Posted on 06/28/2003 1:31:11 AM PDT by txzman
Vacation Deprivation
Americans Get Short-Changed When It Comes to Holiday Time
By Catherine Valenti
June 25 — If it feels like you're stuck behind your desk on a sunny summer day while the rest of the world is on vacation, that's because you are and it is.
Few other industrialized countries have as little vacation time as America, where there aren't even legal guarantees of vacation time.
Just ask Matthew Mortellaro. Working in his first job out of college, the 23-year-old New York City-based publicist is already disillusioned with the world of work. The reason? He only gets five paid vacation days a year.
Mortellaro's company, which he declined to name, grants five vacation days to its employees after they've been working at the job more than six months. A year later, they get a total of 10 vacation days.
But for the St. Louis native, who often uses his vacation time to go home to visit his family, the short amount of time off has become a sore subject, especially when friends in Europe enjoy a month of vacation each year in their first jobs out of school.
"It kind of annoys me and makes me feel unfulfilled," says Mortellaro. "Is that all my life is about — working? What's the point of working all the time when all you do is work? I want to be able to appreciate it, too."
Mortellaro's experience is typical of many Americans, most of whom get very little vacation time when compared to workers in other industrialized nations. U.S. workers aren't guaranteed any vacation time by law and take an average of 10.2 vacation days a year after three years on the job, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
In contrast, workers in the United Kingdom are guaranteed 20 paid vacation days by law and take an average of 25 days off a year. Even in notoriously hard-working Japan, workers have a legal right to 10 days off and take an average of almost 18 vacation days a year.
Vacation Time Shrinking
Now there are signs many Americans are taking even less vacation. With the U.S. unemployment rate continuing to tick upwards, many recruiters and work-life experts say they're noticing workers are becoming more reluctant to take time off.
Nearly half of 730 executives recently surveyed, for instance, said they would not use all of the vacation time they were entitled to this year, according to Cleveland-based search and recruitment firm Management Recruiters International, known as MRI. Of those executives, 58 percent said their workloads were responsible for the decision.
"At the very senior level, you're seeing a complete burnout of vacation time — [executives] are just not taking it," says Patrick Sylvester, chief executive of Banister International, MRI's Philadelphia-based global job placement division. "They're stretched, there's a lot less of them and they're under a lot of pressure to deliver."
Living to Work: How the U.S. Stacks Up
COUNTRY / DAYS BY LAW / AVERAGE
Sweden / 25 / 25-35
Austria / 25 / 30
Denmark / 25 / 30
Germany / 24 / 30
Italy / 20 / 30
Norway / 21 / 30
Spain / 25 / 30
France / 25 / 25-30
Switzerland / 20 / 25-30
Ireland / 20 / 28**
Australia / 20 / 25
Finland / 24 / 25
Netherlands / 20 / 25
Portugal / 22 / 25**
UK / 20 / 25
Belgium / 20 / 24**
Greece / 20 / 23
Japan / 10 / 17.5
China / 15 / 15
U.S. / 0 / 10.2*
Sources: European Industrial Relations Observatory, World Tourism Organization; Los Angeles Times; * Bureau of Labor Statistics, paid-leave after three years;
** Economic Policy Institute
And with many companies possibly looking to further cut their employee headcount, many workers are hesitant to leave the office for long periods of time lest they be perceived as slacking off — and expendable.
"That's part of the American workplace culture, devotion as demonstrated through longer days and longer years," says Lonnie Golden, associate professor of economics at Penn State University in Abington, Pa. "When times are good they think it lends itself to promotion, when times are bad they think it gives them security."
Taking Off But Plugging In
Workplace experts say they are also noticing another trend — people going on vacation but not really leaving the office, using some of their time off to check in with the office and clients.
Charly Rok, a 38-year-old New York City-based public relations executive, is one example. Rok sometimes goes away on vacation for a few days at a time, but rarely takes a full week off. And even on the short trips that she does manage to take, she checks her work e-mails and returns phone calls so she doesn't miss any important work.
"It's hard in this industry and in this economy. You need to deliver, you need to be accessible and you need to multi-task," she says.
That kind of vacation can be both good and bad, say experts. While checking into the office does offer advantages — workers won't be returning to a pile of unanswered calls and e-mails for one — it does rob them of valuable time to unplug from their day-to-day routine.
"Vacation should be really defined as a time when we can really turn off those tech work savers and just relax and have fun," says Robert R. Butterworth, psychologist with International Trauma Associates in Los Angeles, who counsels patients with stress-related disorders.
Unfortunately, the mounting workloads of many U.S. employees has made some view a vacation as just a quick break before the inevitable daily grind sets back in.
"It's not really vacation," says Golden. "I call it postponement. You're working like a dog before it, then when you come home [work] is all stocked up."
Grassroots Campaign
Vacation shrinkage has prompted one author, Joe Robinson, to start a grassroots campaign to combat a society moving more and more toward overwork. The aim: To establish a law providing three weeks of vacation for any U.S. worker who has worked at a job for one year, and four weeks after three years.
"The idea is to make a slight shift in how vacations are perceived; that is by making them legal," says Robinson, who started his "Work to Live" campaign two years ago, lobbying for the law with Sen. Ted Kennedy and Rep. Henry Waxman in Washington D.C.
The war in Iraq had put the issue on the back burner, says Robinson. But now, with a recently-published book, Work to Live: The Guide to Getting a Life, he has renewed his push for a minimum-leave law. Robinson says he's gotten 50,000 signatures for the campaign so far.
"There's nothing wrong with having a strong work ethic," he says. "But it's an overwork ethic that's taken hold in the past 10 years or so."
Productive or Just Burnt Out?
Some argue Americans' strong hyper work ethic is what keeps the country's economy going at full throttle.
