Vacation
As Europe's workers take a few weeks of holiday this summer, their American
colleagues will be lucky to get a few days off work, says a report published by
the European Trade Union Institute.
Finland, followed by France, offers working people the most statutory vacation,
at more than six weeks per year, the report, an international snapshot of how
much paid leave people get by law and in practice in 21 countries, says.
The United States is the only country where employees have no statutory leave,
and they get about half as much time off in reality as Europeans get, according
to the report, compiled by the Washington-based Centre for Economic Policy
Research.
"The United States is in a class of its own," the report says. "It is the
no-vacation nation."
Andrew Watt, an economist at the Brussels-based European Trade Union Institute,
said the report not only highlighted a conscious decision to ensure more free
time in Europe. It also showed the errors many economists make when saying U.S.
productivity and economic output is better than Europe's.
Canada and Japan, which require employers to give at least 10 days paid leave to
their staff, are less generous than the Europeans, who get at least four weeks
by law and often much more in practice, the report said.
In the United States, leave was generally harder to secure for people in low-pay
and part-time jobs, it added.
The United States is the only advanced economy in the world that does not
guarantee its workers paid vacation. European countries establish legal rights
to at least 20 days of paid vacation per year, with legal requirement of 25 and
even 30 or more days in some countries. Australia and New Zealand both require
employers to grant at least 20 vacation days per year; Canada and Japan mandate
at least 10 paid days off.
The gap between paid time off in the United States and the rest of the world is
even larger if we include legally mandated paid holidays, where the United
States offers none, but most of the rest of the world's rich countries offer
between five and 13 paid holidays per year. In the absence of government
standards, almost one in four Americans have no paid vacation and no paid
holidays. According to government survey data, the average worker in the private
sector in the United States receives only about nine days of paid vacation and
about six paid holidays per year: less than the minimum legal standard set in
the rest of the world's rich economies excluding Japan (which guarantees only 10
paid vacation days and requires no paid holidays).
The paid vacation and paid holidays that employers do make available are
distributed unequally. According to the same government survey data, lower-wage
and part-time workers are less likely to have any paid vacation than higher-wage
workers are.
This report reviews the most recently available data from a range of national
and international sources on statutory requirements for paid vacations and paid
holidays in 21 rich countries (16 European countries, Australia, Canada, Japan,
New Zealand, and the United States). In addition to our finding that the United
States is the only country in the group that does not require employers to
provide paid vacation time, we also note that several foreign countries offer
additional time off for younger and older workers, shift workers, and those
engaged in community service including jury duty.
Three countries even mandate that employers pay vacationing workers a small
premium above their standard pay in order to help with vacation-related
expenses.
Almost every other rich country has also established legal rights to paid
holidays over and above paid vacation days. We distinguish throughout the report
between paid vacation -- or paid annual leave, terms we use interchangeably --
and paid holidays, which are organized around particular fixed dates in the
calendar. Our analysis does not cover paid leave for other reasons, such as sick
leave, parental leave, or leave to care for sick relatives.
Of course, many employers in the United States offer some or all of their
employees paid vacations and paid holidays even though the law does not
establish a legal minimum for either kind of benefit. (Many employers in the
other 20 countries studied also offer more paid vacations and holidays than the
legal minimums described.)
According to the 2006 National Compensation Survey by the Labor Department,
about 77% of private-sector workers are in jobs where their employer offers paid
vacation. About 76% of workers are in jobs with paid holidays. For those
employees who have paid vacation and paid holidays, the average paid annual
leave is about 12 days, and the average number of paid holidays is about eight.
But when the roughly one-quarter of U.S. workers who do not receive paid leave
are factored in, the average falls to about nine days of paid vacation per year,
plus about six paid holidays.
Part-time workers, low earners, and workers in small establishments (those with
fewer than 100 workers) are less likely to receive paid vacation and paid
holidays, and when they do, these workers receive fewer paid days off.
Lower-wage workers are less likely (69%) than higher-wage workers (88%) to have
paid vacations. The same is true for part-timers, who are far less likely to
have paid vacations (36%) than are full-timers (90%), and for employees in small
establishments, where only 70% have paid vacations, compared to 86% in medium
and large establishments.
