Americans Need More Paid Vacation Time The average American is allowed 16 paid vacation days and holidays on average annually, whereas most European countries require at least 20 days. Some countries even require their workers to take time off, one of them being Austria. Also, according to the Fair Labor Standards Act, currently in the U.S. there is no minimum required amount of time employees can take. This means that the United States is allowed to make their workers work every day of the year. The U.S. needs to put in place a system that requires at least some paid vacation days for employees. This essay will focus on what other countries that require paid vacation time have noticed, the work benefits, and the health benefits. The U.S. is the only country that doesn't have a minimum amount of paid vacation days for full time workers annually. For example, somebody working at a grocery store might only recieve one week of vacation including holidays. In the European Union, it is required by law to allow employees a minimum of four weeks of vacation including holidays. In fact, even countries with struggling economies require time off. For example, Spain has an unemployment rate of 25.1% and still requires a minimum of four weeks since it is in the European Union. The U.S. has an unemployment rate of 4.4% so the U.S. can afford to …show more content…
Even though some may argue that paid vacation is bad because the workers will not be working for as many hours, it has been proven that vacation increases productivity. It is also a way to reward hard working employees and acknowledging them as valued personnel. According to Shawn Achor, "...the brain can think positively, productivity improves by 31 percent, sales increase by 37 percent, and creativity and revenues can triple." Paid vacation is healthy for the work environment, and for the workers. It will create more productive, efficient workers, and happy
When you have an employee, who does not have paid time designated to sick, they will often go to work sick as opposed to losing a vacation day. (Miller) The reluctance of giving up a vacation day versus staying home and getting healthy is noteworthy. “The problem”, eloquently put by Miller, “they drag their contagious carcasses to work, infecting colleagues, delaying their own recovery and giving less than a day's work for a day's pay”. As an employer, dealing with an employee who comes to work sick does cause concern as they can infect other employees. Similarly, if the employee is in the food or retail industry, they can pass germs along to consumers. As Paquette states, “More than half of U.S. and Canadian fast food workers in a 2015 survey said they reported to work under-the-weather because they didn't want to lose money”. This is a trend that must end and can by offering employees paid sick
A simple comparison to the US system is difficult considering the multitude of insurance plans with variable premiums and the wide array of coverage depending on company size and other factors. Different from the French system, American employers do not buy insurance based on a percentage system and the money does not flow into a few National Health insurance funds, rather...
at some point all employees will eventually need time off from work to deal with either a serious personal illness or other family obligations. “Many European nations took to the idea of making balancing family and work easier for employees but the movement did not gain momentum in the United States until the late 60s and 70s when working women were no longer the minority” (AAUW). There was a general shift in the nature of the common everyday american household and a two income household was slowly but surely becoming the new reality of american life.
Over the last several years, the United States has experienced the emergence of countless lifestyle based illnesses. We have seen an increase of inactivity, poor nutrition, an increase of tobacco use, and more frequent alcohol consumption; Americans are living unhealthy lifestyles that are surely factors contributing to the pervasiveness of chronic diseases. Chronic diseases use to be seen as problems that older generations faced, but over the past several years the United States’ working age group has become a main target. For example, Americans are experiencing higher rates of diabetes, and heart disease. Conditions like these only lead to a diminished quality of life, could possibly lead to shorter life spans, disability, and quite possibly in the long run increased health care costs. Businesses are also impacted by an employees lifestyle decisions; absenteeism and presenteeism.
The people in the workplace can be categorized into two groups: the employer and the employees. The employees work for their employer and in turn, the employer has the duty and responsibility to ensure that the minimum safety requirements are met. However, employers are not required to provide health insurance benefits to their employees. More often than not, providing health insurance benefits is very costly to the employer and in an attempt to mitigate the costs, employers’ encourage employee participation in various healthy lifestyle programs and initiatives as well as providing incentives for their participation in such programs. These kinds of actions are not always met with enthusiasm, some find it unreasonable to be expected to do so on their own time to change their lifestyle to suit their employers.
