Study Says U.S. Trails in Family Time Off

[kskiska]

BOSTON (AP) - U.S. workers have fewer legal rights to time off for family matters than workers in most other countries, and rank near the bottom in pregnancy and sick leave, a Harvard School of Public Health study found. The report, released Wednesday in Washington, D.C., was based on research on 168 countries.

More than 160 countries offer guaranteed paid leave to women for childbirth, according to the study. The U.S. Family Medical Leave Act guarantees 12 weeks of unpaid leave to about half of all mothers and nothing for the rest, the study said.

The report, completed with support from the Ford Foundation, said 139 countries mandate paid sick leave, with 117 of them guaranteeing at least one week. The United States does not guarantee time off for illness.

``The United States trails enormously far behind the rest of the world when it comes to legislation to protect the health and welfare of working families,'' said Jody Heymann, a Harvard associate professor who led the study.

more…
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,1282,-4213396,00.html

[drscm]

1. Don't tell the chimp. He wouldn't believe it.

Not with all that time he needs to clear brush and run around in his prickup.

[finecraft]

2. Every time I hear "Productivity is up"

I cringe because I know that is the secret Republican code for "Great! that means we have been able to make our worker's lives suck just a little bit more". Heck, you can hardly find a job anymore that offers paid sick leave and health insurance!

[TahitiNut]

5. No question about it,.

"Productivity" is just a euphemism for "off the clock" or "casual overtime." Labor is already horribly under-compensated for the wealth it creates and a 50-hour week (for 40 hours pay) is the low-end "standard' on the corporate plantations - and it's going up.

The scariest place to hear the word "productivity" is in health care. There, it's just plain grim.


Here's a picture:

[leesa]

3. Yah. We noticed.

[PeaceProgProsp]

4. And leads in indebtedness.

It's amazing how the people hurt most by Republican hostility to the working person are some of the most reliable Republican voters.

How many of your Republicans at work wish they were in a little less debt, got paid a little more, and had more time to spend with their kids, especially in a time of crisis?