Even when lower-wage, part-time, and small-business employees do receive paid
vacations, they typically receive far fewer paid days off than higher-wage,
full-time, employees in larger establishments do. For example, the average
lower-wage worker (less than $15 per hour) with a vacation benefit received only
10 days of paid vacation per year, compared to 14 days of paid vacation for
higher-wage workers with paid vacations. If we look at all workers -- those who
receive paid vacations and those who don't -- the vacation gap between
lower-wage and higher-wage workers is even larger: only seven days for
lower-wage workers, compared to 13 days for higher-wage workers.
This report reviewed international vacation and holiday laws and found that
the United States is the only advanced economy that does not guarantee its
workers any paid vacation or holidays. As a result, 1 in 4 U.S. workers do not
receive any paid vacation or paid holidays. The lack of paid vacation and paid
holidays in the U.S. is particularly acute for lower-wage and part-time workers,
and for employees of small businesses.
This report also includes a comparative appendix with information on paid leave
and holiday laws in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland,
France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand,
Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.
The United States is the only advanced economy in the world that does not
guarantee its workers
paid vacation. European countries establish legal rights to at least 20 days of
paid vacation per year,
with legal requirement of 25 and even 30 or more days in some countries.
Australia and New
Zealand both require employers to grant at least 20 vacation days per year;
Canada and Japan
mandate at least 10 paid days off. The gap between paid time off in the United
States and the rest of
the world is even larger if we include legally mandated paid holidays, where the
United States offers
none, but most of the rest of the world's rich countries offer between five and
13 paid holidays per
year.
In the absence of government standards, almost one in four Americans have no
paid vacation and
no paid holidays. According to government survey data, the average worker in the
private sector in
the United States receives only about nine days of paid vacation and about six
paid holidays per year:
less than the minimum legal standard set in the rest of world's rich economies
excluding Japan
(which guarantees only 10 paid vacation days and requires no paid holidays).
The paid vacation and paid holidays that employers do make available is
distributed unequally.
According to the same government survey data, lower-wage workers are less likely
to have any paid
vacation (69 percent) than higher-wage workers are (88 percent). The same is
true for part-timers,
who are far less likely to have paid vacations (36 percent) than are full-timers
(90 percent). The
problems of lower-wage and part-time workers are magnified if they are employed
in small
establishments, where only 70 percent have paid vacations, compared to 86
percent in medium and
large establishments. Even when lower-wage, part-time, and small-business
employees do receive
paid vacations, they typically receive far fewer paid days off than higher-wage,
full-time, employees
in larger establishments. For example, the average lower-wage worker (less than
$15 per hour) with a
vacation benefit received only 10 days of paid vacation per year in 2005,
compared to 14 days of
paid vacation for higher-wage workers with paid vacations. If we look at all
workers ― those who
receive paid vacations and those who don't ― the vacation gap between lower-wage
and higher-wage
workers is even larger: only 7 days for lower-wage workers, compared to 13 days
for higher-wage
workers.
This report reviews the most recently available data from a range of national
and international
sources on statutory requirements for paid vacations and paid holidays in 21
rich countries (16
European countries, Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, and the United
States). In addition to
our finding that the United States is the only country in the group that does
not require employers to
provide paid vacation time, we also note that several foreign countries offer
additional time off for
younger and older workers, shift workers, and those engaged in community service
including jury
duty. Three countries even mandate that employers pay vacationing workers a
small premium above
their standard pay in order to help with vacation-related expenses. Almost every
other rich country
has also established legal rights to paid holidays over and above paid vacation
days. We distinguish
throughout the report between paid vacation ― or paid annual leave, terms we use
interchangeably
― and paid holidays, which are organized around particular fixed dates in the
calendar. Our analysis
does not cover paid leave for other reasons such as sick leave, parental leave,
or leave to care for sick
relatives.
The European Union's (EU) Working Time Directive (1993) sets a vacation floor
for all EU
member countries of four weeks or 20 days per year. Several EU member countries
require
substantially more than the lower limit established by the EU. Finland and
France mandate 30 days
of paid annual leave; Sweden, 25; and Germany, 24. Several EU countries offer
paid holidays over
and above the EU statute for paid annual leave. Austrian, Portuguese, and
Italian laws require
employers to give 13 paid holidays in addition to paid vacation; Spain follows
closely, guaranteeing
12 paid holidays. In addition to 20 days of paid annual leave, Belgium requires
10 paid holidays; and
Denmark and Ireland, nine.
