U.S. workers lag in vacation time
Memorial Day weekend is widely considered the kickoff of the American vacation season.
But are we taking as many vacations these days — especially when compared with the rest of the industrialized world?
Only 57 percent of U.S. workers use up all of the days they’re entitled to, compared with 89 percent of workers in France, a recent Reuters/Ipsos poll found, according to a CNN story.
What’s more, we get fewer vacation days.
“The United States is the only advanced economy in the world that does not guarantee its workers paid vacation,” writes the Center for Economic and Policy Research in a 2007 report, “No-Vacation Nation.” The center is a progressive think-tank based in Washington, D.C.
By contrast, European countries establish legal rights to at least 20 days of paid vacation per year, the report says.
The gap between paid time off in the U.S. and much of the world grows larger if legally mandated paid holidays are included, the report says. The U.S. offers none, but most of the rest of the world’s rich countries offer between five and 13 paid holidays per year.
Also, the report says, almost one in four Americans have no paid vacation and no paid holidays.
According to government survey data, the average worker in the private sector receives about nine days of paid vacation and about six paid holidays per year, the report says. That’s less than the minimum legal standard set in the rest of world’s rich economies, excluding Japan, the report says.
The paid vacation and paid holidays that employers do make available is distributed unequally, the report says. Lower-wage workers are less likely to have any paid vacation (69 percent) than higher-wage workers are (88 percent).
How’s your situation? In this economy, are you skipping some vacation days? Why?
When you’re on vacation, do you find yourself working? Why?
Here is a link to a PDF of the full report.
- Henry Unger, The Biz Beat
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161 comments Add your comment
bravesgrl4life
May 27th, 2011
10:32 am
I have been at my job, and survived one merger and two buyouts (banks), for 9 years. I currently get 120 hours (3 weeks) vacation. When I hit the 10 year mark next February, I get another 40 hours, for a total of 4 weeks. I don’t think it’s too bad. However, I’ve got to work another 10 years here to get a 5th week. Not sure if that will happen or not. Depends on if we get sold/bought again.
Babs
May 27th, 2011
10:35 am
PoliticalMan, have you actually read it? If so, you obviously haven’t grasped the concept of a free market vs. Socialism. Worker Bee, sounds like you’re pretty miserable. Would you actually be happier if you were paid more or just don’t like being in a cubicle?
worker bee
May 27th, 2011
10:40 am
Once, when I was younger and attending an orientation program at a new job in the UK, they asked what people look for when considering a position at a new company. As someone already mentioned remuneration, I added vacation time, dental and health care benefits. The other new hires looked at me like I was from a third world country.
PoliticalMan
May 27th, 2011
10:43 am
I wonder how “free market” Kool-aid tastes. Probably really sugary.
Find Me - I Dare Ya
May 27th, 2011
10:44 am
Starting my 10-day weekend today. See ya suckas!
Mich
May 27th, 2011
10:46 am
I don’t believe in working for free and it bothers me that the corporate world expects you too. I just changed jobs because my last job expected me to work extra hours weekly and weekends too, all unpaid because I was “salary”. HIRE MORE PEOPLE if your current staff cant’ get the work done. I was hired to do a job and that job task list grew and grew for years. Yet my pay never increased. Wasn’t worth it. Now I have a job where they require you to have a company cell phone…difference is I can turn it off during my vacation and they understand. That is how it should be.
Babs
May 27th, 2011
10:50 am
Well PoliticalMan, as I said, if you like Socialism better, hit the road. There are plenty of countries absorbed in it. BTW, if you will notice, England, France, and Germany are already seeing the error of their ways and are trying to figure out how to get their countries back, albeit they are pobably too late. We should take heed at what’s happening over there. The downfall of Greece’s economy might be a good lesson, as well. Oh, you didn’t answer my question, have you read Atlas?
Samantha
May 27th, 2011
10:59 am
I think the reason why a lot of people just don’t use there vacation days is because they feel that if they do they will lose their job! For instance…for work places like the city of Atlanta…a lot of people that work there do not take their days off like they should because they want to hold unto them just in case they lose their jobs. If they get riffed or laid off (fired) then their vacation days will come in as extra money for them. Unfortunately that’s the nature of the beast when a person works for a mismanaged city like Atlanta.
