Tag Archives: vacation
Since I posted my blog, two columnists at The New York Times have been debating the vacation gap between the United States and Europe (focused on Germany) in a series entitled “Why Don’t Americans Have Longer Vacations?” The first two columns, “It’s Even Worse Than You Think” and “More Work, but Less Stress?,” have generated a large number of emotional—and at times strident—responses from both sides of the Atlantic. This isn’t surprising, since the vacation/paid time off question is really a proxy for many other issues, including work-life balance, respect for people’s off time (do you really get to disconnect or are you constantly checking email and joining teleconferences during your vacation), and work styles and cultures.
Many of the comments have also made claims about how much of our vacation time we Americans are actually using. I’d like to know how perception… More
How much of your annual paid time off (vacation, sick days, firm holidays like New Year’s Day and Fourth of July) are you actually using?
Work-life balance is a much-discussed ideal (myth?) in the United States, and companies proudly list the various programs they have to help employees balance work commitments with the rest of their lives (including flexible schedules, emergency daycare, and telecommuting). But they rarely share statistics on how many employees actually use each program or what correlation—if any—exists between use of these programs and workplace success. How does taking full advantage of work-life programs affect employees’ chances for promotions and pay raises, their perceived dedication to work, and their actual work performance? Are the most efficient individuals the ones who have a flex schedule? Are the employees who use all their paid time off also the most creative and innovative individuals? Or does adopting a… More
It’s mid- to late-August and you know what that means: practically everyone (except you and me) is on vacation.
Here inside the Washington beltway, vacation policy has taken a back seat to healthcare reform, economic recovery plans, and impending climate change legislation for most of the summer. Vacation, however, has not been forgotten.
Case in point: Representative Alan Grayson (D-Florida) introduced the Paid Vacation Act to Congress in May 2009. Mr. Grayson’s bill would initially require one week of paid vacation per year at companies with at least 100 employees, and later expand to include smaller businesses as well. He explained, in a recent blog post, why mandatory paid vacation is necessary to American workers and to reduce our collective healthcare costs. He writes, “27 million workers in America never get a single day of paid vacation… we spend more than $3,000 per employee per year on health… More
