Journal Inquirer.com
Calling for time out
CT@Work
By Leo Canty
Published: Thursday, July 9, 2009 12:07 PM EDT

When it comes to time off, there are those cynics who say that a rainy day of fishing is better than a sunny day at work. So if their fishing “stay-cation” was scheduled for the last couple of weeks they should be happy. Non-fishing fans went back to work, to enjoy good commuting weather and hope the schedule might work out better next year. Of course, weather doesn’t matter at all for the 1-in-4 workers who have no paid vacations whatsoever — their “stay-cations” were on the job.It’s a curious thing that vacation rules across America and the rest of the world vary so much.
Americans are truly fortunate to have a robust economy (well, except for now) that provides handsome riches and comforts in trade for one’s hard work. Our free-market drives the standard for wages and benefits; if we work really hard, get the production going, make a lot of money for the company, then we share the success and reap the rewards, right? There is, in theory, a payoff for effort — you put in your 40 or 60 hours a week, then are “rewarded” for doing your work.
That’s the theory. It’s not always the reality.There is another free-market paradigm: “faster, harder and longer — for less.” In recent years the paid time off for the American workforce has actually diminished. Could this be related to the increases in profits, shareholder returns, and CEO compensation? After all, the free market seeks the most work for the least cost, and paid time off hampers profits, especially for the over-class to which we supposedly all aspire.
But, oh, curse those socialist countries! You know the paradigm-flipping ones I’m talking about, like France. The slouches in the workforce there put in 35 hours a week. Their silly labor laws mandate 30 paid vacation days. Some union contracts and competitive employers even add on another few weeks. Add to that paid holidays, sick time, and personal time. No wonder French workers’ productivity is lower than ours. Except when they are at work.French companies, shareholders, and corporate executives make so much less than American ones. It’s a darn shame when the wage gap gets reduced like that.And there’s Italy, Germany, Austria, Spain. These countries are so living in the past — like the 13th- and 14th-century workforces that spent well under 200 days a year at work.Our more modern American standard is 260-280 days. And, just to make sure people can spend even more time on the job, U.S. labor laws have no — non, nein — compulsory vacation days. We’re proud to be the only industrialized nation that does not impose paid vacation time or holidays … along with no national health care plan — a subject for another discussion.
But wait a minute. There is a movement afoot that could push us into the realm of socialistic slackerism. Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) has introduced legislation that would mandate a week of paid vacation every year, but only for employers with more than 100 workers on the payroll. Grayson was inspired on a recent trip to Disney, where he saw all these people not working and having fun. The congressman erroneously equates family R&R time with stress reduction and good health, both of which are productivity boosters.If Grayson’s idea finds its legs, millions of workers would be forced out of work for five days and be paid to stay home or do things they don’t get the chance to do while working — like hang out with the family or fish on rainy days.
The protests, however, are loud. Corporations recognize the lost opportunity to keep people working. Disrupting work schedules, they say, could add more stress to already overstressed lives. The free market will tumble and the world as we know it will end if vacations become universal and mandatory.The proposal, though, has a growing and dangerous supporting movement — renegade Internet groups like right2vacation.org are cropping up, pushing for this un-American initiative. Their polls say that 69 percent of Americans would like a week’s paid vacation, and the largest percentage of poll respondents actually want three weeks off.
Hmmm … a three-week vacation could mean that if it rains for two weeks, the non-fishing American worker might get to enjoy nice weather for one. Time out! We don’t want that to happen … do we?

Leo Canty is executive secretary of the Connecticut AFL-CIO and chairman of the board of the Connecticut Health Foundation. He lives in Windsor.