Babs
May 27th, 2011
11:07 am
I didn’t know the government fired people – if you have a contract stating what benefits you have, then they can’t just fire you for taking your vacation. If they do, then you have a legal case, and believe, governments don’t want to deal with that.
Marz
May 27th, 2011
11:14 am
If I’m on vacation and I get a call from work, I charge them an extra vacation day. Guess what, I haven’t had a vacation work call in over 5 years!!!!
Red
May 27th, 2011
11:15 am
Babs is right. We should take heed of what is happening in Europe and work even harder and continue to increase our productivity at an astonishing percentage year over year (for the same or a diminishing wage) so our corporate lords will be pleased and just might not move our jobs to Viet Nam or China or Bangladesh- you know, somewhere where the quality of life is really awesome and stuff.
Babs
May 27th, 2011
11:30 am
Marz, good for you training them instead of being trained! Red, if we weren’t the highest taxed in the corporate world, we wouldn’t need to take those jobs out of the country. The business of the corporate world is to make money, period. And don’t start the greed thing with me. Everyone wants to make the most they can. A poll was recently conducted that asked CEOs about this issue. Over 60% said that if the Federal government would lower their tax rate, they would bring offices back over here. Over 40% of manufacturers stated they would bring plants back over here. You are actually starting to see a trend of companies that provide services come back over because employees in other countries are beginning to demand more in compensation. The fine line of paying them more with our cost of doing business over there is becoming more attractive to bring some of those jobs back. This is the way of a free market, sooner or later it all comes back around. If you were running a business, you would probably agree.
T.D.
May 27th, 2011
11:37 am
I’ve been laid off from long-time job since October, where I used to get 15 vacation days per year. That ONE employer, though, offered me more vacation days than any other employer I’ve ever worked with. I’m currently on a 3-month temp assignment where I get no days off unless I’m sick or the company I’m assigned to has an office holiday. Sadly, the agency does not pay us if we don’t work, whether it’s a holiday or not. This has changed dramatically since the last time I worked as a temp — some 9 years ago. Then, we used to be paid for a holiday depending on the amount of hours worked in between holidays. I’ll be short 80 hours this pay period now, which will hurt. Sighhhh…I guess it’s better than not drawing any income at all.
Red
May 27th, 2011
11:41 am
Hiring 8 year olds to assemble small components because they have small hands and work cheap is also the way of the free market, but I sure am glad that hasn’t come back around…yet.
worker bee
May 27th, 2011
11:42 am
Why is it that on every blog someone feels they must stand up for US corporations and against enhancing the quality of life for Americans? People made this country what it is today, not corporations. Personally, I have no skin in the game because I get as much vacation as they do in France.
Babs – thoughts? By following your reasoning and logic, vacation time equates to socialism. Do I have that correct? Perhaps you think vacation time is a bargaining tool to be used only in a free market economy.
Hang in there TD. I’ve been in your shoes before.
Babs
May 27th, 2011
11:44 am
T.D., that’s because temp agencies usually get paid by the client by the hour. They can’t afford to pay people what they don’t get paid. I’m surprised that you have ever been paid for holidays on a temp assignment. When I placed contract resources, they only got paid hourly, which is usually more than a salaried position because they don’t get benefits. A lot of companies are hiring temps in order to keep from paying benefits, so it’s one way or the other. Get paid more hourly, or get benefits as a perm. employee and actually get paid less. One thing that is really keeping employers from hiring right now isn’t because they don’t need people, but because they don’t know if or how Obamacare is going to affect them. There are a lot more costs in hiring a perm. person, but this is the big one right now.
Call it like it is
May 27th, 2011
11:53 am
I get 3 weeks paid, 5 floating holidays, and 4 paid holidays. Have I ever taken all of that time, No. Do I wish I could, yes. Like many of the statements above mine, work still comes in, and the longer I’m gone the more I have to do when I get back. Its America, its what we do, work 24/7 then die.
Boss Hawg
May 27th, 2011
11:54 am
There is such a myopic view in the business world that companies lose sight of the big picture. Workers are more efficient and creative when rested. Just look around you on the busy roads, people have been run ragged into insanity. Many of the people posting here have traded in their dignity for some sort of ego fulfillment which they believe themselves and their job is so important they can’t take a couple days off.
