Snipped from alternet.org.

Have you ever wondered why Americans seem to have no time and most working families feel exhausted and drained? Well, it’s because of our government’s failure to support “the little guy” and favor businesses’ bottom line instead. I find it incredible that the richest country in the world doesn’t mandate employer’s to pay for sick time or vacation. And, for those who work for companies who have no benefits such as this, life becomes extremely difficult. You may say that small businesses can’t afford to pay workers for time off, but when you hear about what other countries are doing, you may change your mind. And I guarantee, you will be envious.

On average, the private sector worker in the U.S. gets about nine paid vacation days and six paid holidays each year with low-paid, part-time or small-business workers getting far fewer if any at all. Sick days are even more rare in the lowest-paid quarter. Of the highest-paid quarter, 72 percent get paid sick days compared to only 21 percent in the lowest-paid quarter.

Okay, that’s us. Let’s take a look at other industrialized countries. If you were living in any other industrialized nation, you “would be legally guaranteed at least two weeks paid vacation and — in 136 countries — from seven to more than 30 paid sick days”. And in Europe, full-time workers take seven to eight weeks of vacation and holidays each year. This is double the American worker’s average for full-time work. Why is this so? It’s because the European Union requires its members to set a minimum standard of four weeks paid vacation (covering part-time workers as well). In Finland and France, they require six weeks paid vacation, plus additional paid holidays.

In Europe, this generous leave time is due to powerful labor unions. Union contracts in Europe and other rich industrialized countries, cover up to 90 percent of the workforce. With these unions’ power, they typically even negotiate additional time off. Added to this is the fact that the standard workweek is slightly shorter in many European countries, and workers retire earlier with better public pensions. Now, are you beginning to feel overworked and jealous?

Here is a portion of the article that gives us an example of what life can be like in the U.S. without paid time off.

Last year Mary Lou Eckart took her first vacation in five years, a trip from her home in Decatur, Ill., to see her grandchildren in Florida. But the Illinois state government, which pays her to care for a severely disabled teenage girl, provides her no paid vacation time. So Eckart took the girl — and her work — with her.

She faces a similar bind if she gets sick. “I just had an incident two weeks ago,” she says. “I had an inner ear infection that I didn’t know about, and I passed out. My 17-year-old daughter covered for me while I recovered. I get no paid vacation, no time off, no sick leave. But if they put these clients in a nursing home, I know that is very expensive. I’d love to have a vacation. I’d love to be able to get away. I’d love to have someone fill in for me. I feel like we deserve more than what we’re getting.”

If you would like to read the full article click the image below.