Hi all-

I'm sure everyone here knows that Americans are at the bottom of the list as far as the amount of vacation time we recieve. There is very smart gentleman collecting signatures that he will present to Congress urging action to amend the Fair Labor Standards Act. Businesses would have to give full-time employees three weeks if they have been on the job one year; four weeks after three years. Sounds like a lot of time until you consider that it is still much less than what is standard across most of Europe. Here is the link for anyone who is interested in checking it out!http://www.escapemag.com/home/sub_3.htm
Thank you

You are so right. I would alter the time structure so that it wasn't linked to time on a specific job. It should be based on how much time you have worked - period.

If Al Gore were to include this as a campaign promise he would be 'in like Flint.'

The other obvious area where America is at the bottom of the list is healthcare insurance. While we have all heard horror stories about socialized medicine, there must be a solution out there somewhere.

You guys must be part of the current 20 something generation that expects virtually everything to be handed to them, and on Limoges china, please! Life owes me and it'd better pay up. FAST. WHINE! (And yes, I'm shouting, after all, I'm 20 something. I can throw a tantrum)

All right 'needabreather', you've got me annoyed now.
First off, it's "in like Flynn" (Errol Flynn reference, seductive charms supposedly made his life's conquests (women in particular) seem effortless).

Secondly, if you don't like the US healthcare system (which I will quickly admit is very expensive) I'd like you to sign up to be the first to move to China or South Africa or nearly any other country in the world if you develop cancer, need a kidney transplant or get AIDS. The reasons the system is so expensive are 1) insurance companies make HUGE profits via premium markups (if you think doctors are well off, why is it that the average family physician who works 60+ hours per week makes ~$110,000 a year, while management people in large insurance companies make much, much more, particularly CEO's bringing in $3-8 MILLION a year!!), 2) technology is very expensive. If people want cutting edge, rapidly improving health care it comes with a high price tag. Research and development is expensive. Discoveries and improvements move along slowly, but if it weren't for the research done in the US in the past 75 years I guarantee you the world would be far behind where it is today. 3) providing everyone access to the best all the time is nearly impossible. But that's considered every American's right by most people. In the recent past at least, Canadians sometimes had to to get access to cancer treatment, heart bypasses, etc. The system went bust and now Canadians are being charged fees for this and that, and when their celebrities get seriously ill, where do they go for health care? That's right, to the USA.
Sure the system is too expensive. But when a Congressman's wife gets sick, do you think he sits at his desk trying to figure out how to cut costs or does he throw care to the wind and seek out the best darned physicians he can find. How valuable is your health? Want to try to assign a value, or worse yet, set up a rationing system so there's a limit on how aggressively you can be cared for?

And thirdly, Al Gore would never get my vote if he guaranteed me 10 weeks of vacation per year.

I'm going to attempt to stop hyperventilating now. Carry on......

should have read "....Canadians sometimes had to WAIT to get access to cancer treatment", etc

I know the perfect solution to the too short USA vacation problem. Quit. Get out of the rat race and go where and when you want to and stay as long as you wish. I quit working in 1987. Notice I didn't say retired. And I was 34 at that time. I saved up as much money until then working 60+ hours a week for years and then I invested my $$ in the stock market and quit work. Haven't worked since and my nest egg is even bigger than it was in 1987 when I left the work force. I travel alot. Backpacking and staying in hostels and volunteering on digs, camping etc. It's been great and I recommend it. Don't get mad...get out.

We may be close to the bottom on vacation time. However I certainly do not believe that it is the government's function to force business to grant vacations. The government is already too involved with regulating business. Just because Europe or whereever does something is no excuse for us to mimic them. Our system is by far the best over all.

Stop whining about vacation time and get to work. My spouse and I are late 30s; one gets 21 days, the other 20 -- plus three-day weekends and other holidays. We enjoy a comfortable standard of living. And it's due to the fact that we work very hard at our jobs.

"The harder I work, the luckier I get."

In general, our corporations resist all kinds of benefits that are considered more or less standard in other developed and even developing countries. Takes money out of the share-holders' and execs' pockets!

Re: our collapsing health care system -- a recent World Health Organization report ranks the US system at 57th after all other industrialized countries and quite a few developing countries. Report at: http://filestore.who.int/~who/whr/20...nexTable01.pdf. We used to pay 8 cents for administration on the health care dollar. We now pay about 40 cents. And anyone who thinks there's no waiting in the US for treatment just hasn't been sick lately. I've experienced Canadian, British, and US health care, and ours is slick with technology but a disaster in actually taking care of people.

Sorry, US is ranked 37th not 57th, but the point stands. Canada is 30th, UK is 18th.

Lets get all the facts:

Yes it's true that other countries "get" more vacation time, but the question is WHY? Answer: because unemployment is sooo much higher they have no choice. Also, we have so many more choices here. There is NO WHERE else in the world that an average citizen has the chance to own a business like here. As for health care, most socialized programs are exactlty that, here we have the right to choose.

Basically, if you don't like life in the United States .... LEAVE. There are plenty of others (from every country in the world) WAITING to get in!

If you are unhappy with the amount of vacation time you get at your job, quit and get one that gives you more.

