Americans Not Taking Paid Vacations

[K-man]

Slowly and surely we were slipping backwards 100 years for worker rights and along came covid. It came at a critical time and it will have lasting effects, some good some bad; mostly good.

The time for the 32 hour week is now. Research backs it up. The time for mandatory vacation is long overdue.

The only thing holding us back is the 2 party political system

Interesting. From your position you have never been self-employed or owned a business? Apologies if my assumption is wrong. Walk a bit in those shoes and you would certainly change your position.

 

[Safari Dave]

“No one ever said on their deathbed 'I wish I'd spent more time at the office. ' ” - Someone's quote


Unfortunately, many people believe that "the job" is the most important thing in life and some forgo almost everything else that makes up the human experience.

Some people, really don't have much else to make life meaningful. - Sad

 

[Red Leg]

We don't get 40 hours of work done anyway. We sit in the office for 8 hours mindlessly playing on our phone or shopping on Amazon on work computers for half of it...or at least just staring at the screen daydreaming. Management believes in 40 hours because that's just what is engrained in the workforce for decades.

Had that been my business unit in my old corporation we would have halved that employee group instantly. Fortunately we built things, software and hardware, where productivity of a program was fairly easily measured - by both us and the customer. I do not think you would have been happy there.

I had two careers that were for all practical purposes were 24/7. I wouldn’t have changed anything though I will admit the second offered far better compensation.

 

[Hogpatrol]

I put in a lot of 84 hour work weeks and used every bit of my time off but had coworkers that did the same and didn't take any time off. Different strokes.

 

[Safari Dave]

Concerning the last couple of posts concerning employee vs. business owner...


In my 43 years of work experience, I have endured almost the entire spectrum of entrepreneur (still) to ridiculously underappreciated employee.

If you have never owned your own business and had everything you own on the line to make it work, you will probably never understand the perspective.

If you have never been an employee of an organization where you can, literally, be punished by being innovative, proactive and proprietary in your desire for the organization to prosper, you will probably never understand that perspective either. (Yeah, it is ridicules, but it ABSOLUTELY is present in many organizations (especially if the organization is very large or governmental)).

 

[Don458]

Slowly and surely we were slipping backwards 100 years for worker rights and along came covid. It came at a critical time and it will have lasting effects, some good some bad; mostly good.

The time for the 32 hour week is now. Research backs it up. The time for mandatory vacation is long overdue.

The only thing holding us back is the 2 party political system

So explain please what you are advocating? If 2 party system is holding you back which party do you want in power??? This is something I find shocking that an American would say , Not sure if you are living in USA.

 

[flying sailor]

well, it does seem like Americans work more. Been known for a long time. I am self employed now, the last 14 years. Been in the machine trades for over 48 years. As a toolmaker I work less and make more. Contract technical expertise onsite for 4 days a month plus a few other things and I am good. As my best good friend from childhood says," I had a job once and I did not like it." Well I suffered for decades in shops with mandatory overtime at all the best times to vacation. Now I am taking my trips when I want and buy more hardware. Took awhile to get here, wish I would have started sooner. I made other people wealthy. If you have some skill or expertise to start from home, do it. Time waits for no man.

 

[steve white]

Slowly and surely we were slipping backwards 100 years for worker rights and along came covid. It came at a critical time and it will have lasting effects, some good some bad; mostly good.

The time for the 32 hour week is now. Research backs it up. The time for mandatory vacation is long overdue.

The only thing holding us back is the 2 party political system

We could afford more holidays if the total tax burden wasn't about 50%

Unfortunately, I am one of the ones with 4 weeks coming and only take one...

 

[mikecatt13]

What's vacation time? Self employed, there is no such thing. Sometimes I'm away from home, but theres never really time truly away from work. Either stuff has to still get done or there is massive weight on your mind. Life choices and such though, oh well

 

[thi9elsp]

I started taking my Africa, Europe, New Zealand vacations and telling my bosses I wouldn't have cell phone reception. That was in 2011 and our trip to Zimbabwe. Surprisingly, everything that needed to get done while I was gone got done, and when I got back, I addressed whatever was urgent.

