Mandatory vacation pay

[politicallefty]

This is one issue about the United States that has always really bothered me. The US remains as the only country in the developed world to not have paid vacation mandated by law (let alone the already absurd absence of not having mandatory sick pay). This shows the comparison among several countries:



Personally, I would support a law mandating 20 days paid vacation to all employees, not including at least five holidays as paid vacation.

[Hatman 🍁]

12 statutory holidays, plus you should get your birthday off as if it were off. In addition, 10 "off days" to be used for sick or holidays. If you've used them up and you get sick, a doctors note can excuse you, but those days are deducted from the following year.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

It is the individual company/business's right to decide, but ten sick days (not counting holidays and an employee's birthday) seems fair to me.

12 statutory holidays, plus you should get your birthday off as if it were off. In addition, 10 "off days" to be used for sick or holidays. If you've used them up and you get sick, a doctors note can excuse you, but those days are deducted from the following year.

This is not unreasonable at all.

[Dave from Michigan]

Yeah the lack of vacation time is a big issue. 5 weeks total, 25 days total. Two weeks after a year, then a week a year till 5 weeks. Part time workers are more difficult because if you say you have to work so many hours to get vacation employers will cut workers under that. You will hear that 75% of people have vacation pay but it's the people at the bottom who don't have it but need it. Plus most of the 75% probably only get 2 weeks which is not enough. Giving 5 weeks vacation would help towards making up for the way workers have gotten screwed over the last 40 years. I would support tax breaks for small businesses to help with the added cost.

[Indy Texas]

FWIW, my workplace (a law firm) gives 5 paid vacation days to new employees; that amount increases to 10 days after two years. There are also 5 days equivalent of paid "personal time" - if, for example, you have to go to the doctor and miss half a day of work, you can apply the equivalent number of work hours and get paid for those. Some people just apply some or all of the personal days to days that they are on vacation and the result is the same. Unpaid time off above and beyond that is generally fine as long as HR and the people in your department are told about it.

The problem with giving paid time off to workers in industries like food service and retail is that their absence has more consequences. If I leave town, my work will be on my desk waiting when I get back and it's just a matter of me having to catch up on everything. If a cashier at the supermarket leaves town, not only would you be paying her while she's on vacation, you'd also have to be paying whoever is taking her place. Her work doesn't "wait for her" while she's away. It has to be handled right then and there by someone else.

[Franzl]

4 weeks would be reasonable.

[H. Ross Peron]

4 weeks would be reasonable.

[AggregateDemand]

Let people work as little or as much as they want

[Antonio the Sixth]

Ideally, 2-3 months.

[Antonio the Sixth]

It is the individual company/business's right to decide, but ten sick days (not counting holidays and an employee's birthday) seems fair to me.

Sick days are not holidays. And obviously a worker should get as many paid sick days as the number of days they can demonstrate they actually are sick - as long it's not a chronic disease that will durably prevent them from performing their job (in which case the burden shifts to the State).

[Indy Texas]

It is the individual company/business's right to decide, but ten sick days (not counting holidays and an employee's birthday) seems fair to me.

Sick days are not holidays. And obviously a worker should get as many paid sick days as the number of days they can demonstrate they actually are sick - as long it's not a chronic disease that will durably prevent them from performing their job (in which case the burden shifts to the State).

FMLA laws apply in cases where people have long-term illnesses that last weeks or months, though most small businesses won't have enough employees to be subject to those.

[tik 🪀✨]

20 working days a year, plus at least 5 sick days.

They should not be combined. This is basic workplace decency, people.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

It is the individual company/business's right to decide, but ten sick days (not counting holidays and an employee's birthday) seems fair to me.

Sick days are not holidays. And obviously a worker should get as many paid sick days as the number of days they can demonstrate they actually are sick - as long it's not a chronic disease that will durably prevent them from performing their job (in which case the burden shifts to the State).

Forgive my wording, I meant that aside from holidays they should get a fair number of sick days.