To be sure, American productivity has been steadily improving in recent years. But some economists say the long hours that U.S. workers are putting in haven't necessarily lead to productivity gains in all segments of the economy.
For example, manufacturing output per hour actually declined 0.4 percent in the United States in 2001, while countries like Italy, France and the United Kingdom, whose workers routinely take four to five weeks off a year, saw increases, according to the latest figures from the Labor Department.
"It really boils down to how you're measuring productivity," says Penn State's Golden. "If you look over the course of the year or in productivity per hour, Europeans are right there with Americans, if not ahead."
A Heavy Toll
Work experts add that working too much can also take a psychological or health toll on workers, leading to increased absenteeism, poor motivation and, ultimately, burnout.
Some 34 percent of 632 men and women surveyed by health insurer Oxford Health Plans said they have no down time at work. Another 32 percent work and eat lunch at the same time, while 32 percent never leave the building once they arrive at work. Nineteen percent of the workers said their job made them feel older than they are and 17 percent say work causes them to lose sleep at home.
"If you have a job that's very creative and you don't take time off you hit a wall and you need a change," says Butterworth. "The break will allow you to refresh your brain cells."
Alfred Portale, chef and owner of Gotham Bar & Grill in New York, heeds that advice. He routinely takes Friday afternoons off to spend long weekends with his two children before returning to work on Mondays. He also gives his workers at least two or three weeks vacation a year and tries to allow for flexibility if they need time off.
His philosophy: Workers who are happy are loyal and productive.
"Being away from work too much is counterproductive, but being there all the time and getting overworked breeds a lot of [negative] things," he says.
Oh, man, I'd have a real hard time adjusting to that! Grueling I tell ya.
If you feel non-productive, look into a new career, go back to school and try something different.
Vacation days are are part of a company's benefit package. Good companies hire the best workers and offer good benefits. Poor ones offer poor benefits. Work hard, do a good job and rewards follow.
The last time Mr. FourPeas changed jobs, he negotiated for four weeks of vacation. Yes, negotiated. His services were needed and his employer was willing to compensate him for his value. That's exactly the way it's supposed to work.
To get a true comparison between countries, you also need to factor in official holidays. We have quite a few in the US, a few more than most other countries. And we contrive to make as many as possible 3-day weekends. We probably do tend to get more long weekends in the US than in many other countries, which tend to take their holiday in one big chunk. I'm not sure but what shorter, more frequent breaks might actually do more good for body & soul with less pile-up and mess back at the office.
Tourism is a major industry in the US, and it would definitely benefit from an increase in vacation days.
There is much to be said for companies and institutions requiring anyone in a position of authority to get out of the office for at least an entire two-week annual time block. It frequently happens that those with something to cover up do so by never, ever going on vacation.
You have a harsh attitude to those who work and I'll bet you are even harsher on those who don't work.
I am also partially self-employed. My vaction choices or lack thereof are mine. When I chose to trade vacation for work, I am the direct beneficiary and it is a rational and voluntary choice.
For what? Saying no man has a right to a job? It's the simple truth. Got nothing to do with harshness. It's no different than saying "the sun comes up in the east". It's just a fact. Saying "a man is entitled to employment" is no different than saying "from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs". No different. People aren't entitled to most of the things the liberals have told them they are. You aren't entitled to be employed. You aren't entitled to a minimum wage. You are entitled to a living wage. You aren't entitled to health care. You aren't entitled to shelter, food, clothing.
Freedom is a harsh concept perhaps. Too harsh for most, I expect.
I simply object to anybody who calls himself an American even toying with the idea that the government ought to make a law governing minimum vacation days. What's the problem?
I'll bet you are even harsher on those who don't work.
Why would you think that? I personally don't care if people have employment or not. As long as they don't whine to the gov't to "entitle" them to some of my property- they can do what they want. Why should I care? You don't want to work, don't work- simple as that. What you eat, where you stay- your problem.
You have a harsh attitude to those who work
I work. My wife works. All my friends work. Bill Gates works. I like me. I like my wife. I like my friends. I like Bill Gates. I like people that work- admire them as a matter of fact. I'm not sure I understand this criticism.
D'oh! obviously, a mistake on my part. That should definitely read:
You are not entitled to a living wage
No it doesn't. There is no such thing as free health care. Doesn't exist.
Kind of like the Laffer Curve, there has to be a productivity curve. If you work zero hours a year, your productivity is zero. If you "work" 365 days a year for 24 hours, your productivity is zero because you will be in an insane asylum. The magic is finding the right number. How hard can you work, until your productivity declines?
We need to take play as seriously as work. The problem as I see it, and as others have mentioned is that many people don't really get a true vacation. A true vacation means no umbillical cord to the office. You are a free agent, free to take a holiday from work. I would suspect that the days a worker needs for vacation to be productive, would actually drop if middle management types actually allowed people to not do paperwork and return phone calls, while they are enjoying their holiday time.
Sounds like he gets 10 days a year, not five. Many companies give 5 days after six months. That's half a year. Thus 10 days a year. Reporter is apparently on vacation and too lazy to check facts.
Lost in all of this is that most people get weekends off which amounts to 104 days per year. Even those who have jobs that involve working weekends usually get a couple of days off during the week. I remember working at the airport and getting Tuesdays and Wednesdays off for my "weekend."
As well, most companies give 13 paid holidays a year. So take the weekends (104) plus holidays (13) plus vacation (10) and you end up with 127 days a year off - or over 1/3 of the year.
Then you have people who take "sick days" but that's another issue entirely.
I take it you voted for the Libertarian candidate in 2000? After all Bush talked about this drug plan when he was running, so this isn't a surprise.
I don't believe that many people, if any, are paid for their weekend offtime.
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