"Never before have so few with so much promised to take away so much from so many and then laugh their asses off as the so many with so little vote for the so few with so much." A James Pence Quote
"American Politics, a sport for the rich and enslavement for the rest of us." A James Pence Quote
Our Senators and Members of Congress, bless their hearts, are tired and need a month of rest and relaxation. Are they saying everything is OK and there's no more work to do? Are they saying the economy is in great shape, unemployment levels are low and our national debt problem has been fixed? To tell you the truth I have know idea what kind of message Our Senators and Members of Congress are trying to send us as they walk away from America's problems so they can goof off for a month, but I can tell you the message it sends me.
Most of us would be ashamed to walk away from our jobs or small businesses during a real crisis, but Senators and Members of Congress seem to have no conscience when it comes to putting goofing off ahead of the work that lay before them. Here in the real world we call folks like that slackers. How do our Senators and Members of Congress expect us to react when they walk among those of us that don't have jobs, don't get vacations, can't afford healthcare insurance and don't get spring, summer and Christmas breaks? Really, how do they expect us to feel?
You would think Senators and Members of Congress would be working to see that the folks they're supposed to be representing have paid vacations rather than looking out for themselves, but that's wishful thinking. You see our Senators and Members of Congress work hard to see that the American people have as little vacation time as possible. Did you know the United States is the only advanced economy in the world that doesn't guarantee its workers paid vacations? Well you know now. Read the entire list of countries and their vacation policies at the end of this post.
Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) The United States is the only advanced economy in the world that does not guarantee its workers paid vacation. European countries establish legal rights to at least 20 days of paid vacation per year, with legal requirement of 25 and even 30 or more days in some countries. Australia and New Zealand both require employers to grant at least 20 vacation days per year; Canada and Japan mandate at least 10 paid days off. The gap between paid time off in the United States and the rest of the world is even larger if we include legally mandated paid holidays, where the United States offers none, but most of the rest of the world's rich countries offer between five and 13 paid holidays per year. Read more.
Do you really believe Senator Mitch McConnell would make a good employee at your local Walmart or your local McDonald's? I don't think so because the folks at Walmart and McDonald's actually work and for the most part they do it with a smile on their faces. I can understand why our Senators and Members of Congress wouldn't want to work at Walmart or McDonald's, but you would think our Senators and Members of Congress, like Mitch McConnell, would be willing to work on behalf of the good people working at places like Walmart or McDonald's by sponsoring legislation to insure these folks have a little vacation time. Is that asking too much? Apparently it is and that's a shame.
A message for the members of Congress that represent me, Congressman Brett Guthrie, Senator Mitch McConnell And Senator Rand Paul. Gentlemen, Most folks I know are hard working people. They don't expect to make $193,400 a year like Senator Mitch McConnell, a $60,972 pension like 290 members of congress are drawing, spring breaks, summer breaks, Christmas breaks and every Holiday imaginable. They just want you to take a little bit of time away from your corporate friends to represent them. They want a fair shake.
A message for the military and the troops. At some point the military and yes the troops need to decide if they're fighting for corporate CEO's, Senators and Members of Congress or the folks working at places like Walmart and McDonald's. I suggest real heroes fight for real people, like the real people working at Walmart and McDonald's. Real heros don't fight for the oppressors, they fight for the oppressed.
Vacation policies the rest of the world.
Australia Australia’s annual leave provisions are guaranteed through the Australian Fair Pay and Conditions Standard. For most employees, the Standard sets a minimum paid annual leave of one-thirteenth of time worked in each four-week period. (In practice, this becomes four weeks of paid leave per year for employees who work 38-hour weeks.)
Austria By default, Austrian workers are allotted five weeks of leave per year, which corresponds to 30 calendar days of paid annual leave. After 25 years of employment, workers are guaranteed an additional six calendar days, for a total of 36 calendar days of leave.
Belgium Workers in Belgium are guaranteed 20 working days’ leave for each year worked. However, they do not have the right to take the leave until the year after it is earned.
Canada In Canada, provincial law governs annual leave, unless an employee falls under federal jurisdiction. However, most jurisdictions follow a similar pattern of two weeks’ paid annual leave, which increases by one week after a significant job tenure. Similarly, the number of statutory paid public holidays varies by province, with a minimum of five days and a maximum of ten. Denmark Danish law guarantees employees 30 days of annual leave per year worked, prorated at 2.5 days per month worked between May 2 and April 30. Employees may take their annual leave during the year after it is earned, and may not carry it over from one year to the next. Finland Employees are guaranteed 2 days’ paid leave per month worked during their first year of employment, and 2.5 days’ paid leave per month thereafter. In practice, these days are measured against a traditional six-day workweek, even though a five-day workweek is now the norm. Thus, the resulting 30 days’ leave refers to five weeks of vacation, not six.
France From their first month of employment, workers in France are eligible for annual leave, which accrues at a rate of 2.5 days per four weeks’ work, or 30 days per year.
Germany German law allows for four work weeks of leave normally (20 days, or 24 days for those on a six-day work week).
Greece Workers in Greece receive five weeks’ paid leave annually: 24 working days for workers on a six-day week or 20 working days for those on a five-day week.
Ireland The Organisation of Working Time Act of 1997 provides for four weeks of annual leave per year for workers employed full-time (on a pro rata basis in the case of partial-year employment of less than 1,365 hours).
Italy Workers in Italy are covered by the European Union Working Time Directive, which guarantees four weeks of annual leave per full-time employee. In addition, Italy observes 12 public holidays. Japan Annual leave is covered by the Labor Standards Law of 1947 (last amended in 1995). Employees are eligible for ten working days’ annual leave once they have worked at least six months, and reported to work at least 80% of their scheduled workdays (not counting days off for work-related accidents or injuries, or for child care or maternity leave). After 18 months of employment, they receive one additional working day’s leave for each year of their tenure, up to a total of 20 working days. Netherlands Workers in the Netherlands receive four weeks’ paid leave each year.
New Zealand The Holidays Act 2003 covers paid leave and public-holiday pay in New Zealand. Its provisions were phased in, and since April 1 2007 the Act guarantees workers four weeks of annual paid leave, with an additional public holiday pay allowance of 8% of their gross earnings since their last anniversary date.
Norway Employees in Norway are guaranteed 25 working days of paid leave each year.
Portugal Portuguese law guarantees 22 working days (not counting weekends) of annual leave for workers, due on January 1 each year.
Spain Paid leave in Spain are governed by the 1994 Estatuto de Trabajadores. This statute specifies that annual leave must be determined on a workplace-by-workplace basis, through collective bargaining. However, employers may not give employees fewer than 30 calendar days’ leave per year.
Sweden Workers in Sweden are entitled to paid annual leave of 25 working days, or five weeks.
Switzerland Swiss law guarantees four weeks of annual leave for all workers and apprentices over the age of 20.
United Kingdom In the United Kingdom, all full-time and part-time employees are guaranteed at least four weeks’ annual leave.
United States United States law offers no statutory paid leave. The only exceptions are for government contractors and subcontractors covered under the Davis-Bacon Act.
