this is the face of modern slavery, where businesses must be forced by law to behave as respectable employers, as decent human beings. but instead, they still view -- and treat -- employees as replaceable, as living widgets that are unimportant to their grand scheme to earn more and more money on the backs of their poorly paid and abused workers, and to wield ever more power to exalt themselves in the eyes of their overpaid and useless peers, at the expense and harm to working people everywhere. wealthy people pretend a lot, but there is not a decent bone in their bodies.
Professor, thank you for highlighting the differences between the United States and other countries in terms of paid medical and parental leave. Your charts are simple and enlightening. And disturbing. You could also add annual vacation leave. And the fact that the USA not only has fewer days of vacation time, hourly wage earners often have no benefits. As a teacher, I was “given” ten sick days per year. Instructional aides, paid by the hour, only had sick days and medical insurance if they worked 20 hours per week. Often they were hired for 19 or fewer hours. Barbara Ehrenreich described the disparity of wages and benefits in her books, including ”Nickel and Dimed.” As you described, lower income and wage earners are often not provided benefits. A simple internet search shows how backwards the USA is in family and childcare policies. https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/12/16/u-s-lacks-mandated-paid-parental-leave/
We are going backward. Large companies now get around their own paid sick leave and vacation policies by hiring contract workers- who do not receive any of those benefits, or receive 40 hours of paid time off after 3000 regular hours of labor (overtime doesn't count). It is parasitic.
I agree with everything you wrote. I think paid sick leave ought to be in place or begin accruing on the date of an employee’s hire. Many times folks who start a new job are already strapped for money & most affected by lost wages, should they fall ill in their first month or two of work. So regardless of a “probation” period, it would be much to their advantage if say, they were sick with the flu or laryngitis for example, then they could rest easy and heal sooner knowing their sick leave cushion was propping them up.
Don’t get me started on all of the part-timers working in the country who don’t receive benefits…
Many people who need sick leave are sick with COMMUNICABLE illnesses that those people may pass on to others in their workplace. What does THAT do for productivity and profitability?
Employers should keep THAT in mind when they dig in their heels against workplace protections for their employees.
1 of several things where American workers are left far behind our peers as well as many supposedly less advanced countries for decades because of the short-sighted, narrow-minded views of the corporatists that rule our corporatocracy in which short-term corporate profits are prioritized over the long-term benefit of our people. No guaranteed paid sick leave, no universal healthcare, no government provided higher education, a small fraction of holidays & other paid time off. Just a callous disregard of its citizens. No wonder Americans have become a bunch of angry people at each other's throats incited by propaganda devised & funded by corporations & billionaires!
Just another indication of the deliberately designed 'extractive' economy: impoverishing the poor to enrich the rich. We used to call it slavery, now we call it the underclasses. Same effect, different names.
Here's an eye opener. My son now lives in Sweden. His wife, who is a Swede, gave birth in late July. She teaches English as a second language to special needs middle schoolers, and because of Sweden's family leave policies, is home full time for a year with the baby. She is guaranteed her job when she is ready to return to work, and while she is home full time, receives her pay. Granted it is a percentage of her full time pay, but it is still a healthy chunk. My son, who has worked for a Swedish company for over a year, also is entitled to 6 months of family leave, and should he take it, would still be paid, and be guaranteed a job when he is ready to return. The birth, carried out in the Karolinska Hospital (part of an internationally known medical research facility) cost them NOTHING. I could go on, but I think the point is made. Why can we not have this good a situation? Oh, yeah. The super rich in the USA DON'T PAY TAXES. End of story.
What we learned from the pandemic is that you can force women out of the economy and work force if you don't have paid leave, and this has always been a major goal for them.
As an Englishwoman of 88 I find it impossible to think of living without our National Health Service (free at the point of use but we do pay National Insurance throughout our working lives)4 weeks plus of annual holidays, paid maternity and paternity leave, State Pension,etc. It relieves you of lots of fears that diminish people constantly concerned with how to meet the extortionate medical bills, for example, that you face in the US.
It's not communism or socialism it's common sense. As people's, we should care for each other according to our abilities and assets Be kinder to each other. Live more simply. Don't believe in people who stir you to want more and more - they want you to enrich them.
I'll stop rambling but send a message that I earnestly hope the people of America can rise above themselves to live in harmony.
Maybe it's time to make a defense against those who regard you as a left wing (almost) loonie by pointing out that (a) your ideas are actually in everyone's interests (like paid sick leave) and (b) the international context - the USA shouldn't fall behind others so much.
I started working at a Swiss multinational in Switzerland on November 1, many years ago. About November 15, my supervisor came into my office and informed me that I had to take time off. I was concerned that I had already committed a faux pas and was about to be fired.
Instead, it was a requirement to take the proportion of mandatory annual vacation. I was told I must take seven days of paid vacation by December 31. This was considered so important that exceptions had to be approved by the departmental director.
Within Europe and globally, Switzerland leads in productivity in many sectors. Yet, there are fairly liberal annual leave policies and paid medical / family leave mandated by the federal government.
There is really no productivity paradox. Humans need rest periods to achieve maximum performance. The American focus on depriving its workforce of needed rest periods ultimately leads to lower productivity and economic output.
What you hear from the opposition is “that’s communism” when, sadly, they don’t recognize the bones of slavery.
