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Sunday, 7 November, 1999, 15:37 GMT
Should holidays be a human right?
On this week's debate we discussed attitudes to leisure time.
Our guest was the director of the Centre for Tourism and Leisure Studies at the University of North London, Professor Graeme Evans.
Click on the link below to watch or listen to Talking Point On Air
Read what you have said since the programme Read and hear a reflection of your comments during the programme Read what you said before we went on air
Your comments since the programme
It seems that all we do is live for the weekend and holidays. I finished college last year and got a bit too used to weeks and weeks off. Now I have four weeks off a year - I feel absolutely shattered most of the time!!! It is a human rights issue that needs to be tackled otherwise we will all be falling asleep at work!!!!
Think about it, everyone needs a break from work to recharge the batteries. If you're the president of a company or on the lower rungs of the ladder rest from work gives us time with our loved ones and helps us refocus our lives. In most cases we return more productive. Yes of course it should be a human right.
I think everyone should work 7 days a week until we all drop from fatigue. How does relaxation and an increase in quality of life maximise profits?
I would rather play than work. So I've made every job I've ever had fun to do! And for the most part it has worked. I love my job - and it's fun!
There are many ways of looking at holidays. A holiday can be taken in the same house in which you live throughout the year, or it may be that you vacate the home in order to visit sights, counties, cultures, that are your own or of other peoples. I personally believe that vacations enable people to return to work with their mind set in another perspective - positive, indifferent or negative. Whatever the outcome of the vacation it has enabled the workforce the opportunity for change on their own terms. Life in today's world, developed or developing does not offer this opportunity often. This change of perspective can only enrich the people's lives as a human being, but also that as a member of the workforce in which we willingly or unwillingly dedicate most of our lives.
Holidays can provide an essential opportunity to take time out and reassess priorities - as such they are invaluable. The problem comes with our assessment of what constitutes a holiday - it doesn't have to be a stressful or expensive two-week break in some overdeveloped resort lacking in any trace of local charm or character... you don't have to go anywhere to take a holiday in the mind!
Burnout and chronic fatigue syndrome are commonplace here in North America. It seems a pity that employers do not see the extra productivity gained from a replenished workforce. To those who recommend taking unpaid time off, if you can afford it, chance would be a fine thing!!!
Holidays are not just a right but absolutely essential for efficiency at work. Few of us are able to work in an environment where our work gives a feeling of leisure all the time. Even those lucky people who spend their time researching elephants in Africa for instance, need time away. The thing about work is that no matter how rewarding or enjoyable it is, it is also regimented and only loosely flexible. Unfortunately too many people take package holidays which ironically are much the same and then the stress of delays and weather come into play.
I keep hearing the question: do we live to work or work to live.
This implies that one's work is divorced from one's avocation.
I believe that more people should strive to find work that gives
them pleasure. If you must rely on a brief period of vacation
to give your life meaning while most of your life is spent performing
work that gives you no reward you are already a slave; a bit of
holiday is not going to make your life meaningful.
If you are unhappy in your work, then find new work, but taking
vacations can also be rewarding in its own way.
Most people hate their jobs & live for the weekend/holiday time. Maybe the greatest aspect of human endeavour is trying to improve the quality of life.eg car, heat, light, vaccines etc.
While trying to improve our physical conditions, shouldn't we also being trying to improve our mental condition. I imagine 50 -75 years from now, maybe sooner, 4 day working weeks will be the norm.
I do not agree that holidays should be
a human right. As the world becomes
increasingly orientated towards capitalism,
individuals need to realise that work is
necessary to make money. The more one
works, the bigger piece of the pie becomes
available.
In Canada, where we emulate the American workaholic attitude, I can only dream of 6+ weeks off per year, let alone an actual holiday. I hope those of you in the more civilised world have a good summer. Sigh.
Hell yes, holidays are a right. When I was at school we were told that with the advent of computers we would have to get used to the idea of working as little as 20 hours a week. All that happened was that computers enabled us to do more for our companies for less cost in a shorter time. Business lined its pockets and we had a more stressful, busier work life than those who did not have the luxury of the silicon chip. It's time the accounts were settled, more holiday, less stress and no moaning from business about the cost. We've paid already with our health and family life now it's your turn.
No, no, not a human right, but a worker's right, these two conceptions are different. Rest is to Work, what liberty is to humanity. But as everybody should be granted liberty in a certain sense, everybody should have the right to take a rest, but it must be in a social convention, as it is already, not in human rights charts. I mean everybody should be free to rest the way one likes.
Holidays are a choice, not a right. Why should someone be paid to sit around at home?
If you want a holiday, take one. If the boss doesn't like it, don't work for him anymore. Work for your self. Work is nothing more than paid slavery anyway.
Time off from work should be a right, what you do with the time is an individual choice. If you want to go on holiday and also have the money then go, but no way should the government or any other scheme pay for it. Work hard and save if you want something.
No matter how much you make or what you do for living, everyone who works hard deserves to spend time with his/her family. To me it's very healthy for the family to spend a holiday with you, it provides you more opportunities to know what is good or bad going on in your family. Give your family members a chance for the enjoyable moments to be a part of the family.
