Vacation time is essential to a healthy work life. But, accordingto LA Times business writer David Lazarus, half of all US workers donot take all of their allotted time off. The reason, he says, is that employersapply subtle pressure to make people feel as though they can’t take all oftheir vacation time. We need to learn how to take rest as seriously as we takeour work.
Do you feel guilty or vulnerable if you take your allotted vacationtime from work?
The stats on American work life are not great, Lazarus says.He gave these statistics to back it up:
Guaranteed Paid Leaveby Law
EU, Japan,Canada, Australia –20 days
France– 30 days
United States – 0 days
I think we need to get over this in American workingculture. Day’s off, vacations, paid leave – these are important. In the longrun they make for a more robust work force.
How do you like to take your vacation time?
Do you take it in chunks of a week?
Do you take it one or two days at a time, and use it moreoften?
I’m headed to NYC with my wife for a long weekend – and inthe spirit of being a healthy worker, I’m not going to feel guilty about it J
Here’s a transcript of the short interview:
Jeremy Hobson: We’re coming up on George Washington’s birthday, which we observe, of course, as Presidents Day. That means a three day weekend for many American workers. Federal employees will get Monday off, so will many students.But not everyone will be kicking back, and that’s a problem, says L.A. Times consumer columnist David Lazarus. Good morning.
David Lazarus: Good morning.
Hobson: So how do we stack up holiday- and vacation-wise in this country?
Lazarus: Not so well, it turns out. If you look at other industrialized countries — for example the European Union, Japan, Canada, Australia — they guarantee, at a minimum, 10 to 20 days of paid leave every year. In France, it’s 30 days. In the United States, our guaranteed paid leave: Zero.
Hobson: Wow.
Lazarus: Zero. And then you look at vacation days. In the rest of the world, paid holidays — guaranteed — vary from five days to about two weeks. In the United States: Zero.
Hobson: But I’ve read, David, that some people don’t even take the vacation days that they have. They get vacation time from their employer but they don’t even take it.
Lazarus: This is true. In fact, some surveys show that about half of all U.S. workers do not take all their allotted time off. Which raises the real question: Why is that? I think the answer’s going to be because there’s a lot of pressure from our employers not to be out of sight for too long. And in fact, when you do take a vacation, you’re expected to kind of still be reachable via your BlackBerry or your iPhone.
Hobson: So therefore, should you take vacation days? Should you take the vacation that you’re given, or should you worry that if you do, you’re going to get fired or something?
Lazarus: Well, it’s a two-lane street here. On the one hand, you’re going to have a better quality of life if you take your vacation time, and you’ll probably be a better person for it. On the other hand, your employer’s probably going to look at you and think: That guy’s a slacker.
Hobson: Well, although some people would look at this and say: At least the U.S. economy, it’s a hard-working economy — yes, maybe we work ourselves too hard, but we’re doing better right now than the economies of Europe, which do, as you say, have more vacation time.
Lazarus: Yeah, and you ask the World Economic Forum and they say, Look at the United States: They have the fourth most competitive economy in the world. Except then you bring in Sweden, which guarantees five weeks off for its workers every year, and they have the second most competitive economy.
Hobson: Time to move to Sweden. L.A. Times consumer columnist David Lazarus. David, thanks a lot.
Lazarus: I need a vacation.
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