66% of Americans want European-style vacation policies, like being OOO for the entire month of August
66% of Americans want European-style vacation policies, like being OOO for the entire month of August
The average American is lucky to get 11 vacation days from their employer each year.
In many parts of Europe, it’s common for workers to take off weeks at a time, especially during the summer. Envious Americans say it’s time for the U.S. to follow suit.
Some 66% of U.S. workers say companies should adopt extended vacation policies, like a month off in August, in their workplaces, according to a Morning Consult survey of 1,047 U.S. adults.
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It’s sad. The real issue is an odd application of American capitalism and, believe it or not, unions. Yes, those same people that take credit for the 40 hour workweek and weekends prevented guaranteed vacation benefits.
Back in the New Deal when so many benefits were being codified, the unions began lobbying against going too far. The reason was their fear that if employers were forced by law to offer too good of benefits, then people would have no reason to join a union.
Of course, union membership has since collapsed, so we are now all stuck with the fallout and employers thinking 2-3 weeks of PTO is somehow enough. And never mind that as it turns out, European nations generally have higher union membership anyway.
Here is a source: https://www.npr.org/2023/08/17/1194467863/europe-vacation-holiday-paid-time-off
The reason we have vacation time is unions. The thing about a minimum pay in law is not needed here as everything needs to be bargained for. Even if you yourself is not a union member , the bargains are for all employees. Memberships are higher here but on the down in many places , especially if you consider the time before today's regulations.
And it shows in how weak the union are in some places. Everything gain is always under attack.
The only way for you to get same benefits as we have is throug the union.
Perhaps in Europe, unions pushed for mandatory vacation laws. But listen to my link. They pushed against it here. Not that I am discouraging unions. I’m just pointing out how greed effects everything in the US.