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What I've Been Reading This Week: Time Off Work Edition


Excuse the abbreviated post, but I'm traveling through Chicago today. Makes it tougher to write a post when I'm at the airport and not at my desk.    

This week, I came across a few good articles dealing with employee time off work issues that I think readers would enjoy paying closer attention to.  In particular, the article that addressed unlimited vacation time in some companies was a very interesting read and one that I wanted to lead this post with, if for no other reason than this might become a more common practice among employers in the coming years.

As always, below are few articles that caught my eye this week.


A Closer Look at Vacation Days: What's Next?

Dan Schwartz has a good discussion on vacation days in the workplace today and how many employees take little, if any, vacation nowadays.  Of note, I wanted to highlight the end of his article in which he talks about some companies that allow "unlimited" vacation days for employees.  Might this be the new trend?  It reminds me of Richard Branson, CEO of Virgin Group, who announced last year that he was giving salaried employees unlimited vacation time.  (Richard Branson Press Release).  Although apparently only 3% of companies subscribe to the unlimited vacation theory, this might be the tip of the iceberg...


How Some States Are Handling Paid Sick Leave

Paid sick leave laws are popping up in cities and states across the country.  In fact, it is one of the areas I have paid special attention to, given the increased interest in these new laws.  Eric Welter has a well written article on how several states are handling paid sick leave laws around the country.  In particular, note how some cities and states have moved forward with paid sick leave laws already, such as Philadelphia, while others, such as Washington, are still debating the passage of a bill.  As readers can see, progress is slow on some fronts, but with the increased pressure to pass these bills, it is only a matter of time before more cities and states join in.

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