You know, socialist governments are just so sweet. They pay people to take vacations, and surely no one can complain about that! And just look at the US in this chart: not a single paid vacation day is offered to Americans, which surely accounts for some sort of national pathology.
< /Sarcasm >
This Economist snippet is very interesting the way it imagines that such treats are created like magic by legislatures and that workers and employers are utterly incapable of making these arrangements themselves. (Thanks Vanguardist)
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I’m suprised Hong Kong mandates any paid vacation time. I’ve always heard that it has a freer economy than the United States.
Every place I’ve ever worked, after 10 years service, you’d probably have about 3 weeks vacation, somewhere between 2-5 “personal days” and 5-8 holidays. That totals about 28-34 days, somewhere between Britain and Spain on the chart.
I can’t speak for everyone, but I think that’s pretty normal. I’m sure supporters of Unions would say it was their involvement which gave us such a structure, but that’s somewhat a different argument.
So most people in the US fall on the chart somewhere, it’s just not “enforced” by the State, creating, I’m sure, paper work to prove that people were allowed off etc etc. I guess some (or unfortunately most) people today, in an effort to simulate progress, must make everything a mandate. Proper roll of government (if debatably any) was surely serviced a long, long time ago. Everything since then has been to fill in every crany so that we are fully on our why to the libertarian’s worst nightmare, that which isn’t forbidden is compulsory.
What good is a paid holiday if taxes are so high that you never see that money in the first place?
China’s mandated paid vacation of 15 days is probably between the weeklong May holiday, National day, and Spring Festival. But guess what? Except for Spring Festival, people actually work during the other two weeklong holidays, only taking off the actual day.
I’m sure Unions would like to take credit for a great many things for which credit is not due them. I’m also sure that they don’t want to take any credit for increased unemployment and offshoring of jobs.
Looking at the chart, I just can’t help marveling at the utter bullshit conclusions you can imply with statistics.
I am particularly envious of those lucky Cubans so high up on the list.
This graph gives every appearance of an exercise in how to lie with statistics. While it may be true in the most literal sense, its implications are patently false, as is noted in the referenced URL. Why do you put up a graph that makes it appear that you want to be deliberately dense?
This does not serve well your avowed mission of promoting intelligent and helpful discussion of economic topics.
Paul Hinds, here is a colorful example of what some will view as widely published DISTORTION of economic “news.” For others, it is a startling display of the freedom that still remains in the US (the government doesn’t tell people how much vacation they can, or must, have).
Is this too “light” for a proper discussion of economic topics for your taste? Are economic lies not pertinent to economics to you?
There ARE MANY other areas of this same Web site in which you can immerse yourself in serious economics, INCLUDING discussing them, on the Mises Forum. Give them a try and let us bloggers know if you find them any more appropriate.
After which, if you do, we will expect your sudden disappearance from this blog.
The graph ignores all the ways around it.
I notice Australia is in there. The easy way to avoid paying holidays is to hire someone as a contractor rather than staff. Higher rate per hour, but don’t have to pay sick leave, holiday leave etc… It’s how I’ve always worked whether in construction, engineering or IT.
We have an office in France. Yes they do have the mandated paid leave, but they also work a lot more than 35 hours per week, they are just not allowed to put it on their timesheets. Also, they have contractors, who are only ever referred to as numbers and are ignored by the staff people, to get around the labour laws.
What? Legal loopholes to get around mandated vacation days?? I’m shocked, SHOCKED, I tell you, to find out that I might not get 40 paid holidays if I lived and worked in France.
So in point of fact, this chart is a lie not only in what it implies about vacation days, it’s an outright lie about work and holidays in these countries.
Yep, the graph obviously ignores all loopholes and ways-around! … since they officially don’t exist, right?
European labour laws are just a nightmare; so companies contract with freelance people or hire temporary employees to escape the legal constraints. It makes more than sense; the alternative would be off-shoring and sinking the national/regional economy -:(
The gov can try to plan and regulate stuffs the way they want, people are luckily creative enough to find themselves a way out … After all, there seems to remain some hope for all of us -:)
A rather disabused european, M-
We Finns must be very happy since we have a government which takes care of us by its regulations.
I wonder why wage rate is generally lower here than in those countries where mandatory holidays are not so common?
Do not confuse this with vacation days people! It says paid HOLIDAYS. For the U.S., many companies pay Christmas, 4th of July, etc… But it is not mandatory. We still get the raw end of the deal.
I have several friends that live and work in the EU and they all get their paid holidays. It’s no different in the US. Illegal immigrants get paid under the table with no healthcare, no paid vacation or holidays. Likewise for part-time or… “part-time” employees working the equivalent of full-time employee hours.
It’s not only about the country, it’s about the employer too. I’ve worked for 4 years now in a big company, and last year I went on a Royal Caribbean cruise and the company paid for half of it. It’s not happening everywhere I know, but in the end is the employer decision to pay for some vacation days or not.
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