12 reasons for a minimum paid vacation law, according to Alan Grayson

Here are  in a word format the 12 reasons posted in support of Alan Grayson's HR2096 Paid Vacation Act of 2013 Bill (pdf). Unfortunately he did not provide the sources. A work in progress...

1. according to the Bureau  of Labor Statistics each  year  the  average  American  works one  month (160 hours) more today than  in 1976;

2. job-related stresscosts business $344 billion a year in absenteeism, lost productivity, and health costs;

3.  some 75  percent  of visits to primary care physicians come from stress-induced problems;

4.  147  countries require paid vacation leave and the United States  is the only industrialized Nation without a minimum annual leave law;

5. one of the fastest  growing economies in the world, China, requires 3 weeks off  for employees which they call ‘‘Golden Weeks’’;

6. Canada requires 2 weeks off for all employees, and 3 weeks off for employees with 5 years or more with one employer;

7.  the  Pew  Research Center says more free time  is  the  number  one  priority  for  middle-class Americans—with 68 percent of those surveyed listed this as a high priority for them;

8. in 2008,  about  half (52 percent)  of American  workers took a  vacation  of a  week or  longer, and  only 14  percent of  American  workers  took 2 weeks or more for vacation;

9.  men who don’t take  regular vacations  are 32 percent more likely to die of heart  attacks, and 21 percent more likely to die early of all causes;

10.  women who don’t  take regular  vacations have a 50 percent greater  risk of heart  attack,  and are twice as likely to be depressed as those who do;

11.  the  travel  industry adds $740  billion  a year to the Nation’s economy, while stress and burnout  at  work cost  the  economy over $300  billion a year; 

12. vacations allow workers and businesses to increase  productivity,  decrease  stress-related  health costs, and provide time for family strengthening  and bonding.

Beginning on the  date  of enactment  of the Paid Vacation Act of 2013, 

an eligible employee of an employer that  employs 100 or more employees at  any time during  a  calendar  year shall be entitled  to a  total  of ONE workweek of paid vacation during each 12-month period.

Beginning on the date that  is 3 years after the date of enactment  of the Paid Vacation Act of 2013, an eligible employee of an employer that  employs 50 or more employees at any time during a calendar year shall be entitled to a total of ONE workweek of paid vacation during each 12-month period, and an eligible employee of an employer that  employs 100 or more employees shall be entitled to

a total of 2 workweeks of paid vacation during each 12-month period, beginning on that  eligible employee’s first anniversary of employment.

An eligible employee shall provide the employer with not less than 30 days’ notice, before the date the paid vacation under  paragraph  (1)  or (2)  is to begin, of the

employee’s intention  to  take  paid  vacation  under  such paragraph,  and identify the date  such paid vacation shall begin.

For purposes of this subsection—

 (A) the term ‘eligible employee’ means an employee who has been employed for at least months by the employer with respect to whom leave is requested  under  paragraph  (1) or (2) and for at least 1,250 hours of service with such employer during such 12-month period; and

(B)  the  term  1  workweek of  ‘paid  vacation' means vacation time, in addition to and apart  from sick leave and any leave otherwise required  by law, to be taken  in a continuous series or block of work days  comprising  7 calendar  days  that   cannot  be rolled over, but  must  be used within the  12-month period.

f:\VHLC\050613\050613.004.xml                (548230|1) May 6, 2013 (9:15 a.m.)