From: orville%weyrich@tnet.com (Orville R. Weyrich)
Newsgroups: misc.jobs.misc,talk.politics.misc,soc.culture.usa
Subject: Re: Why do Americans get so little vacation time?
Date: 25 Aug 92 15:10:53 GMT
Reply-To: tnet.com!weyrich!orville
Organization: Weyrich Computer Consulting

In article <1992Aug21.031756.4282@europa.lonestar.org> tom@europa.lonestar.org (Tom Kimball) writes:
>
>>>Companies will have more money to hire workers and -- guess what?  We won't 
>>>have to pay as many people not to work.
>>
>>    We don't pay people not to work now.   Unemployment is employer-paid
>					    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>
>Right.  Which means businesses will have to pay fewer people not to work.
>This is yet another reason why your theory that business will suffer losses
>proportional to vacation increases is full of holes.

The "unemployment tax" that employers have to pay is only on the first few
thousand dollars of pay earned by an emplyee each year. Anything that 
increases the "head-count" at a company increases the unemployment tax.
Giving more vaction would increase the tax if employees on vaction had to
be  replaced. If they didn't have to be replaced, what good are they to the
company anyway?

Any argument that giving more vacation would reduce unemployment is 
based directly on the premise that it would increase the headcount, and
hence it follows that it would increase the taxes the companiues would
have to pay.

Of course, if the general level of unemployment fell, then the unemployment
tax rate could  also fall (but  don't hold your breath as long as the
tax-and-spend sugar-daddies are in control of the country).

>
>I think one the major conclusions we can all draw from reading this thread is
>that Americans will never get more than 3rd-World vacation levels without help 
>from the government.  This is what Europe had to do, and if we ever hope to 
>catch up with them, we will have to use political means in the U.S. as well.
>
>Write to any politicians you think might be of help.  The goal here is to
>turn lack of vacation into a national political issue.  When we do that %90
>of the battle will be won.  Pollsters will start asking Americans if they
>want more vacation.  Eventually politicians will realize they can get votes
>on this issue, and European style legislation will be drafted setting a national
>standard.  Contrary to what some people say, business will do just fine,
>as is demonstrated by the fact that every other industrial democracy gets more 
>vacation than Americans do.
>

NOT!

If I wanted to live in a European country I would move to Europe. If I had
a month of vacation I would look for another job. I would NOT spend my month
paying some tourist trap my hard-earned money so that I could "vacation."

[I seem to recall Pope John Paul I complaining that Italians had to pay
too much to "vacation" -- they're Europeans with European style legislation,
right?]

I also seem to recall that when I was in France that the little sole proprietor
bakeries and cheese shops were REQUIRED BY LAW to CLOSE THEIR DOORS for
one month each year. Can you say FORCED UNEMPLOYMENT?  I don't  need that
kind of government interference, thank you.

orville

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Orville R. Weyrich, Jr.                          Weyrich Computer Consulting
Certified Data Processor                       POB 5782, Scottsdale, AZ 85261
Certified Systems Professional                      Voice: (602) 391-0821
Certified Computer Programmer                Internet: orville%weyrich@tnet.com
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Newsgroups: misc.jobs.misc