Babs
May 27th, 2011
11:56 am
Prioritizing tasks can help. Guess what, it’s always been that way. You work like crazy to get ready for vacation, then you still have a heap when you return, nothing new here, it’s happened for decades. With so many being disenchanted with what they’re doing, start a business on the side doing what you’d like to really be doing. Once it gets going, turn it into your career. That’s how small businesses start. You think you’re working long hours now, just wait. But, you’ll reap the benefits of working for yourselves and not working for the “man” and won’t be part of that maze sitting in cubicle.
Red
May 27th, 2011
12:03 pm
“Its America, its what we do, work 24/7 then die.”
Correction Sir or Madame (as the case may be)
“Its America, its what we do, work 24/7, get laid off before getting fully vested in a 401k scheme, loose health insurance coverage, maybe get a voucher to replace what used to be Medicare, still not be able to afford health insurance coverage, be demonized as a sycophant for drawing unemployment benefits, then die”
There, I fixed it for you.
Babs
May 27th, 2011
12:23 pm
No Red, I don’t believe vacation is a form of Socialism. Vacation is a perk a company provides for rest and revitalization. How they structure it is of their own doing. What would be your solution to replace corporations? I’m open to hearing it. BTW, since we’re upon Memorial Day, I hope all of you enjoy it and remember the soliders that fought/died and are still fighting for your rights to continually trash America.
Babs
May 27th, 2011
12:42 pm
Red, speaking of Medicare, have you read Ryan’s proposed plan for it? It won’t be going away but restructured. I’m so tired of hearing the mantra of the far left and believing it when they really don’t know what the proposal is. As far as umemployment, companies have paid into that for its purpose. I think people that want to continue those benefits vs. getting a job they don’t prefer is the problem and why the money eventually runs out. I’ve been laid off more than once and can tell you I worked in retail part time. If you have problems working in a corporation, try retail, then tell me what you think. Talk about a thankless job for next to nothing. But I did it until I got something in my field because I’d rather be working than sitting on my a*#%s.
worker bee
May 27th, 2011
12:45 pm
Oh wow, who is trashing America? I was not suggesting an alternate “solution to replace corporations”. Although, a law that guarantees US workers vacation time consistent with the rest of the developed world might be a solution.
It’s too bad this study does not include all countries because there are also many developing nations that are ahead of us in this respect as well.
Red
May 27th, 2011
12:47 pm
Babs, I prefer the cooperative model for industrial output, but then have a look at my sobriquet…
Will
May 27th, 2011
12:48 pm
Great PTO benefits at work. I took more than 200 hours last year and carried over 215. Leaving for a week in Riviera Maya tomorrow! Never work when on vacation.
Babs
May 27th, 2011
1:08 pm
No, the government should have no mandates where corporate America is concerned. That’s Socialism. The people who want that are pleased with what they’re given before earning it. The government has no place in the private sector. If they would do their job of defending this country from harm, we’d be much better off. As you’ve certainly seen, anytime the government gets involved in anything, it does nothing but create complete waste of your tax dollars. It’s not the principle of the foundation this country was founded on. The more you do for yourself, make your own decisions without a nanny state, the more freedom you have to live your life as you see fit. Will, I envy you, and enjoy!!
Red
May 27th, 2011
1:18 pm
“The more you do for yourself, make your own decisions without a nanny state, the more freedom you have to live your life as you see fit.”
Okay, we’re veering off topic, but I’ll bite. Let me revise that for you Babs:
“The more you do for yourself, make your own decisions without a nanny state, the more freedom you have to live your life as you see fit, as long as you don’t try to marry someone who is the same sex as you or get an abortion in Texas without a sonogram first”
That’s better. I’m out.
John
May 27th, 2011
1:18 pm
We compete against China and India. Do we lag them? Are we more productive than them? Of course not, so welcome to the 21st century. Europe died and stopped working hard 30 years ago. Now, only the Germans make stuff and prosper. In the US, only government workers – overpaid with our tax dollars and getting pensions and free health care the rest of their lives – get to live like Europeans.