As a person who has worked since the age of 16, continuously without very many breaks in between, it can be easy to feel burned out after a while. Typically, Americans are allowed a two-week vacation after 1 year, and any time after 25 years, up to 5 weeks. This can indicate that the majority of Americans spends a substantial amount of time at work, as opposed to being with their family, or having time to themselves, thus aiding in a stressful lifestyle. For example, it has been stated that “people continually exposed to high levels of stress in their jobs may pay a price in their well-being (Etzion, 2003, p. 214). When this happens, there is a possibility that the individual will be unenthusiastic about going to their place of employment, and only going due their financial responsibilities There is also a chance that the employee may want to pursue a career elsewhere, which can be bad for business if the worker is considered as valuable. In my place of employment,
By neglecting to acknowledge the importance of balancing work and life, policies have failed to support employees and their circumstances. This disregard has also cost taxpayers their well-earned dollar. And who are these taxpayers? Needless to say, they are our employees. The Family and Medical Leave Act stipulates that employees are allowed a twelve (12) work-week leave in a twelve (12) month period (for specified situations dealing with childbirth, adoption, family care, serious health conditions etc.). Unfortunately, this act does not specify that the said employees on leave MUST be paid, and it only applies to about sixty (60) percent of all workers. The Federal government is the single largest
The Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) was eight long years in the making. After many bitter debates between the Republicans and Democrats, Congress passed the Act on February 4, 1993. President Clinton signed the measure into law the following day. The Act became effective on August 5, 1993. The Act required employers with fifty or more employees within a seventy-five mile radius to offer eligible employees up to twelve weeks of unpaid leave during a twelve month period for a variety of medical reasons. Some of the general medical reasons are, for the birth or adoption, to care for a seriously ill parent, spouse or child or to undergo medical treatment for their own illness. The Act spelled out provisions on employer coverage; employee eligibility for the law's benefits; entitlement to leave, maintenance of health benefits during leave, and job restoration after leave; notice and certification of the need for FMLA leave; and protection for employees who request or take FMLA leave. (1) The law also requires employers to keep certain records. It was estimated that the Act would affect five percent of America's employers and forty percent of all employees. This paper will show the ethical standpoint on how employers handle FMLA. In addition, this paper will show the progress FMLA has made in five years, becoming more ethically correct.
For being so highly developed, the United States has a high infant mortality. I know it’s crazy, I couldn’t believe it when I read that either. A big part that contributes to this is that our paid family leave is not long enough or non-existent. According to CNN News, “ A recent study of 20 low-income and middle-income countries found that for each month of paid maternity leave, there was a 13% decline in infant mortality. The greatest
The steady rise of healthcare costs and the ever increasing cost of health insurance premiums are making it harder and harder for employers to pay healthcare premiums for their employees. In the past, it was almost a given that employers picked up the tab for health insurance coverage. The health coverage was usually exceptional with little or no money paid out of pocket by the individual for the insurance premiums. Those appear to be the “good old days”, with fewer and fewer employers shelling out money for health insurance premiums and demanding a larger percentage to be paid by the employee. Other employers are simply unable to financially provide healthcare coverage for their employees and have stopped all together.
Employer benefits must be competitive to attract and keep quality employees but the federal government recognizes that “perk” benefits will not prepare and sustain employees for everything. Federally required employee benefits supported by both the employer as well as the employee such as Social Security, Worker’s Compensation Insurance, and the Family Medical Leave Act are important benefits to our society by providing certain assurances for a stable tomorrow.
While the 1993 Family and Medical Leave Act theoretically guarantees all workers up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave to care for a new child or sick family member, it applies only to businesses with more than 50 employees, only covers workers that have been with their employer for at least one year, and doesn’t extend to part-time workers. These exemptions are significant; they ensure that just over half of American workers and less than a fifth of all new mothers are actually covered by FMLA. And they disproportionately affect low-income workers, who are more likely to work for small businesses, change employers frequently, and piece together multiple part-time
However, it is up to each state to declare its own holidays. Just because there is a national holiday does not mean employers have to give their workers the day off.
Scheil-Adlung, X., S and Ner, L. 2010. Evidence on paid sick leave: Observations in times of crisis. Intereconomics, 45 (5), pp. 313-321.
Company today doesn’t have a strong employee’s policy about the benefits and rules that are putting in place vacation, personal day, and sick day. To prevent absenteeism human resource have to researched in how important they human capital to they organization. They should separate the different department needed and how it effect productions when they is high absent from delay work. Usual company is not very clear about when to use your vacation and personal day. Also when to call out sick, what are the guideline?