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Time Off

February 7, 2002

Feel like you're overworked sometimes?

If you've got a Job, then you probably feel like you're working too much for one good reason - it's because you are. Total hours worked per year in some of the Industrialized Countries looks like this:

US 1966 hrs

Japan 1889

Britain 1731

France 1656

Germany 1574

This means that, on average, Employees in the US work two weeks more every year than workers in Japan. And US Employees work five to ten weeks more every year than their counterparts in Britain, France, and Germany. Americans (and their Employers) are obsessed with work.

These figures include all workers whether they are working full-time or part-time. And the averages may be underreported for the US, since we have the highest percentage of Women in the workforce. As Women have entered the workforce in greater numbers in the last thirty years, many of them are only working part-time and their number of hours of work every year brings down the total average for all workers.

The average length of paid vacation in the US is only two weeks per year. Workers in Europe average six weeks of paid vacation every year. Many of these countries allow their Employees to take a full month off with pay every year. Not surprisingly productivity rates in Europe and Japan are higher than they are in the US.

Now if you work in the US it is impossible to get an extra five weeks of vacation simply by saying, "my buddies in Europe get more time off". But consider an alternative - if you think you deserve a raise and know that it's not in the budget, ask for more time off. If you are a valuable worker, you'll stand a good chance of getting it. Time off doesn't really cost the company any money, and it's a safe bet that you're probably due a few weeks off anyway.

It's sure a lot safer for your Employer to offer you a little extra time off rather than lose you to another company.

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