Fox Noise Sez: Keep America Great! No Vacations, Slaves!

[Einhander Sn0m4n]

On September 2, the International Labor Organization released a report indicating that while American workers are the world’s most productive, productivity is rising fastest in China and much of the rest of Asia. In an apparent response, one of the segments featured today (September 8, 2007) on Forbes on Fox discussed whether we should, as the chyron read, "Take Le$$ Vacation to Keep America Great."

Americans already take less vacation than workers in most countries:

The U.S. remains the only industrialized country in the world that has no legally mandated annual leave. France leads the world with 30 days off a year. Employees in Britain, German, Australia, Spain and Sweden have 20 or more days off a year, and Canada and Japan have 10 days off, about the same as some American corporations allow their workers. The Chinese get three weeks off a year, and this is only the legally mandated vacation time. Many employees in other countries take six or more weeks off a year (the French average 39 days and the English 24).

Meanwhile, those who profit from our labor amass wealth.

Yeah, and increasingly that amassed wealth is ending up at the very tippy top: According to the Census Bureau, "average wages "declined for the third year in a row," and "Labor Department data shows that the average hourly wage has been slipping since February, when it was $17.42 an hour." Moreover, on Thursday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that, "Investment banking paid an average weekly wage of $8,367, compared with $841 for all private sector jobs.

We all know that health care costs are going through the roof.

Foreclosures are at a record high but they aren't expected to peak for at least six months.

If you're lucky enough to work for a company with a pension plan, it might be in jeopardy due to the subprime mess.

The "average" credit card debt "carried by Americans grew from $7,842 to $9,659, according to CardTrack.com. That totals $850 billion in credit card debt for 88 million Americans." "In the first five months of the year, credit card delinquency was 3.77% higher than a year earlier, according to Moody's, (MCO) the credit-rating agency. And late card payments surged 30% during that period."

While the discussion was, for the most part, "fair and balanced," I could hardly believe Fox's gall at even posing this question! I felt like I was watching the Robber Baron Network -- all those Forbes folks sitting on their high horses chewing over whether the "purchasing class" (the hard fact is, that's how they think of us), which is already at the breaking point, should work even harder. Many of us already feel like gerbils running endlessly on an exercise wheel in an effort to keep up. My God. I think this is so outrageous -- using "public airwaves" to suggest that an already-overworked and underpaid and under-represented citizenry work more hours. And for what? To further enrich the tiny elite who, it so happens, controls the "public airwaves" and uses them for their own good instead of for the good of the nation as a whole.

Suggestion for Fox, you know, the network that's "lookin' out for the folks:" Do a segment questioning how things got so screwed up around here that an investment banker earns an average weekly wage of $8,367 compared to the purchasing class's $841!!

Arbeit Macht Frei!

[Ender]

Bush first.

[salm]

You guys only get 10 days off? So the maximum you can do is a 14 days vacation. Damn, that sucks. Can´t do much in 14 days. Or can you at least take a couple of more days off if these days are unpaid?

[Einhander Sn0m4n]

Or can you at least take a couple of more days off if these days are unpaid?

Yes, but nobody can afford it.

[MKSheppard]

Actually, that 14 days is generally for peons; if you stayed on at Stanley Steemer for long enough, you could get 4 weeks paid vaciation.

[Starglider]

Do a segment questioning how things got so screwed up around here that an investment banker earns an average weekly wage of $8,367 compared to the purchasing class's $841!!

It's actually worse than that, if the $841 is a mean that includes all the extremely high outliers (e.g. CEO pay) dragging up the average. I imagine a median value would be rather lower.

[DarkSilver]

actually, true median wage for the US, if you don't factor in the higher ups (CEO's and all that) would probably be closer to $500-$650. That's just a guesstimate from what I know of pay rates in my area (south-east Louisiana)

[Wicked Pilot]

My boss, George W Bush, gives me 30 days paid vacation every year. Ha ha to the rest of you.

[Singular Intellect]

Well, I sure love being in Canada! I can take a vacation anytime I want for as long as I want.

Although that's more of the field I'm working in I suppose. Planning to take two weeks off in November, an out of country vacation.

[General Zod]

actually, true median wage for the US, if you don't factor in the higher ups (CEO's and all that) would probably be closer to $500-$650. That's just a guesstimate from what I know of pay rates in my area (south-east Louisiana)

When you figure that $20k per year is lower class, people making around $30k would be pulling in $500-650 a week. Teachers, doctors, physicians, and scientists would be earning anywhere from $40k-100k, possibly more depending on the company and their length of employment. So you figure someone on the lower end of that pay scale would be pulling in $500-650/week on average (the $30k figure).

Average pay scales would be more akin to $800-1,200, which is effectively what the article says. Although I have to wonder if they're just taking the investment bankers base salary into consideration or they're going by base salary plus bonus/commissions, which would inflate the figure. Since most normal jobs don't offer commission, and bonuses are mostly fixed.

[MKSheppard]

My boss, George W Bush, gives me 30 days paid vacation every year. Ha ha to the rest of you.

Actually, if you're in a decent job (aka, not a gas station) paid vacation scales with seniority.

One year's service gets you about a week each year. and so on, until about 5 years is a full month IIRC.

