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July 30, 2007

The Paid Leave Zeitgeist

Readers know I've been a bit obsessed with paid leave and vacation time lately. But it's looking like I may not be alone. The New Republic has an editorial this week lamenting the "backwardness of the American approach to vacation" and wishing that the U.S government would "[wise] up and [require] private employers to offer paid leave on par with other advanced nations." And in the New York Times Magazine, the wonderful Eyal Press has a searing examination of the need for paid family leave.

July 30, 2007 | Permalink

Comments

What's almost as bad is that, even when you are theoretically entitled to, say, four weeks of paid vacation, many employers -- the same ones who discourage you from taking "too much" time off -- have "use or lose" policies whereby you forfeit accrued additional vacation time if it goes beyond a certain amount.

The ostensible rationale is accounting. Really. My accrued leave represents a liability and the green eye shade crowd says that if everyone left the company at once, the payout of accrued leave could be financially crippling.

Like TNR says: we suck at vacations.

Posted by: Roberto Rivera | Jul 30, 2007 7:12:33 PM

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