[politicallefty]

On second thought, I think the law should be 20 days paid vacation and 10 paid holidays. The paid holidays should include all federal holidays minus Columbus Day and Veterans Day (and Inauguration Day when it comes up), but everyone would get two days off for Christmas and Election Day would be added as a federal holiday. Columbus Day should just be abolished and Veterans Day should be reserved for veterans (so they get an additional paid holiday for themselves).

Beyond just common decency and ensuring that people actually have lives beyond their work, I think one of the best arguments for mandating vacation pay is that it allows people to decompress and relieve stress. There are studies that strongly suggest that vacations increase worker productivity. I'm sure it may be a shock to some that a happier worker is a more productive worker.

I'm actually surprised that no states have passed laws ensuring paid vacation, although Puerto Rico does guarantee three weeks. (For that matter, I think Connecticut is the only state mandating paid sick leave. It's a separate issue altogether, but it says a lot about how we treat workers in this country.) From what I've found, the only federal proposal was from Alan Grayson in 2009, which would've guaranteed a maximum two weeks after three years on the job for larger companies. That'd be a huge improvement, but still quite lacking compared to most other developed countries.

The only recent proposal at the state level I've found was earlier this year in Washington state. That proposal would apply to all those working at least 20 hours per week. It would start from a week after the first six months and eventually work up to a maximum of three weeks after five years on the job. My only issue with proposals like those is that I'm wary of giving employers any added incentives to lay people off or reduce employee hours to just below the legal threshold. Even so, any law like that would still be a huge improvement over what we have now and at least perhaps spark a larger debate.

[Simfan34]

Dumb question here- how would this work on holidays? Some people still are needed to work, even on a day like Christmas. I'm assuming these days are transferrable.

The more interesting question would be to find out what is the average amount of vacation days employers offer in the US. It would be worthwhile to compare that to the average days taken elsewhere, and how that is affected by legal requirements

[RI]

Why should you be paid to go on vacation?

[DC Al Fine]

Three seems like a fair bare minimum. A week at Christmas, a week in the summer and a week for whatever suits your fancy.

[Franzl]

Why should you be paid to go on vacation?

Because it's good policy. And because I care more about overall quality of life then the notion that it is in some way unfair for employers (who profit from healthy, productive workers as well).

[tik 🪀✨]

Why should you be paid to go on vacation?

Because you've earned it already. Because you shouldn't have your entire life dictated by work. Because people should spend time with their families. Because it alleviates stress and improves mental health. Because it makes for happier employees. Because someone needs to be hired to fill in. Because what good is your money without time to spend it? Because I thought Americans had an appreciation for basic freedoms. This is not controversial stuff. This is a basic system everyone in a first world nation should expect, but another of which Americans don't get.

[Kushahontas]

Why should you be paid to go on vacation?

Because you're going on vacation, not getting fired.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Why should you be paid to go on vacation?

Because it's good policy. And because I care more about overall quality of life then the notion that it is in some way unfair for employers (who profit from healthy, productive workers as well).

Most business owners (big and small) agree that paid vacation is good for business.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

None

[angus]

None

That's how I voted as well.
 

[RI]

Why should you be paid to go on vacation?

Because you've earned it already. Because you shouldn't have your entire life dictated by work. Because people should spend time with their families. Because it alleviates stress and improves mental health. Because it makes for happier employees. Because someone needs to be hired to fill in. Because what good is your money without time to spend it? Because I thought Americans had an appreciation for basic freedoms. This is not controversial stuff. This is a basic system everyone in a first world nation should expect, but another of which Americans don't get.

I don't see how unpaid vacation time fails to satisfy most of these. I'm not saying paid vacation shouldn't exist; there are lots of potential reasons that could justify it, perhaps production externalities or something, but I'd like to see it properly justified before blanketly saying people deserve it at whatever cost.

[tik 🪀✨]

The most obvious answer to you is that the great majority of people simply cannot afford to have unpaid vacations.

On some level it will boil down to me asserting that leisure time is an essential aspect of being a human. Real leisure time to do things that lead to a fuller life - pursuit of happiness nonsense.

And since I believe it is important and that most people cannot afford to do it, I think it should be worked into having a full time employee. Let's have that instead of godawful employer health insurance nonsense.

I admit this reply probably isn't what you are after. I can make a better crafted one later.