INTownGal
May 27th, 2011
1:23 pm
boy you can really tell the dems, repubs, and libertarians on these posts. I’m gonna go ahead and guess that Babs is a HUGE Neal Boortz fan. (insert sarcasm here)
Eric
May 27th, 2011
1:24 pm
“But are we taking many vacations…”
We don’t need as many vacations because more people are teleworking now. Those unsupervised days @ home can be like semi-vacations, you can get an awful lot of personal stuff done while getting paid for it. This aspect is rarely mentioned by the experts who push companies to let their employees work from home, but that’s the reality.
Coming to America
May 27th, 2011
1:33 pm
Chris, I have to agree with you. I am from Canada, and the company I worked for back home gave me 4 weeks. I came here and got 1. I am not sure what to do with one week….given that children get sick. I get sick…I mainly get sick from being overworked. And lets not start on healthcare.
Babs
May 27th, 2011
2:13 pm
John, you’re so right about the government workers that we employ with our tax dollars. Can we say “redistribution” of monies? Eric, you are correct about the telecommuting, and you know people aren’t working 8 straight while working from home. InTownGal, I don’t always agree with Boortz, but I do maintain his belief system of individualism and consider myself a libertarian. Coming to America, I have one thing to say, being from the South, Delta flies north as well.
markie mark
May 27th, 2011
3:34 pm
“Chalk it up for cultural differences and expectations, but the insanity eventually catches up in gradually decreasing productivity.”
Chris, the truth is the American worker is the most productive worker in the world and has been for years. Recent news reports in the national media (last week) cite companies moving back to the USA because the US worker is 3 times more productive than the Chinese worker. The wage difference is being made up in the production.
SuperSlacker
May 27th, 2011
3:40 pm
I’ve been on vacation since November 2010. The only way I can and will get back into the workforce is to start my own business. I am at the age where many employers won’t touch me for the type of work I do.
playthatfunkymusicwhiteboy
May 27th, 2011
4:08 pm
Folks I can’t begin to describe the feeling I have on a daily basis when dealing with my co-workers in other countries. I’m in a global position and speak on a daily basis with people in London, Paris, Mexico City, Tokyo, Singapore, Toronto, Rio, etc. We BY FAR have it worse than any of them. Vacations are a joke in the US – you never ever unplug. My favorite thing is the way most companies here have instituted the “use it or lose it” rule on vacation days – knowing full well that you can’t use them all, you just can’t. Heck, pretty much all of Europe is going to shut down for the month of July and most of August. It makes a difference.
Babs
May 27th, 2011
4:17 pm
Well if they’re shutting down for two months, no wonder they aren’t as productive – they aren’t working and want all the benefits in the world. Now that their countries can no longer suppor “unproductivity”, they’re raising hell and think they’re entitled. I think it’s fine for them not to work two months out of the year as long as they don’t get paid to do nothing and don’t get benefits for that time. What in the hell do you think made this country great? Funny, if you work for yourself, you don’t think about the time you put in because you’re working for YOU – that’s what makes a difference. These countries will go bankrupt at this rate, then they’ll call on the US (because we do work year-round) to bail them out!! Go live over there if you don’t like it here because we ARE NOT them!!
lol babs
May 27th, 2011
4:28 pm
babs you are an idiot. you sound like a slave driver on an assembly line.
but realize, not everybody is a stupid zombie that cant even graduate basic school. some of us know how the world thinks.
Babs
May 27th, 2011
4:41 pm
lol Babs, so you think I didn’t graduate basic school? What in the hell is basic school idiot-ass? Do you mean elementary school? For someone that knows how the world thinks, you don’t sound too bright.
Bob Walters
May 28th, 2011
3:27 am
No wonder our country is in such bad shape with so many whiners complaining about the number of vacation days. A company rewards sacrifice. Sacrifice means giving up that vacation to do a little bit extra for the company’s bottom line. Using vacation should be taken for what it is; sloth, laziness and a lack of commitment to hard work.
Come 2012, things are gonna be changin in this country. Work hard or starve… so you better start getting used to it now. Go Tea Party!