That would be much more productive than whining about it.

I agree that Americans need more vacation time. Sorry to ruin your theory "whine", I'm not a 20-something. Unless you are one of the fortunate few who actually loves their job, I think vacations are a necessity. You generally come back more refreshed and productive. And as far as the government staying out of business, I believe you are mistaken if you think businesses would always do the best for their employees without organizations like OSHA etc. If not for government involvement, we would probably still be working 6 day workweeks and alongside children to boot. And as far as the relationship of unemployment and vacation time, I didn't notice companies rushing to increase vacation time during our last recession. If anything I would think companies would give better vacation packages when they are competing for workers during times of full employment. I would think more of an argument could be made for the correlation of age discrimination and vacation. After all, just hire a kid right out of college, two weeks vacation after a year is much better than the 4 weeks you're paying that guy with 20 years service. Even better, hire a temp then you have no benefits at all!
It's stupid to say people should leave the country just because they have opinions on what might make it better.
Obviously your opinion depends on your job field, what kind of company you work for and many other factors. I would be interested to know whether it's government, corporate, self-employed for the differing opinions here.

Right on Cal,
Keep government out of my business. In our office, if you want three weeks off you can certainly get it. Just don't make pay for it. Also keep government out or Health Care. Whenever they get into anything, it cost 1000 folds more than it did before they got involved.
As for Al Gore, NEVER.

Why is it that various people say leave the country, leave your job, your country love it or leave it, quite whining, etc. whenever these discussions come up? Can't have a middle ground or come up with a solution other than leave. I am a 40 something, who has worked hard all my life, college gradute, etc. Why not try to find a solution rather than tell people to leave. Although I agree, it shouldn't be the government that determines private business benefits. Because I was forced to find a new job last year - basically start over - I now have a job with 2 wks vacation again, plus having to work various weekends & holidays throughout the year. It is just the usual arguement between the factions of those that want to make work their life, & those that work to live. Both factions work hard - no matter what age they are, but one group likes to spend more time with family, others prefer more time at work. Certain individuals of each group, rather than try & listen to each other, or try to find a common solution rather not listen at all, or even agree that there is something to talk about. Just make blanket statements about people not known. In my eyes, a good balance of being to spend as much time as possible with family, vacations, etc, but still put in a good day's work to be able to afford that time off.

Lisa, you make some good points. While I do not believe government should set business benefits, there may be the need for government to get involved in these things for the good of the people, as has been historically shown.
But I also believe more vacation is needed for the well being of the individuals (mental & physical)& their families,which also would make them better to face the challenges at work.

Kevin - you da man! World Health Organization statistics are meaningless because the criteria they use invariably skew the results in favor of more socialist nations, which tend to have universal health care. Availability of health care and quality of health care are separate issues. When the socio-political considerations are removed from consideration, there is absolutely no doubt who has the superior health care system - the US. I am willing (and, admittedly, able) to pay for quality health care.

As far as vacation is concerned, does anyone believe that it is a coincidence that the same modern industrialized nation that has the least amount of annual vacation is also the economic leader of the world. Do a simple web search and compare average take-home (i.e., after-tax) income of Europeans versus Americans. The results may surprise you. I am fortunate that my employer has very generous vacation benefits. But, frankly, I would rather have two weeks a year and be able to afford to go to Europe during that time than have four weeks a year and have to stay at home.

Steve took the words right off my keyboard. June, please be careful when you interpret comparative statistics of any type. We are all about to be bombarded by a stream of seemingly contradictory statistics as the Presidential elections move into high gear.
WHO data has nothing to do with the QUALITY of health care....more to do with access, national expenditures and cost per person, etc.
Simple example: Money magazine annually ranks the "best" places to live in the US. One year in the '90's Rochester, MN came out on top. I can speak from personal experience and tell you that Rochester would make virtually no one in the US's personal list of best places to live. But when you crunch a bunch of numbers, places like Lincoln, NE and Laramie, WY can be superior if you only use objectives like crime rate and number of libraries per capita, etc.
It's laughable the way people interpret those WHO health care stats...the news media toss them around frequently. Not surprising since the media have perfected the art of statistical and info manipulation over the past 20 years.

Hi Kevin & Steve,

Well said gentlemen! You are both well informed and right on target!

If this had been a debate, my vote would go to you both!

Sorry, but I'm not a 20 something. I am 50. I'm not going to apologize for wanting to have more vacation time. Should I have said I want less?

Sorry, but I was referring to the James Coburn spy spoof movie which is titled "In Like Flint."

Sorry, but I never said I was for Gore. I just indicated he would stand a better chance of being elected if he promised more vacation time. After all, that is his approach - promise everybody everything! I'm not voting for him either!

Sorry, but I didn't say that any other country had a better healthcare system than we do, ours just needs to be improved. I acknowledged the horror stories of socialized medicine - I said there must be a solution out there (pick the best parts and make it work). I've lived and worked overseas, and have seen socialized medicine first-hand. It has its good points as well as its bad points.

Sorry, but I am not leaving the country. You see, one of the truly great things about our country is that we can voice our opinions in forums like this one.

Have a nice day!