which woefully lags behind Japan, the United Kingdom, Canada, Brazil, Germany, France and Italy in average number of paid vacation days earned per year by employees. Even Korea, a nation that many Americans consider hard on their employees, guarantees their employees 25 days paid vacation. Compare that to the US average of 13 days, and one has to wonder what other nations know that Americans don't. Or perhaps the question is what are Americans ignoring that other nations are not?
Research indicates that both employers and employees benefit from employee vacations. A 2007 survey of American employees revealed that over 1/3rd feel better about their job, and more productive, after taking a vacation. This data seems to be supported by the fact that employers surveyed reported that their top performing and most successful employees are often the same employees who routinely take vacation leave.
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) encourages a balance between work and family or personal life. This results in lower job stress, and can have a direct influence on worker safety and health. Vacations help maintain that balance by allowing employees the opportunity to reconnect with family and friends. In fact, research indicates that vacations can actually lower the risk of employee death, as well as improve job performance by providing certain health benefits.
The State University of New York at Oswego published a study in 2000 that found that taking regular vacations lowers the mortality-risk of men between the ages of 35 and 57 by almost 20%. A similar report from the Framingham Heart Study revealed that frequent vacations lower the risk of death among women age 45 to 64 by 52%.
In regards to safety issues, in 2006 Air New Zealand studying the effect of vacation on things such as sleep, the brain, the eye, the heart, and overall muscles reveled that travelers got three times more deep sleep after a vacation, and showed a 25% average improvement in reaction time of the brain, eye, and muscles.
Employers who encourage employee vacation time also benefit from improved employee productivity and creativity. A study conducted in 2007 revealed that over 1/3rd of Americans who take vacation report feeling better about their job, and more productive after taking a vacation. Over half of the employees surveyed reported feeling rejuvenated and better able to handle their work after a vacation.
Employees weren't the only ones who noticed the improvement though. A similar survey of employers discovered a correlation between top performing, successful employees and employees who regularly took vacation leave, and another study revealed that for every dollar of vacation benefits paid to employees, employers receive a $3 return in terms of morale and productivity.
Creativity flails under stress, and flourishes when the brain is able to relax. It is during relaxation time that the brain is able to let ideas flow freely. Corporations spend millions of dollars on retreats, conferences, and think-tanks designed to encourage this freedom of thought. They may find their dollars better spent by simply giving these employees time away from work.
America spends millions of dollars and man hours talking about the negative effects of stress. It is time that we did more than talk about stress, and looked at reasonable methods for relieving stress. Guaranteed vacation time is a step in that direction that clearly benefits all of society by providing families an opportunity to reconnect, employees a chance to de-stress, and employers an opportunity to retain productive employees.
Learn more about this author, Sharon Yeates.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.
No
The burning question is: Guaranteed by whom?
Are we to suggest that the United States government should step in and require the country's employees to dole out more days off?
Might sound nice. Days off certainly sound nice. But this is the wrong way to go about it. The bottom line is, an employer hires employees to do a job. Just like you and I do when we go to the store, they pay for a product.
Why should the government be forcing companies to give its employees anything? If your employer isn't giving you enough time off, the answer isn't to petition Congress to make them give you more time off (time does equal money). You have other options - form or join a union, or seek another employer.
It's called the free market. And it actually works quite well.
I'm not going to dispute that Americans need more time off. They do. And if the question was "Should U.S. companies offer more time off?" I'd likely say Yes. I believe companies would benefit greatly from this. Well-rested workers do work more efficiently. Companies might not lose too much productivity.
But the run-of-the-mill way to "guarantee" something is to legislate it.
Think of it like this: What if the government told you that you had to pay an extra $50 every time you hire someone to mow your lawn, fix your cable box, cut your hair, do your plumbing, fix your furnace, work on your car, etc?
It's not a tax. It's just a law stating that you had to pay whomever does the work extra.
How would you feel about that?
Well - that's no different than what happens when the government requires employers to give out more vacation time. It costs them money. And, ultimately, the company will have to find a way to pay for it. What that means is that the customers will ultimately pay for it.
For example, say Congress passes and the president signs a law into effect. From now on, every full-time employee of a company in the United States gets three weeks of vacation per year. Say a retailer, like Kmart, usually gives first-year employees only 10 days of vacation.
Well, that's going to cost Kmart dozens of weeks worth of paying for employee's time off. (They need to pay the worker who's taking the time off, plus the worker who's making up their shifts, right?)
Well, where does Kmart get the money?
They raise prices. The people who shop at Kmart pay for it.
It would be the same at fast food chains.
It would be the same at garages that do oil changes.
It would be the same at grocery stores.
Get the picture?
So, the question to prompt this article - if you followed it through to its logical conclusion - would be this: Should we be living in a more expensive-yet-better rested society?
Money talks. And most people want the government's power more limited.
So in the end, I think the answer to the true question would be a resounding, "No, thank you."
Learn more about this author, J.R. Anthony.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.