S
May 28th, 2011
10:39 pm
Ummm, wonder how much the Koch brothers are paying Babs to run his fingers on this blog? The Ryan plan is the death knoll for Medicare, who do they think they’re are fooling..the republicans have been trying to do away with Social Security and Medicare since they came into being..so Ryan’s death plan for Medicare is just another trick to do away with Medicare as we know it..Don’t be a sheep out there, vote in your own self interest..Corporations don’t care about anything but the bottom line, they don’t care about their employees except for what they do/make for the company..Profits! Corporations can take care of themselves, people have to vote in their own self interest because no one else is going to look out for you.
OneChris
May 29th, 2011
1:08 pm
The golden handcuff is if you do get paid time off it is hard to find another job that is just as good with paid time off. For instance I get 37 days off paid per year and have been with my company for five years and this is three floating holidays, nine company (major holidays) and 25 paid days off (5 weeks) and we can carry over hours but have to use them or we max out if we hit the ceiling on the time so I am very very blessed at this company as most I know are lucky to get a week or two weeks at the most. The truth is a company is not required by law to give you any time off with pay. Most people forget this until they go to work for a small company and they are not given paid time off.
Harold
May 29th, 2011
1:20 pm
I had a job with 5 weeks of vacation per year but I couldn’t afford to go on so many vacations so I quit and now I have 2 weeks of vacation the savings are really piling up
No Thanks
May 29th, 2011
1:57 pm
Unions are the people who fought for a 40-hour work week, decent and safe working conditions, paid time off, maternity leave, and a whole host of other things the American workforce takes for granted. And that’s why we still need unions. Do you really think that your employer would do all that if it wasn’t the law? Don’t you realize they’d have us all working under Third World sweatshop conditions if they could get away with it? You bet I take all my vacation time! I owe my employer a full day’s work for a full day’s pay, and that’s all. I do not owe them my time off. I do not owe them access to my personal life. The mindset that life should revolve around a job is what’s making our great nation one of the unhealthiest on earth.
Joseph
May 29th, 2011
2:01 pm
Been with my co 5 years and get more than 3 weeks vacation – I have yet to exhaust all of my time in one year. I like to vacation in Europe, but enjoy living here as well
Dr. R
May 29th, 2011
2:02 pm
Why would we want to be like Europe, an aging, decaying society that produces nothing? Our economy is as strong as it is because our work ethic does not allow for a week of lollygagging for every six we work. Europeans are lazy, self-absorbed and insignificant. If we are going to compete with the hard-working nations of Asia and the developing world, we can’t spend our time at the beach getting tan and fat. I’m sick of these think tank studies that compare everything we do to France and Italy. Why would we want to be like those faded powers? When we do succumb to that thinking, we will join them in the dustbin of history. For now, a couple weeks and a handful of holidays a year are plenty if you have a job worth doing and and you are good at it. If neither of those things are true, an occasional trip to the beach isn’t going to make your life better.
Renogirl
May 29th, 2011
2:04 pm
I can’t agree more with the tone of the article. All work and no play after all. I have worked for EU held companies for years and it’s just amazing at how the Europeans are always off for some reason or other while we are busy busy busy in the US. You can have a more productive work force by allowing them to get away from the work environment. Period. No matter what your position or title. And no, it is not easy to negotiate vacation time when signing on. So I just take whatever vacation I want to take and if I have to borrow from the following year or take a leave then so be it. One of the reasons I work is to see the world.
Needajob
May 29th, 2011
2:07 pm
For Those of us who are 50 and older and unemployed for several months, we will kindly work your vacation days for you! Being out of work 15 months now I realize I have been replaced by the younger group that believes in taking all the days off they can! Back when I had the luxury of having a job in was happy with getting the holidays off and maybe a couple of extra days a year. I quess my type of worker no longer exist? Could be why I am not getting all those job offers maybe I need a change of plan?!
victor
May 29th, 2011
2:08 pm
I work 20 hours per day, 370 days a year.
No Thanks
May 29th, 2011
2:11 pm
Dr. R, our economy is in the toilet. And we don’t produce much in this country anymore; it’s all been outsourced.
Bob Walters, it makes me sad that there are such misguided folk as you who are allowed to vote.
joe
May 29th, 2011
2:12 pm
This is really quite simple: vacation is a time to recharge your batteries and enjoy other aspects of your life, which in turn helps recharge creativity and productivity. I will never work for a company that asks me to work hard, not smart. Those of you with the opposite attitude are the ones contributing to the long-term draining of the American dream.