Let's not become like the Japanese - they work like robots. Most of my Japanese friends who graduated from colleges in the US and went home to work are miserable! They do not get much time off. And that is not life.
Absolutely; the question comes
down to whether we work to live,
or live to work. If we live to work,
we are little more than slaves or
beasts of burden. If we work to live,
however, we should have time
in which to enjoy living. I came late to this debate. I thought it was going to be about the right of relatively rich people to wander over the world unimpeded. I love to travel, but I think it spreads disease and can weaken traditional cultures. Whether the rich have a 'right ' to do this is debatable.
People should have a right to paid time off work in their own countries. To give them an 'International right to roam' would probably be a step too far.
How much paid holiday one receives is sometimes related to their hourly wage. I employ many people who when given the choice of a lower hourly wage with more vacation versus a higher wage with less vacation, the higher wage is their first choice. In the marketplace I can only charge a certain amount for my goods which dictates a maximum amount I can spend on payroll including vacation pay.
People in Europe, which has had the buffering effect of socialist policies to offset some of the cruelties of capitalism, cannot imagine the situation in the USA. Many people here - the hardest working ones, who work in horrible service industry and retail jobs - get no paid vacation AT ALL. Even if a job provides vacation, you inevitably have to wait a year to get a miserable week. ONE WEEK A YEAR! It's appalling and obscene. You only live once, and paid vacation time, a minimum of 3 to 4 weeks per year regardless of time in position, should be a guaranteed human right. The monsters who make these vacation rules take plenty of time off for themselves!
Deary me, all those British ex-pats and ex-"employers" moaning about people having holidays. I'm surprised by people working in the Middle-East complaining about how their tax dollars are misused at home. I'd be amazed if you are paying more than 5% in tax anyway!
Helen, USA
My vision of the future
will be to have a 5-day weekend - during which time I'll do my favourite
hobby: work!
What we're seeing is the rationalization of society, where employee,
regardless of status as factory hand or CEO, are reduced to the present
value of their earning power.
Freetime as a right is one of the few tools available to help
counterbalance this.
Your comments during the programme
We have a long history of having leisure time that to prevent people taking paid holidays would lead to a second revolution. We in France are fascinated by how in ancient Greece work was despised. We are against overly organised leisure time but we believe that people must have holidays however modest. Even if they just stay at home with their families. The culture of over-working and over-consuming in the US is very unhealthy. Look at how many people take Prozac. Another survey a little while ago found that the British are happier whereas the French are more efficient and productive. The French keep their holidays an area of non-work whereas the British tend to blur work and leisure.
Holidays refresh your soul and gives you time to reflect on your inner being. I give my all when I come back to work after a break. Stress is endured by too many workaholics in the US and this leads to all kinds of maladies. Employers want employees to give more for less and demand more than employees are contracted to give. But on the other hand employees shouldn't do in their work time what should be kept for their leisure time. A shorter working week is a good goal.
Holidays are essential even in a poor country. In Pakistan most people do not take holidays even though they work very hard. In the government service we are able to take holidays. Holidays allow us to travel and meet other people and so broaden our horizons.
We set up The Idler magazine because idleness and laziness get a bad press. Working hard at achieving things while on holiday can be counterproductive. Companies you work for own your time whereas when on holiday you have complete control of what you do. State involvement could end up infringing civil liberties if people are told that they can or can't work as they wish.
I would like more leisure time but I enjoy going to work because I achieve my goals. I am self-employed so I work as much or as little as I want. Working in Holland is different - better in many respects to working in the UK.
People are afraid of taking holidays because the working environment is unsettled. In Senegal those in the civil service need to be relaxed so they come in to work late and go home early. Shopkeepers take a nap in the middle of the day, whereas in Nigeria people seem to work all hours and seven days a week. Being relaxed at work and taking holidays is linked to happiness. In Nigeria working too hard has a negative impact on families. that relaxation is not considered in this country.
We only get 10 days vacation per year in the US and we have to ask ourselves what's the price of a strong economy. The US is becoming a very dangerous place to live. The recent spate of shootings have seen law-makers link violence to the erosion of the family. But we only get 10 days a year to spend with them. We have a culture which is to live to work, not work to live. People make up for their lack of holidays by taking sick leave.
You need to have a good outlook and choose a job and a life you can be happy with. Your vacation can be spent working or your work can be like a vacation. You should enjoy your work and know how to have a good time in your holidays. Make the most of what you have I don't worry about trying to earn a lot.
Historically in many countries the government has provided leisure services from libraries to sports facilities. Access to local facilities to engage in sport and leisure have suffered in recent years. As we demand more leisure time the leisure and tourism industry has being growing rapidly. The kinds of jobs being created involve people working unsocial hours, long shifts, at poor rates, etc. One person's leisure is another person's night-shift.
The South African government has decided to cut our school summer holidays in December by almost two weeks. So that's two more weeks doing algebra and two less weeks resting by going to the beach or a game reserve.