Center for Economic and Policy Research • 3
TABLE 1
Paid Vacation and Paid Holidays in OECD Nations
Country Statutory Minimum Annual Leave Paid Holidays
Australia 1 4 weeks (5 for shift workers) 7
Austria 2 30 calendar days (36 after 6 years) 13
Belgium 2 20 work days 10
Canada *3 2 weeks (3 with seniority) 8
Denmark 2 30 work days 9
Finland * 1 24 work days (30 after 1 year) 9
France 2 30 work days 1
Germany *1 24 work days (up to 30 for young workers) 10
Greece 2 4 weeks (plus 1 work day after the 2nd and 3rd years) 6
Ireland 2 4 weeks 9
Italy 4 4 weeks 13
Japan 5 10 work days (plus 1 work day after the 2nd – 10th years) 0
Netherlands 1 4 weeks 0
New Zealand 1 4 weeks 7
Norway 2, 6 25 work days 2
Portugal 2 22 work days (20 in the first year) 13
Spain 1, 7 30 calendar days 12
Sweden 2 25 work days 0
Switzerland 2 4 weeks (5 for young workers) 0
United Kingdom 2 4 weeks 0
United States 8 0 0
Varies by region; average is presented here
Sources:
1. ILO
2. European Commission
3. Canada DHRSD 2006.
4. Heymann et Al. 2004, European Union 1993.
5. ILO (n.d.) b., Japan
6. Fellesforbundet 2005.
7. European Commission
8. USDOL
Rich countries outside of the EU also have generous minimum requirements for
vacation. In
Europe, Norway requires employers to provide 25 days of paid annual leave.
Workers in both
Australia and New Zealand have four weeks of paid vacation and 7 paid holidays.
Canada and Japan are less generous than the rest of the world, but still require
their employers to
grant ten days of paid annual leave. Both countries, however, grant rising
vacation to workers based
on their seniority. (In Canada, provincial governments set vacation policy. The
ten day estimate in
Figure 1 is representative of the country; most provinces set higher vacation
minimums for workers
with higher seniority.)
No-Vacation Nation • 4
Source: Authors' analysis of BLS (2006) analysis of National Compensation
Survey, Tables 19, 20, and 21. Average
number of paid vacation days calculated as a weighted average of number of paid
vacation days by minimum length
of service, using authors' calculations of private sector job tenure from the
CEPR extract of the Current Population
Survey Job Tenure Supplement for January 2006. We use average tenure
distribution for both small and mediumto-
large establishments.
The United States is the only country in the group that does not legally require
employers to provide
paid annual leave. Of course, many employers in the United States offer some or
all of their
employees paid vacations and paid holidays even though the law does not
establish a legal minimum
for either kind of benefit. (Many employers in the other 20 countries in Figure
1 also offer more
paid vacations and holidays than the legal minimums described in the figure.)
Table 2 presents data
on paid vacations and paid holidays in the U.S. private sector from the 2006
National Compensation
Survey. The first column shows that about 77 percent of private-sector workers
are in jobs where
their employer offers paid vacation. The next column indicates that about 76
percent of workers are
in jobs with paid holidays. The next two columns give the average number of paid
vacation and paid
holidays for those employees who have paid vacation and paid holidays, that is,
the average excludes
those employees who have zero paid vacation and paid holidays. For this group,
which represents
about three-fourths of the U.S. work force, the average paid annual leave is
about 12 days, and the
average number of paid holidays is about eight. The final two columns give the
average number of
paid vacation and paid holidays including the roughly one-fourth of the work
force that does not
have these benefits. On average, private-sector workers in the United States
have about nine days of
paid vacation per year, plus about six paid holidays.
