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U.S. lags in paid sick days, work benefits
Reuters via Yahoo! ^ | 11/17/2009 | Ellen Wulfhorst

Posted on 11/17/2009 10:31:42 PM PST by jerry557

NEW YORK – The United States lags far behind other nations in offering paid sick days, paid parental leave and other workplace benefits that proponents consider vital to public health and workers rights, according to research released on Tuesday.

The eight-year study found the most economically competitive nations offer forms of paid leave to workers that the United States does not, according to researchers at Harvard University and Canada's McGill University.

Of the world's 15 most competitive nations, 14 mandate paid sick leave, 13 guarantee paid maternal leave and 12 provide paid paternal leave by law, they said. Eleven provide paid leave to care for children's health and eight provide paid leave for adult family care.

The United States legally guarantees none of these policies to workers, the authors note. The findings are published in a new book, "Raising the Global Floor: Dismantling the Myth that We Can't Afford Good Working Conditions for Everyone."

The issue of paid employee leave in the United States has heated up. Advocates argue paid leave allows sick workers to stay home without financial hardship and helps prevent workers from spreading such diseases as the H1N1 flu.

Opponents argue that mandating such leave policies would cost jobs and be a financial burden on businesses.

----

Co-authored by Alison Earle, who was a research scientist at Harvard's School of Public Health, the book is published by Stanford University Press.

Looking more widely at 190 countries, the researchers found 163 guarantee paid sick leave and 164 guarantee paid annual leave.

Also, 177 nations guarantee paid leave for new mothers, 74 nations guarantee paid leave for new fathers and 157 nations guarantee workers a day of rest each week, they said.

The United States has none of these, they said.

(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: benefitsbusiness; employment; work

1 posted on 11/17/2009 10:31:42 PM PST by jerry557
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To: jerry557

Hey it’s rooters, the Saudi propaganda newspeak.


2 posted on 11/17/2009 10:34:32 PM PST by Tarpon (To destroy the people's liberties, you poison their morals ...)
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To: jerry557

An 8 year study on paid sick leave ends the same day Dems start pushing for paid sick leave.....

Gee...what are the odds...


3 posted on 11/17/2009 10:35:44 PM PST by Crim
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To: jerry557
Obama will take care of us all. No worries. We will become the next third world shit hole with Obama leading there.
4 posted on 11/17/2009 10:36:13 PM PST by antiunion person (PALIN/COULTER 2012)
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To: jerry557

“...most economically competitive nations...”

Well, the ‘O’ has changed the rules, the US was one of those... I call this study BS.


5 posted on 11/17/2009 10:40:57 PM PST by elpinta (Change: check. Hope: not so much.)
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To: antiunion person

Like the woman who was asked where the money came from she said it came from Obama’s stash so I guess all these benefits will come from there. I want us to be America I dont want us to be like other countries.


6 posted on 11/17/2009 10:45:11 PM PST by proudCArepublican
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To: jerry557

Here we go! The 0bama mouth breathers begin their cacophonous regurgitating of lies, lies, and damn lies!


7 posted on 11/17/2009 10:55:53 PM PST by papasmurf (RnVjayB5b3UsIDBiYW1hLCB5b3UgcGllY2Ugb2Ygc2hpdCBjb3dhcmQh)
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To: jerry557
When I came to work for my current employer, there was a change in policy such that sick time and vacation time were lumped together. As a senior scientist, I was hired with an accrual rate of 3.69 hours for each 40 hours worked. Nominally, that is 19 days of earned time off/sick time annually. Employees with less than 15 years are allowed to accrue 380 hours. Above 15 years, you may accumulate 480 hours. Each January, the company will pay out the difference between the max permitted and the current balance. Employees can also request a payout in June and December of a designated number of hours...not to exceed the amount accrued in a calendar year.