[Broomstick]

You guys only get 10 days off? So the maximum you can do is a 14 days vacation. Damn, that sucks. Can´t do much in 14 days. Or can you at least take a couple of more days off if these days are unpaid?

Actually, I get 25 days off a year.

It varies from company to company, with some being much better than others.

[salm]

Is there a minimum number of days companies are required to give paid vacation by law?

[Flagg]

Is there a minimum number of days companies are required to give paid vacation by law?

No. Read the article.

[InnocentBystander]

The standard affair, as I was told, is that every 3-5 years you can expect another week of paid vacation (with the maximum being like 5 or 6)

[CmdrWilkens]

Is there a minimum number of days companies are required to give paid vacation by law?

No which was the point the article mentions. The US has no mandatory minimum vacation standard for full-time employees so everything you get is solely a benifit offreed by the individual company. Thus you have discrepencies where the company I work for now offers 3 weeks pro-rated from when you start to the beginning of the next calendar year then 3 weeks until year 4 and 4 weeks at that point (20 days). Against that the company I was at before was 2 weeks maximum until year 5, 3 weeks maximum until year 10 and 4 weeks max after 10 but all subject to reduction if you have to take an unpaid leave of absence the previous year (such as FMLA or Military) Thus with my current company if I went on deployment agian Iwould come back to the same 3 weeks of vacation I had this year, with my old company when I came back I got 1 day the next year.

Again because there is no mandatoy minimumeach company does as they please.

[General Zod]

The standard affair, as I was told, is that every 3-5 years you can expect another week of paid vacation (with the maximum being like 5 or 6)

If you have a company that offers you vacation days. If you're a part time schmuck or you work in something like retail or restaurants, or it's an "at will" state, good fucking luck.

[Flagg]

I worked for over 2 years at a place where I got no vacation. Well, for practical purposes, anyway. Supposedly we got a week of vacation, but we never got paid leave. If we took any time off we just didn't get paid for that day. Instead we'd get half of 7 days pay at the end of the year after your first year working there. Of course when it came time for me to get my vacation pay, the company I worked for lost the contract at where I worked and I signed on to the company that got the contract. So I never saw a dime of vacation pay.

[The Yosemite Bear]

Reminds me should I take two weeks off and visit my mom in Mendicino for her birthday, then head down south and visit Ali-Sama while he's recovering/convalessing. (we do have a webcomic project we're working on)

[weemadando]

Australia. Fuck yeah.

20 days of paid recreational leave each year.

13 days of paid personal leave (sick) each year.

Multiple additional 2-5 day allowances for special, carers and other leaves.

Must be that whole invisible hand thing again.

[The Yosemite Bear]

your marsupial masters are doing really well then Anders

[The Dark]

actually, true median wage for the US, if you don't factor in the higher ups (CEO's and all that) would probably be closer to $500-$650. That's just a guesstimate from what I know of pay rates in my area (south-east Louisiana)

When you figure that $20k per year is lower class, people making around $30k would be pulling in $500-650 a week. Teachers, doctors, physicians, and scientists would be earning anywhere from $40k-100k, possibly more depending on the company and their length of employment. So you figure someone on the lower end of that pay scale would be pulling in $500-650/week on average (the $30k figure).

Average pay scales would be more akin to $800-1,200, which is effectively what the article says. Although I have to wonder if they're just taking the investment bankers base salary into consideration or they're going by base salary plus bonus/commissions, which would inflate the figure. Since most normal jobs don't offer commission, and bonuses are mostly fixed.

Median wage (50th percentile) was right around $30k last year (and no, I don't have the statistics on hand - I looked them up when I got my raise in December at Bureau of Labor and didn't keep the file).

And where the hell are you that teachers earn $40K-$100K? Around here, starting teacher salary is in the mid-20s. Doctors certainly earn a good bit more, but there are more grunt-level people making low 20s than there are doctors.

As far as vacation goes, I get 120 hours a year at the moment, or slightly more than two weeks. We're also closed between Christmas and New Year's Day, so there's an extra week of mandatory (paid) vacation each year.

[General Zod]

And where the hell are you that teachers earn $40K-$100K? Around here, starting teacher salary is in the mid-20s. Doctors certainly earn a good bit more, but there are more grunt-level people making low 20s than there are doctors.

There is a reason I listed more jobs than just teachers when i gave out those figures. The $40-100k range includes Doctors and other high paying careers, with teacher being at the lower end of the scale.

[Edi]

For us, 2 days of paid leave per full month of work for the first year with the company, which makes for 24 days per year, after that it goues up to 2.5 days per months, totaling 30 days. Then there are the extras for when national holidays and such happen on a weekday and some others.

The US labor market seems to do nothing but suck and suck the employees dry.

[Admiral Valdemar]

I get 25 days full pay, with 5 days currently for sick leave and I can "buy" extra days off work should I want them. There are the other national holidays, like Bank holidays and Xmas etc. I'm also flexible with working hours, so long as I do 7.5 hours a day, five days a week, it doesn't matter when I do them.

As a note, I have a cousin who is a maths teacher at secondary school level and she should be on around $50k a year, while myself as a "trainee" scientist am on only $35k a year for the time being.