Now, I didn't get some promotions probably because of that, but I enjoyed my hunts and vacations with Ann and wouldn't change a thing. I've been retired for 4 years since I turned 58 and wouldn't look back.

 

[YancyW]

Had that been my business unit in my old corporation we would have halved that employee group instantly. Fortunately we built things, software and hardware, where productivity of a program was fairly easily measured - by both us and the customer. I do not think you would have been happy there.

I had two careers that were for all practical purposes were 24/7. I wouldn’t have changed anything though I will admit the second offered far better compensation.

This is exactly right, my work product it very easy to see. Success and failure are often news and always the topic on Q earnings calls. I can't hide, and no one cares how many hours it takes to do the job.

 

[steve white]

Just remembered a story by Baden Powell (?) when he was stationed in the middle east (before founding the boy scouts of course). He decided to get his denied vacation by rising early and taking an hour a day or so alone out on the desert. Added it up and voila--vacation. Just a unique method and mindset.

 

[MTA]

I sell some PTO every year and take every single day of what I keep. I only sell PTO days because I am able to work flexible hours and once I hit 40 hours, which is every week, I can take days off without using PTO. As long as the folks under me are doing what they are suppose to, no one cares. Its nice

So basically the PTO I keep is used for blocks of time off.

 

[C.W. Richter]

'Obviously not written by an American in the know, OR by parties trying to be PC....'Working for large corporations prior to saying au Revoir and starting my own, smaller, more-manageable and profitable business, I had witnessed decades of corporations having to offer PTD to employees, but leaning on them and loading 'em up with work, telling employees they're expendable, etc. etc. etc. (essentially blocking them from weeks of vaca after offering it at the time of employment.) Combine that with the absolute money mismanagement of the current administration in the US (taxes, inflation, reliance on foreign oil, products, etc. etc. whilst the executive committees scoop up all the profits for themselves,) and the average workers haven't a dime left after all bills have been paid. So, they have to work. My advice to all, especially younger folks, is to be the Employer, NOT the Employee in America (and do be one of the good ones that actually treats good employees well!) Many of us could write a treatise on this, but it's common knowledge here and one doesn't wish to talk about it anymore than they have to...It's a political-economic form of quasi-legalized Slavery. Too much commercial-governmental programming going on here for the masses. Advertising is heavy here. Many feel they must keep up with the Jones' by always purchasing new things, essentially becoming house-rich and pocket-poor. My elders always taught us by example that to prosper, one must master their profession and save, and they were correct! I add to that question every single thing you read or hear. They're not your friends. It's all about $.

 

[CEO]

One of the many reasons I hated the corporate world was the vacation process. And by that I mean getting back to realize you were gone, so you were blamed for whatever shortcomings happened that week. Had one manager a few rungs above who I never heard from. It was a guarantee he would call me every week I was on vacation needing something though.

Self employed now. Whole different reason I don't take much time off.

 

[John the Electrician]

Slowly and surely we were slipping backwards 100 years for worker rights and along came covid. It came at a critical time and it will have lasting effects, some good some bad; mostly good.

The time for the 32 hour week is now. Research backs it up. The time for mandatory vacation is long overdue.

The only thing holding us back is the 2 party political system

I am curious if you could provide us with the research that backs up a 32 hour work week.

I can give you a personal example of how it doesn’t work. imagine you have an electrical or plumbing emergency. Bummer dude, we have already worked 32 hours.

Our labor laws have regressed 100 years, not even kind of. I am a small/medium sized contractor. I offer full benefits and PTO, in fact 6 paid holidays and additional 5 PTO days start after ninety days of employment. That is for entry level people, I negotiate more PTO for people with experience. My most senior employees have 5 weeks of PTO and 6 paid holidays. That is 31 days out of a 260 day work year they get paid to not work.

As far as screwing off at work like you claim workers do. That is shameful, not only on the workers but also on management. I literally buy the time of my employees every day to perform work for our customers. In return they work for the wages and benefits I provide. If they are behaving as you claim, that is theft plain and simple.

 

[375Fox]

I am curious if you could provide us with the research that backs up a 32 hour work week.

I can give you a personal example of how it doesn’t work. imagine you have an electrical or plumbing emergency. Bummer dude, we have already worked 32 hours.

