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| Yes | 75% | 492 votes | Total: 659 votes | |
| No | 25% | 167 votes |
Yes
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Add to FavoritesPut simply, we are overworked as a nation. Compared to other industrialized nations of the world, we rank far behind in vacation time. For some, this is a good thing because it is a product of our hard-working "nose-to-the-grindst one" ethic that has made our nation great. For others, it is a negative product of capitalism gone amok, where profit has replaced people as the main priority of the nation.
Progress?
The unfortunate problem is that some people do not seem to care because it will affect their bottom line. For others, the problem seems too complicated to fix so they just keep doing what has been done in the past. In addition, there are plenty of people that are unaware that things are done differently in other parts of the world. Clueless behavior continues to reign supreme.
Just too tired
Vacation time is not just about business, it is also about health, wellness, and happiness. Everyone is concerned about productivity, but we can tend to have a task-master mentality where we push employees to "just work harder" rather than address any shortcomings in their lives. When people do not get enough vacation, they are more fatigued and incur more stress. When they are tired and get stressed, they lose additional sleep, get sick, and cost the company more in health benefits.
Health and wellness
Another side effect of stress is eating more and exercising less. This also leads to sickness and more health problems. As a nation, we aren't exactly the healthiest, as we struggle with obesity and heart disease. Instead of taking some days off to clear our head and eat unhurried meals at home, we are sitting at our desks eating donuts and drinking coffee.
Big brother?
Some will argue that the government cannot impose this kind of requirement, as it seems to strict, particularly for small business. However, if the government is truly concerned about the well-being of it's citizens and the productivity of the economy, they will not shy away from these types of changes.
Some controls
This is why the government has implemented a minimum wage, because they know that given the chance, some businesses will take advantage of their employees. The same should apply to vacation as the health and wealth of the nation are at stake. It may seem counterintuitive to say that giving people more time off would lead to more profit, but it does make sense to say that happier and healthier employees are more likely to be productive.
Learn more about this author, Todd Pheifer.
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No
With 40-plus hour work weeks, more vacation time might invoke the sounds of singing angels to most employees in today's work force, but is it really sensible?
In today's economy people are losing their jobs left and right, while some companies are lessening their work force to spread the workload on to fewer employees. It seems like everyone could use some time away, even if they aren't working at the moment.
There are some overall benefits that can be gained from businesses offering more vacation time to their employees. Businesses will attract more potential employees this way, but at this point in time any company in the US can attract potential employees with ease because so many people are looking for work. However, any employee of a business that offers more guaranteed vacation time will be more likely to stick with that company for a longer period of time since the company provides more value than just a paycheck. It can also be assumed that more vacation time means less work and therefore less stress. Happy employees are diligent employees and this can help the company, not just the employee.
Vacation is paid time off, unpaid time off is known as a "sick day", or what some might call "I drank too much last night". Who will pay for this vacation time? There are really two options here, either the employer can pay for it or the the government can pay for it. The government generates money through taxes that the employees pay so that would cancel out a paid vacation if the employee is already paying for it. The employer can pay for it, but this would take away from their revenue and an increase in prices would have to be passed on to the consumer to balance profit margins.
Even though paid vacation time is seen as a reward, can a business justify paying someone to not do any work for an entire week? What about small startups, can they even manage to provide the funding for paid vacation time? Employees are generally rewarded paid vacation time after tenure, not their job performance. If Joe Blow decides to do enough work to just skid by for a year, does he really deserve extra paid vacation time? Looking at the topic in this light, it would seem that guaranteeing more vacation time is only feasible if there are no weak links in your chain of employees and managers.
With the various pros and cons of offering paid vacation time it might hard to make a decision on whether it's a good idea or not. There is a better option here to reduce stress, increase profits, and will generally benefit both employee and employer. It's simply managing your time and increasing efficiency. The easier it is for a company's employees to complete their tasks, the less time they have to work. Couple this with profit sharing, or even just keeping them at the same salary as someone doing a greater load of inefficient or harder work, and you'll need less vacation time.
Learn more about this author, Mike Gannon.
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