The table also illustrates that part-time workers, low earners, and workers in
small establishments
(fewer than 100 workers) are less likely to receive paid vacation and paid
holidays, and when they do,
these workers receive fewer paid days off. Lower-wage workers are less likely
(69 percent) than
higher-wage workers (88 percent) to have paid vacations. The same is true for
part-timers, who are
far less likely to have paid vacations (36 percent) than are full-timers (90
percent), and for employees
in small establishments, where only 70 percent have paid vacations, compared to
86 percent in
Center for Economic and Policy Research • 5
medium and large establishments. Even when lower-wage, part-time, and
small-business employees
do receive paid vacations, they typically receive far fewer paid days off than
higher-wage, full-time,
employees in larger establishments do. For example, the average lower-wage
worker (less than $15
per hour) with a vacation benefit received only 10 days of paid vacation per
year, compared to 14
days of paid vacation for higher-wage workers with paid vacations. If we look at
all workers ― those
who receive paid vacations and those who don't ― the vacation gap between
lower-wage and higherwage
workers is even larger: only 7 days for lower-wage workers, compared to 13 days
for higherwage
workers.
Paid Holidays
Many OECD countries also guarantee paid holidays, including New Year’s Day, Good
Friday,
Easter Monday, and Christmas. Other commonly paid holidays are Labor Day,
Ascension Thursday,
and All Saints’ Day. Spain has 12 paid public holidays. Portugal, Italy, and
Austria have 13 each;
Belgium, 10; Denmark, Ireland, and Finland, nine each; Canada, eight (on
average, though the
number varies by province); Australia and New Zealand, seven; and Greece, six.
Norway has two
paid holidays, and France guarantees one. Two countries determine public
holidays at the regional
level: Canada (which offers at least five in each province) and Germany (with a
minimum of nine
holidays). Again, U.S. law makes no provisions for paid holidays, as is also the
case in Japan, the
Netherlands, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.
In most countries, employers have some flexibility around paid holidays, and
often have the option
to schedule workers on holidays provided that they pay those days at a
higher-than-usual rate or
offer a paid day off at another time. The Appendix discusses these issues in
greater detail where
applicable.
Special Treatment for Specific Categories of Workers
Several countries mandate more paid leave for younger and older workers than
appears in Figure 1.
Three European nations offer greater vacation time for young workers: Austria
(usually an extra five
working days), Germany (between one and six extra days, depending on age), and
Switzerland (an
extra week). Norway offers an additional week of vacation to workers over the
age of 60.
In some countries, leave entitlement rises with a worker's seniority. Japan
gives seniority the most
weight: after 18 months, an employee’s annual leave begins rising by one workday
per year of service
until reaching 20 days. Austria grants workers with over 25 years of seniority
six additional calendar
days of leave (for a total of 36 calendar days). In Finland, annual leave rises
from 24 working days to
30 working days after the employee’s first year, and public servants with at
least 15 years of tenure
receive 36 working days. Greece’s annual leave increases, from four weeks, by
one workday per year
after an employee’s second and third year. Finally, in Canada, leave provisions
vary from province to
province, but most provinces grant workers an additional week of vacation after
five to 10 years.
Two nations allow more leave for workers with difficult working schedules.
Australia offers some
shift workers an additional 1/52 of the number of hours they work each year (or
roughly one work
week). Austria offers workers with “heavy night work” two to three extra days of
leave, depending
on how frequently they do this shift work, and an additional four days of leave
after five years of
shift work.
No-Vacation Nation • 6
Timing of Leave
Nine European countries have regulations to guarantee that workers can take at
least some of their
leave in the summer peak vacation season. The Netherlands has the strictest
rules in this regard: if
possible, Dutch employers must grant their workers leave in one continuous
period, to fall between
April 30 and October 1. Other countries that require employers to schedule leave
in summer blocks
include Sweden (four consecutive weeks), Finland (24 days), Norway (18 days)
Denmark (15 days),
and France (12 days). Portuguese employers may close their operations completely
over part of the
summer to accommodate employee leave, and must consult with their workers’ union
if they plan to
shut for fewer than 15 consecutive working days. Finally, in Austria, employers
must allow young
workers (between the ages of 15 and 18) at least 12 consecutive days of leave
between June 15 and
September 15.
Related Types of Paid Leave
Several nations also offer additional leave for specific purposes. Greek law
provides up to three
days of paid leave for workers to vote, if accessing their polling stations
requires travel. Employees
in Spain receive paid leave for acts of civic duty including jury service, and
for moving house.