Our labor laws have regressed 100 years, not even kind of. I am a small/medium sized contractor. I offer full benefits and PTO, in fact 6 paid holidays and additional 5 PTO days start after ninety days of employment. That is for entry level people, I negotiate more PTO for people with experience. My most senior employees have 5 weeks of PTO and 6 paid holidays. That is 31 days out of a 260 day work year they get paid to not work.

As far as screwing off at work like you claim workers do. That is shameful, not only on the workers but also on management. I literally buy the time of my employees every day to perform work for our customers. In return they work for the wages and benefits I provide. If they are behaving as you claim, that is theft plain and simple.

That was my thought too. Shame on management. I’ve had the opportunity to work in a lot of areas of the country, it’s always the same. Good managers create good employees. Even with the hardest workers on your team, poor managers, create an unmotivated workforce and tolerating the behavior he described just lets it spread and infect more. My job use to focus much more on holding people accountable. The biggest thing I learned (that surprised me) was removing persons for not carrying their weight didn’t create any lasting ill feelings from those left. Whether people want to admit it at time or not, they recognize the people who hold them back.

 

[VertigoBE]

Slowly and surely we were slipping backwards 100 years for worker rights and along came covid. It came at a critical time and it will have lasting effects, some good some bad; mostly good.

The time for the 32 hour week is now. Research backs it up. The time for mandatory vacation is long overdue.

The only thing holding us back is the 2 party political system

This is funny.

However I do welcome efforts to put this in place. Just like the forever Work At Home crowd. Will just make it easier for me to stand out.

But all jokes aside, paid vacation, I can get behind as part of a total compensation package offered to an employee. But there are limits to making it enshrined in law. This is best a benefit that is decided on a company level. Not mandated by law.

 

[Vintageguy]

When I was a young man in an iron foundry where I, and everyone else there that were peons like me, worked 10 hour days at minimum and 7 days a week, Christmas, Thanksgiving, the lot. I never had a day off the whole time there, paid for vacation not taken at the end of the year. I overheard my boss ask his boss, right after plant management had just told everyone we were working 7/week through the remainder of the year and that included holidays, if one of the senior guys could have his two weeks for some big family trip. He really basically begged for him to make an exception. I’ll never forget the answer he got, “fine, but tell him if I can do without you for two weeks then I can do without you period”.
That affected me for many years and even though I no longer worked there and had no restrictions on my vacation I still wouldn’t take more than a week at a time until my son was born and readjusted my priorities. Well that and gaining a cynical view of corporate America.
Times were different then and competition for decent paying jobs was savage in the trades when you were under 30. Now my 22 year old, hard working and skilled son has people begging him to work for them. A trend I saw coming so steered him towards the trades when I realized that 4 years of college just wasn’t in him after high school.
I have also done the self employed thing but I could never go off the clock, never quit or step away. That also stunk.
A lot of people think every job in America is cushy and workers are spoiled but I’ve seen a lot in my career and still see it today, conditions that would make you think you time warped back to 1850. My son has gotten to experience some of that in the coalfields of West Virginia and I’m glad he did, although it hurt me, but it made him appreciate what he has and he knows what that dollar is worth because it wasn’t given but earned.
This world would be a better place if everyone got to experience the stinking end of the stick at some point. More need to stand on their own legs. I’m on the back end now and that 2 weeks of vacation that many young people have to wait 3 or 5 years to get doesn’t seem like much anymore. But I remember that and being too broke to go anywhere anyway and I truly appreciate what I have and am the quickest around to offer a word of encouragement or thanks to anyone that has hold of that stick.

 

[Tanks]

We don't get 40 hours of work done anyway. We sit in the office for 8 hours mindlessly playing on our phone or shopping on Amazon on work computers for half of it...or at least just staring at the screen daydreaming. Management believes in 40 hours because that's just what is engrained in the workforce for decades.

Metrics don't lie and neither does inspections. In one of my construction companies I think we have fired over a dozen construction managers and probably over fifty engineers since 2005. The good stay, the bad get recycled. My pet peeve is lack of attention to detail as on a high rise or a shopping mall mistakes can cost you a fortune to make right. Everyone gets a free strike; next mistake means goodbye.