The USA: Worst Western Nation on Workers' Rights
I’ve been in the workforce since I was 16. My first job was dressing up as the Easter Bunny at the local mall. I got paid $8.50 an hour (A whole dollar more than the sales associates). I moved on from the Easter Bunny position into delivering Chinese food. As a part-time employee and a 16 year old, I didn’t really care about time off in my teens. I was just there to make enough money to go to the movies and arcades with friends. When you’re working full-time, paid time off is so incredibly essential to live your life and rest.
Yes, I was seriously the Easter Bunny. This is not a picture of me, but of a generic rabbit.
Two weeks seems to be the “normal” amount of paid time off most companies offer, but progressive companies have started increasing these vacation days significantly. Why? Employee burnout. The number one cure for burnout is quitting your job. When one quits a skilled position, the company has to spend considerable resources on training one’s replacement. We’d be happier at your job with 4 weeks paid time off and we’d be less susceptible to burnout. By having more time off, we’d all have more time to recuperate from the stresses on our minds and damages of the workplace on our bodies.
! recognize that my current PTO of 10 days is not nearly enough. There’s so many places I want to travel with such limited time. I’d love to have additional time to learn a new language, develop a skill, or simply, relax. 10 days off each year has caused me to struggle with burnout and a fear of asking for taking that time off in a lump sum. They’d let me take off 2 weeks, but what about holidays with my family? Do I not deserve to be paid for more than a day off at Christmas? Will I need to use another sick day for fasting on Yom Kippur? What about Rosh Hashanah? Should I choose my selfish desire to travel or to join my family during holidays? Please don’t make me make that choice.
The state of California requires all employees have 3 sick days to use each year. Think about how often you’re not feeling well or can’t perform well at your job. Maybe you slept poorly, drank too much, or had a traumatic event happen in your family. Whatever the reason is — Whether you can blame personal responsibility or not, you deserve the time off to recover. We are humans, not robots. At the very least, we need to join other Western nations in having at least 4 paid weeks off each year. Sick days must be increased to 8 to use as needed. Let’s get paid maternity leave and paternity leave as well. We’ll talk about the details later. Let’s make this a federal guarantee.
Call your representative. Leave excessive voicemails. Tweet at them. Stand silently outside their office. Make them listen. Convince your fellow worker that you deserve more time off. Recognize that your labor is being exploited. Recognize that you deserve better!
Four weeks PTO
8 sick days
6 months paid Maternity leave
6 months paid Paternity leave
These are our tenets. Let’s start a revolution. Workers of the World Unite!
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Image credit: Alain Pilon, 2014