French law guarantees unpaid leave for community work, including nine workdays
for representing
an association and six months for projects of “international solidarity” abroad.
Sweden requires
employers to provide paid leave for workers fulfilling union duties.
Bonus Pay for Vacation Periods
Austria, Sweden, and New Zealand require employers to pay workers at a premium
rate while they
are on vacation. Austria is the most generous ― employers pay workers taking
their month-long
vacation a “13th month” salary, paid at the same time as the usual monthly
salary, but taxed at a
lower rate. In New Zealand and Sweden, annual leave is paid at a higher rate
than the worker’s usual
salary; 112 percent the usual pay in New Zealand and 108 percent the usual rate
in Sweden.
Provisions to Ensure that Leave is Taken
Several nations have additional stipulations to ensure workers take their
allotted leave each year.
Portugal, Spain, and Switzerland have provisions specifically forbidding
employers from offering
employees additional pay for forfeiting vacation days. Australia offers a less
strict version of this
protection, allowing half of the annual leave to be “cashed out.” The United
Kingdom prohibits
cashing out the statutory minimum four weeks of leave, but employees can receive
extra pay in lieu
of vacation time over the statutory minimum.
Another method of guaranteeing that workers have access to their leave is to
require leave to be
taken by the end of the year in which it is granted. Denmark, Ireland, and
Switzerland have such
provisions. Portugal requires that at least 15 days of annual leave be taken in
the year accrued; the
remainder can only be taken until April of the following year. The United
Kingdom treats carriedover
leave in the same way as it treats cashing out: employees must take the four
guaranteed weeks
of leave, but may carry over any additional leave granted by their employer.
Center for Economic and Policy Research • 7
Conclusion
This review of international standards for paid vacation and paid holidays shows
that the United
States lags far behind the rest of the world's rich countries. The United States
is the only advanced
economy that does not guarantee its workers any paid vacation time and is one of
only a few rich
countries that does not require employers to offer at least some paid holidays.
In the absence of a legal requirement for paid vacation and paid holidays, about
one fourth of the
U.S. workforce has no paid vacation or paid holidays in the course of their work
year. The sum of
the average paid vacation and paid holidays ― 15 in total ― offered in the
private sector in the
United States would not meet even the minimum required by law in 19 other rich
countries analyzed
here. (The average in the United States only exceeds the legal minimum of ten
days in Japan.)
The lack of paid vacation and paid holidays in the United States is particularly
acute for lower-wage
and part-time workers, and for employees of small businesses. Lower-wage,
part-time, and smallbusiness
employees are all less likely to receive paid vacations or paid holidays, and
when they do
receive paid time off, the amount they receive is far less generous than what is
available to their
higher-wage, full-time counterparts with larger
This land of working stiffs
It’s summer, time for baseball, so the other night I went to a game at Victory
Field. It was a gorgeous evening, the western sun casting a golden glow upon the
bland faces of downtown office buildings and hotels. I had a beer and a hot dog
and watched the ballplayers warming up. Then, along with everybody else, I stood
for the singing of the “Star Spangled Banner.”
You know how it goes: “Dawn’s early light … perilous fight …” Momentum builds
and then we get to the climax, which is actually a question: “O, say does that
star-spangled banner yet wave, o’er the land of the free, and the home of the
brave?”
Stirring stuff.
A lot of people complain about the “Star Spangled Banner.” They say it’s too
hard to sing, but I’ve never had a problem with it. The only part of the song
that gives me pause is that last line, the bit about “the land of the free.”
That’s because when I looked around the ballpark at all the people there I knew,
I was seeing members of the most overworked population in the industrialized
world. According to the United Nations’ International Labor Organization,
Americans work 250 hours, or five weeks, more than our counterparts in Great
Britain; 500 hours, or 12 and a half weeks, more than those infamous lay-abouts,
the Germans. Every European has the right to at least 20 days of paid time off
per year — some get as many as 25 or 30 days. The Swedes get 32.
