Working Class Americans
Employment website Glassdoor released a survey last week that reported only 1 in 4 employees took 100% of their eligible vacation time last year. What possesses a person to choose work over touring the great capitals of Europe or reorganizing their closets? But when is a vacation not a vacation? One in 10 employees used vacation time to look for another job. And don’t get me started on those pathetic people who work during vacation. That would be most of us.
You gotta love the Italians. They know how to live. Their citizens win the prize for most paid annual vacation days: Forty-two in all. And you know they’re using every one of them and then some. (La Dolce Vita is more than just a movie title.)
France and Germany are not far behind; 37 and 35 paid days off respectively. But considering how beautiful both countries are, you really do need the time to explore them…
Then there’s us, the U.S. We average a paltry 13 paid vacation days annually and maybe more disheartening, almost 22 percent of workers don’t get any paid vacation or time off at all.
We are the only highly developed nation that doesn’t require employers to offer paid vacation time.
Even so, we continue to leave valuable paid time on the table.
Why is that?
Because we’re going for bragging rights.
Everyone knows that no one works harder than Americans and we prove it year-after-year by working ourselves to death.
But we’re also scared (tough as we may be). Especially now.
We’re afraid we’ll book that trip to Disney World and come back broke only to see the dreaded corrugated carton on our desk with all of our award trophies peeking out from the top.
“Fear of being replaced” and “too much work” top the main reasons Americans are using two fewer paid vacation days than last year.
The Travel Industry Association (TIA) claims that an inability to take a break can lead to “stress, burnout and a greater likelihood of feeling betrayed and angry when things don’t go well at work” (I think they have another motivation for their deep concern but it does ring true).
I’m a big Stephen Covey fan. In his book, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People,
Covey makes a compelling case for the need to “sharpen the saw” - to take time away from work, exercise, read, meditate – “to balance and renew your resources and create a sustainable, long-term, effective lifestyle. “
For the past 20 years I have been taking off most Mondays, from Memorial Day to Labor Day.
I’ve come to the conclusion that a four-day work week is the ideal. Having three personal days in a row seems to strike the right chord.
I’m also fortunate to be able to take home-and-away vacations throughout the year.
I, for one, don’t leave a crumb on the table.
The only bad habit I have left to conquer is checking and responding to emails while on hiatus.
I’m in good company.
Sixty one percent of us admit working “some” while on vacation.
Twenty-five percent report being contacted by a (jealous?) colleague while trying to get away from it all.
Worse yet, 20 percent say their (clueless?) bosses contact them on vacation. Not nice.
Every time I leave for vacation I say to my co-workers, “Don’t call me unless someone dies.”
But I don’t mean it, and they know it.
But at least give me credit for taking my earned time off.
Anita Alvare (bio) /Alvare Associates/610-520-6140