The approach has worked well for the last 19 years. The key observation is that this isn't a gift. It is earned in proportion to productive hours worked and is part of your agreed compensation package. Upon termination, the value of the hours is paid out at the current rate of compensation. The balance limits help the company keep the liability under control. An earned benefit is fine. If the politicians attempt to force businesses to make sick leave a "gift" out of company revenues, there is going to be a big problem.

8 posted on 11/17/2009 11:20:19 PM PST by Myrddin
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To: jerry557

What jobs?


9 posted on 11/17/2009 11:25:00 PM PST by Dallas59 (No To O -Time is going by really really really really slow.)
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To: jerry557

exceptionalism is the new “lag.”


10 posted on 11/17/2009 11:30:11 PM PST by the invisib1e hand (the obama doctrine: "let's not rush to any conclusions...")
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To: jerry557
U.S. lags in paid sick days, work benefits

So?
U.S. also lags in:

International product competitiveness.
Quality of pre-college education.
Number of workers supporting a growing number of leeches.
Faith in their government, from the top down.
Honest overpaid workers in the financial sector.
Percentage of honest politicians.

I'm sure there must be a profound point to be made in this article.
I just can't find it.

11 posted on 11/17/2009 11:46:07 PM PST by Publius6961 (Â…he's not America, he's an employee who hasn't risen to minimal expectations.)
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To: jerry557

>”The findings are published in a new book, “Raising the Global Floor: Dismantling the Myth that We Can’t Afford Good Working Conditions for Everyone.”

Well whoop de Doo! Another cockamamie book. Why need an 8 year study when you can simply look up federal laws on employment and labor in each country?


12 posted on 11/18/2009 12:31:35 AM PST by max americana (i)
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To: jerry557
The United States lags far behind other nations in offering paid sick days, paid parental leave and other workplace benefits...

As an employer I certainly don't mind offering all these benefits (and more) to my employees.

Of course I'll have to adjust wages down to pay for it, but I have no problem doing so if "dictated" by Obama and the Demwits. I've got plenty of margin between what I pay and the minimum wage.

Heck, the employees can even form a union (or join SEIU) if they want. Once we start flirting with paying minimum wage, however, they'd better be ready to find work elsewhere, because at that point it won't be worth my time.

13 posted on 11/18/2009 12:58:18 AM PST by The Duke ("Are you now or have you ever been a member of the Democrat Party?")
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To: jerry557

“The 15 nations are Australia, Austria, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, Britain and the United States, all of which have been ranked most competitive over the last decade by the World Economic Forum, she said.”

Unfortunately, thanks to current trade policies of the US government and Wall Street, the US work force is competing for jobs against China, India, Vietnam, Mexico not the 15 countries cited in the article. The article fails to compare how the US worker stacks up against our real competitors in terms of sick days, vacation days and wages. When making that comparison with our actual competitors, the study should examine the real working conditions in those countries, not just the laws on the books. Laws intended to protect workers in those nations are often ignored.

Under open market free trade as practice by the US the hourly worker in the US is ultimately competing against the lowest wage country in the world. To be competitive, wages, benefits, and working conditions have to drop or we have to accept high levels of unemployment. We are seeing the consequences of our policies in the form of rising unemployment because even at minimum wage, US workers are not competitive with $2 a day labor in some countries.

Imagine how many Americans could be employed making the products sold everyday at Wal-Mart. There was a time, not long ago, when most of those products were made in the USA. Are we really better off as a nation for opening our domestic to the world?


14 posted on 11/18/2009 1:35:50 AM PST by Soul of the South (When times are tough the tough get going.)
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To: jerry557

We’re also lagging in national strikes and labor riots!

(but we’re losing productivity and approaching the above)


15 posted on 11/18/2009 1:55:49 AM PST by This_far (Mandatory insurance! I thought it was about health care?)
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To: jerry557

The headline should be “US less socialist than most other nations.”


16 posted on 11/18/2009 3:01:37 AM PST by Old_Grouch (62 and AARP-free)
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To: The Duke

They wont let you do that since the next move will be to jack up the minimum wage.


17 posted on 11/18/2009 7:57:51 AM PST by jerry557
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