The average American vacation is now a long weekend. Our Bureau of Labor
Statistics tells us that one in four of our workers gets no paid vacation at all
and, here’s the real kicker, 51 million Americans, or a third of our workforce,
won’t take all the vacation days they have coming. Each worker will pass up an
average of three days off.
I don’t know about you, but this does not look like “the land of the free” to
me.
I’m sure that if you were to ask a CEO about this — somebody, that is, who, on
average, makes more than 400 times what his employees earn — that person would
tell you people in America work as much as they do because, darn it, working
long hours (and staying away from the family as much as possible) is the
American Way.
But if you compare the quality of life in the U.S.A. with other industrial
countries you quickly see that when it comes to health, savings and social
equality, the U.S. has fallen behind. This is a country where job security is
scarce to nonexistent, where health care without job-connected insurance is
unaffordable and where the so-called social safety net has been systematically
dismantled. It’s no wonder we take more anti-depressants than anyone else, and
get divorced as often as we do. In America, that’s what we call a party.
Of course, we soften these cracks by consuming lots and lots of stuff. Today,
each American, on average, consumes 53 times more “goods” than a citizen in
China, where so much of the stuff we consume is made. This has been a trend in
American life going back to the days after World War II, when the president of
the National Sales Executives declared “Capitalism is dead — consumerism is
king,” meaning that our economy would no longer be driven by what we built so
much as by what we spent. We’ve been living on credit — something frowned on
before 1941 — ever since.
As any smoker knows, there’s an addictive quality to living like this. You can
call it freedom if you want, and many smokers do, even as they pick through
ashtrays looking for butts because they’ve run through their last pack. France,
which used to have a 35-hour workweek, is not immune. They just elected a new
president, Nicolas Sarkozy, whose motto is “work more, earn more.” The problem
is that longer hours often mean that wages stagnate or fail to keep up with
inflation. That’s what’s happened here. Most Americans need two-income
households just to stay even.
That’s not all. It appears that overwork is bad for the environment. A study by
the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington, D.C., suggests that
if Europe adopted America’s working ways, it would consume 15-30 percent more
energy by 2050. This would boost carbon emissions and cause additional global
warming of 1-2 degrees Celsius. Any gains made through conservation, green
technologies and cleaner fuels would be rubbed out.
Never mind about that, though. Now that all of us are living so much longer —
well beyond the ability of most of us to squirrel away enough for an extended
retirement — there’s even more work to look forward to. That’s the land of the
free, all right; the home of the working stiff.
Summer's here and the time is right for, well, lots of things. But work is
not one of them. So, check out our collection of earth-friendly vacation gear.
Each of these products is made from recycled or all-natural materials. All the
better for being good while you're being lazy.
What's worse than a sunburn? A sunburn with mosquito bites. SPF 30 SmartShield
sunscreen (18 towelettes: $10; 4 oz. tube: $8; FaceStick: $3), with DEET-free
natural citrus oils, has you covered.
The titanium dioxide in this new SPF 25 sunscreen ($19) blocks both UVA and UVB
rays. And no need to drape yourself with seaweed: Out Smart, from Origins, is
made with moisturizing seaweed extract.
Lazy Boy flip-flops ($38/$42; black or natural), from the environmentally minded
San Diego surfer dudes at Splaff Flopps, are literally road tested -- they're
handmade from used bicycle inner tubes and recycled race-car tires
These leather flip-flops for women feature natural-rubber treads and
recycled-cork cushioning. The Ikebana N114 sandals ($100; beige, blue, brown,
olive, orange, red, or white) are made by El Naturalista, in La Rioja, Spain.
Going where hot and dry summer can turn chilly and rainy? Start off with
Patagonia's comfy hemp shorts ($48; blue, green, or natural), and build up to
its fleece pullover ($76; black, light or navy blue, khaki, natural, red, or
yellow) and superlight rain jacket ($249; blue, green, or red).
Don this lightweight straw Lifeguard Hat($10) from Columbia Sportswear to keep
the sun out of your eyes and guard against UV rays -- without becoming a
hothead.
Schools are out. Skies are blue. Beaches beckon.
It's vacation time.
But for many Americans, even getting July 4th off will be difficult.
The United States ranks dead last among 21 of the world's richest countries when
it comes to guaranteed days off, according to a new study titled "No-Vacation
Nation," by the liberal Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington.
