The truth is that Americans probably need more--not less--vacation time. While many workers in Finland, Brazil, Lithuania, Russia, the U.K., and France are entitled to as many as 28 to 30 days of government-mandated vacation a year, there are no government mandates in the United States, and full-time workers (with a decade of tenure) typically receive about 15 days, according to Mercer's 2009 Worldwide Benefit and Employment Guidelines report. Add in national holidays, and many workers overseas get about 41 vacation or holiday days each year, while Americans get 25--just above Canadians' 19 days and Chinese workers' 21.
Even without a fear-inducing recession, Americans are so chary about cutting out of the office that career experts often chide them to take time away, refresh themselves, turn off the Blackberry, stop checking E-mail, and learn how to relax. "We are a work-identified nation, that's the badge we wear--where we work, what we do--that's how we define ourselves," says Katherine Crowley, coauthor of Working for You Isn't Working for Me: The Ultimate Guide to Managing Your Boss. "We have a hard time giving ourselves permission to take vacation time."
US News and World Report
Tuesday August 17, 2010
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