(1) according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, each year the average American works one month (160 hours) more today than in 1976;
(2) job-related stress costs business $344 billion a year in absenteeism, lost productivity, and health costs;
(3) some 75 percent of visits to primary care physicians come from stress-induced problems;
(4) 147 countries require paid vacation leave, and the United States is the only industrialized Nation without a minimum annual leave law;
(5) one of the fastest growing economies in the world, China, requires 3 weeks off for employees, which they call ‘Golden Weeks’;
(6) Canada requires 2 weeks off for all employees, and 3 weeks off for employees with 5 years or more with one employer;
(7) the Pew Research Center says more free time is the number one priority for middle-class Americans--with 68 percent of those surveyed listed this as a high priority for them;
(8) in 2008, about half (52 percent) of American workers took a vacation of a week or longer, and only 14 percent of American workers took 2 weeks or more for vacation;
(9) men who don’t take regular vacations are 32 percent more likely to die of heart attacks, and 21 percent more likely to die early of all causes;
(10) women who don’t take regular vacations have a 50 percent greater risk of heart attack, and are twice as likely to be depressed as those who do;
(11) the travel industry adds $740 billion a year to the Nation’s economy, while stress and burnout at work cost the economy over $300 billion a year; and
(12) vacations allow workers and businesses to increase productivity, decrease stress-related health costs, and provide time for family strengthening and bonding.
U.S. Congress - Text of H.R.2564 as Introduced in House Paid Vacation Act of 2009
