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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.
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