When will we learn? Employees are assets, not liabilities.
this is the face of modern slavery, where businesses must be forced by law to behave as respectable employers, as decent human beings. but instead, they still view -- and treat -- employees as replaceable, as living widgets that are unimportant to their grand scheme to earn more and more money on the backs of their poorly paid and abused workers, and to wield ever more power to exalt themselves in the eyes of their overpaid and useless peers, at the expense and harm to working people everywhere. wealthy people pretend a lot, but there is not a decent bone in their bodies.
Professor, thank you for highlighting the differences between the United States and other countries in terms of paid medical and parental leave. Your charts are simple and enlightening. And disturbing. You could also add annual vacation leave. And the fact that the USA not only has fewer days of vacation time, hourly wage earners often have no benefits. As a teacher, I was “given” ten sick days per year. Instructional aides, paid by the hour, only had sick days and medical insurance if they worked 20 hours per week. Often they were hired for 19 or fewer hours. Barbara Ehrenreich described the disparity of wages and benefits in her books, including ”Nickel and Dimed.” As you described, lower income and wage earners are often not provided benefits. A simple internet search shows how backwards the USA is in family and childcare policies. https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/12/16/u-s-lacks-mandated-paid-parental-leave/
We are going backward. Large companies now get around their own paid sick leave and vacation policies by hiring contract workers- who do not receive any of those benefits, or receive 40 hours of paid time off after 3000 regular hours of labor (overtime doesn't count). It is parasitic.
This is a great piece, Professor Reich.
I agree with everything you wrote. I think paid sick leave ought to be in place or begin accruing on the date of an employee’s hire. Many times folks who start a new job are already strapped for money & most affected by lost wages, should they fall ill in their first month or two of work. So regardless of a “probation” period, it would be much to their advantage if say, they were sick with the flu or laryngitis for example, then they could rest easy and heal sooner knowing their sick leave cushion was propping them up.
Don’t get me started on all of the part-timers working in the country who don’t receive benefits…
Many people who need sick leave are sick with COMMUNICABLE illnesses that those people may pass on to others in their workplace. What does THAT do for productivity and profitability?
Employers should keep THAT in mind when they dig in their heels against workplace protections for their employees.
1 of several things where American workers are left far behind our peers as well as many supposedly less advanced countries for decades because of the short-sighted, narrow-minded views of the corporatists that rule our corporatocracy in which short-term corporate profits are prioritized over the long-term benefit of our people. No guaranteed paid sick leave, no universal healthcare, no government provided higher education, a small fraction of holidays & other paid time off. Just a callous disregard of its citizens. No wonder Americans have become a bunch of angry people at each other's throats incited by propaganda devised & funded by corporations & billionaires!
Just another indication of the deliberately designed 'extractive' economy: impoverishing the poor to enrich the rich. We used to call it slavery, now we call it the underclasses. Same effect, different names.
Here's an eye opener. My son now lives in Sweden. His wife, who is a Swede, gave birth in late July. She teaches English as a second language to special needs middle schoolers, and because of Sweden's family leave policies, is home full time for a year with the baby. She is guaranteed her job when she is ready to return to work, and while she is home full time, receives her pay. Granted it is a percentage of her full time pay, but it is still a healthy chunk. My son, who has worked for a Swedish company for over a year, also is entitled to 6 months of family leave, and should he take it, would still be paid, and be guaranteed a job when he is ready to return. The birth, carried out in the Karolinska Hospital (part of an internationally known medical research facility) cost them NOTHING. I could go on, but I think the point is made. Why can we not have this good a situation? Oh, yeah. The super rich in the USA DON'T PAY TAXES. End of story.
What we learned from the pandemic is that you can force women out of the economy and work force if you don't have paid leave, and this has always been a major goal for them.
I used FMLA last fall to help care for my nonagenarian parents. It was an amazing gift of time that I will always treasure.
In so many ways America is a backward nation.
As an Englishwoman of 88 I find it impossible to think of living without our National Health Service (free at the point of use but we do pay National Insurance throughout our working lives)4 weeks plus of annual holidays, paid maternity and paternity leave, State Pension,etc. It relieves you of lots of fears that diminish people constantly concerned with how to meet the extortionate medical bills, for example, that you face in the US.
It's not communism or socialism it's common sense. As people's, we should care for each other according to our abilities and assets Be kinder to each other. Live more simply. Don't believe in people who stir you to want more and more - they want you to enrich them.
I'll stop rambling but send a message that I earnestly hope the people of America can rise above themselves to live in harmony.
Yet another example of how corporate America distorts truth and influences policy through campaign contributions and lobbying.
Maybe it's time to make a defense against those who regard you as a left wing (almost) loonie by pointing out that (a) your ideas are actually in everyone's interests (like paid sick leave) and (b) the international context - the USA shouldn't fall behind others so much.
I started working at a Swiss multinational in Switzerland on November 1, many years ago. About November 15, my supervisor came into my office and informed me that I had to take time off. I was concerned that I had already committed a faux pas and was about to be fired.
Instead, it was a requirement to take the proportion of mandatory annual vacation. I was told I must take seven days of paid vacation by December 31. This was considered so important that exceptions had to be approved by the departmental director.
Within Europe and globally, Switzerland leads in productivity in many sectors. Yet, there are fairly liberal annual leave policies and paid medical / family leave mandated by the federal government.
There is really no productivity paradox. Humans need rest periods to achieve maximum performance. The American focus on depriving its workforce of needed rest periods ultimately leads to lower productivity and economic output.