While other countries guarantee time off from jobs -- Finland 39 days a year,
Canada 18 and Japan 10 -- U.S. law gives workers a right to zero days off, even
for holidays.
Several countries, including Switzerland and Australia, have laws forbidding
workers from cashing out time off for an extra paycheck or two. The countries
require workers to take their time off -- partly to protect against pressure
from bosses to stay at their posts.
In the absence of any government mandate, about one in four working Americans
get no paid vacations or holidays, according to several estimates, including the
new report. On average, U.S. workers get nine paid vacation days and six
holidays a year, the report said.
Take Back Your Time, a national group based in Seattle whose name explains
itself, wants Congress to mandate a minimum of three weeks' paid vacation
annually. It is shopping the proposal around now and vowing to make vacation
policies an issue in next year's presidential race.
"Most of the studies show people need about two weeks in one block a year for
benefits like preventing heart disease and such," said the group's national
coordinator, John de Graaf. "It can't be the odd day here and there, because
that day is usually spent catching up with things, not really winding down."
Indeed, the value of time off has been well-documented. In a study released in
December, Air New Zealand used NASA-developed machinery to study the effects of
down time on volunteer passengers from Los Angeles to Auckland, New Zealand --
including brain, eye, muscle and heart monitoring from two days before and two
days after their trips. The travelers got three times more deep, rejuvenating
sleep after a vacation. Their before-and-after measures improved an average of
nearly 25 percent.
De Graaf talked about one hotel clerk who told him her vacation time had just
been canceled for the seventh year in a row, because the hotel was too busy to
spare her. That's why he wants the government to require vacation time.
"That's the only way it's been shown to happen," he said.
Not surprisingly, business groups oppose such a law.
If the government forces employers to give paid time off they'll just have to
cover that cost by shorting something else -- like maybe cutting pay, said James
Sherk, a labor policy fellow at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think
tank in Washington.
"That's the government saying, 'You really don't need that money you're earning,
you really need time off,'" he said. "I'm more of the belief that workers should
have the choice."
The notion of guaranteed time off brought a range of reactions from residents
around the Twin Cities.
Myles Borden, a maintenance engineer at the Airport Marriott in Minneapolis,
likes the mandate proposal. Still in his first year at the hotel, Borden gets
two weeks' vacation, he said. He and his wife have six children, and the many
days off that he gets have to cover family needs, leaving very few for fun, he
said.
Charles Davis, a local computer contractor, also supports mandating more
vacation. "I think it would be healthy for the country," he said.
Wyn Douglas is taking a three-week trip to Canada's Northwest Territories this
month -- after graduating with a master's degree from the University of
Minnesota's Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs and before he begins job
hunting.
"I certainly don't expect to have another opportunity to take three weeks to do
whatever I like for a long time, if ever again," Douglas said.
He's a believer in the benefits of work breaks, and he pointed out that some
Americans have only themselves to blame for overwork.
In fact, surveys indicate that 40 percent to 50 percent of Americans don't use
all the vacation they have.
Still, mandating it, for him, goes too far. "I would prefer this works itself
out between the employer and the employee," Douglas said.
Mike Gaynor, a marketing manager for U.S. Bank who gets and uses four weeks
vacation a year, agreed.
"I'm not big on government mandates really," he said.
At the Clique salon in Minneapolis, hair stylist Resa Clay is basically
self-employed so she arranges her customer appointments around trips. Despite
her freedom, she favors mandating paid vacations -- because her friends with
office and retail jobs often lack the vacation time to go with her.
"It affects a lot of people I hang out with," Clay said, "and that's all they
complain about."
BERLIN (AFP) - A zebrula -- a cross between a horse and a zebra -- has drawn
curious onlookers to a zoo in Germany because of its unusual coat.
While zebrulas have been in existence since the 19th century, this one is
particularly unique: its coat is sharply divided between horse and zebra, says
Safaripark, a zoo near northern Guetersloh.
The animal, which is slightly more than a year old and is named Eclyse, has a
zebra head, while the first half of the rest of its body is white and the second
half is zebra-colored.
It arrived at the zoo three weeks ago from Italy.
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