To say holidays should be considered a human right when there are so many in the world who are suffering the denial of 'real' human rights such as freedom from torture, right to life etc. is really appalling.
British workers get a far better deal with regard to holidays and other workers' rights than we do in the USA. Holidays here are seen as a privilege, not a right, and most workers get just the bare minimum of two weeks paid holiday a year, and that is only if you are lucky enough to be a full-time permanent employee. Most companies, including the government, work with part-time workers, with no tenure, and wages are pitiful. You never hear this side of American life in the media, but over the past five years the numbers of working poor has drastically increased, with no sign of compassion or assistance either from industry or government. Your dead lucky in the UK and you don't even know it!
Your comments before we went on air
The prospect of further government intervention in the economy is concerning. For those fortunate enough to live in areas of relatively low unemployment, the free market dictates that employers must give their employees a break, lest that employer lose out to another employer who would. Most employers also recognise the cost of "burnout" and the high cost of having to recruit and retrain new employees. Even if an employer is cold hearted, it makes economic sense for them to maintain a productive workforce if they want to stay in business. So let the free market work.
Most working people look forward to a couple of weeks a year where they can watch late night TV and sleep in. Getting up before 6am day after day is hard on a person, they deserve a chance to relax with the family, without phones and pagers. Also when else can you catch up on home repairs, reading, hobbies etc. Without time off for a holiday people can become quite depressed - the cycle of work, eat, sleep can be too much!
Capitalists can chose any day of the week to take a holiday, as they control their own means of production. People who work for 30 years or more to save money for retirement, are told when to take a holiday. We need to make certain that those who do not have control over their means of production can, occasionally, escape the wrath of their taskmasters.
It should be a right but not an obligation. Some people cannot cope with being away from work; others really need a break and should not be made to feel guilty if they wish to have quality time to themselves.
Absolutely! Vacations started millions of years ago when God created the heavens and earth. He rested on the seventh day after working for six days. We as humans, need time to reflect on life to make appropriate changes to our lifestyle so that this world will be a better place for our children. When was the last time we looked around us and tried to help others? We have become very insensitive to people around us...because we are too busy WORKING!
Of course holidays should be a right. Slavery was abolished over 150 years ago!
I would agree to using my hard-earned tax money to send the unfortunate ones on a holiday....provided they clean my house and wash my car weekly as it is my human right to live in a clean environment. And I think that's a fair exchange!
In response to Cliff, England, I would like to point out that as an employer, he has a right to look out for the interests and health of his staff. Some may argue (including me) that to have allocated time off from work to recuperate is essential to the functioning of the individual. If he didn't offer paid time off / holiday for his staff he may find an office full of staff who will quickly become very depressed and exhausted - leading to greatly reduced efficiency. It is in an employer's best interests to offer paid time off work. I would also agree with the many people who do not begrudge the unemployed a short holiday - just because an individual doesn't work doesn't mean that they aren't in need of a change of surroundings in order to keep sane.
If all those well off people of the developed world take their holidays and go to developing countries, it will do a great deal of good to developing economies. How about giving that big tip to a rickshaw puller, or staying in that small hotel and taking a tour with a local guide, or buying souvenirs from locals? We cannot imagine what a big difference these small generosities can make.
As a contractor currently working in Germany, I have taxes to pay. I work to earn money so my family can have a decent life. Between contracts, I have time with my family which is akin to a holiday but I do not get paid for this privilege. This is how it should be. If you want a holiday, have one. If in full-time employment, the time away should be negotiated with the employer/manager so there are enough staff to cover the working operation. If you are too lazy to get a job, then life is one long holiday, currently at my expense!
Even living in this country, where most of the people can't afford holidays, I can say that it is essential.
Paid holiday leave should be a legal requirement for employers to provide for their employees, which is especially reinforced by some of the comments from employers on your article! Workers should be given time off but what they spend that time doing is up to them and a week or two relaxing at home, not going to work is as much of a holiday as lying on a beach.
To Tom UK, you say that you want your staff to work until they drop and then some more. Well, as you have contributed to every Talking Point debate, you cannot be working THAT much. And by the way if your employees do drop, the implications are more substantial than giving them a holiday break (which they are legally entitled to).
Modern life is so hectic and complex that an organised holiday is the only way members of a family can get together and spend some quality time together. It is often the memories of such vacations and reunions that we cherish, and not our mundane, everyday existence.
After working 60 hours a week without overtime pay, waiting for someone to die to get a promotion, and not spending anytime with your loved ones, no wonder people are going "postal" in the workplace. If you work in the USA you're lucky to have 1 week off. I say it's a human right to keep your sanity. Oh the Boss just arrived, Got to run, Bye...
What is the point earning and working days and probably some nights if you don't have the time to enjoy the money you have hard earned?
As a British Citizen living in the USA where we have 10 days holiday a year, I feel that Holidays should be a right, as without them stress levels in the workplace would get out of control. Going from 6 weeks to 10 days a year shows me that you don't know what you have until it's gone!!
People in general seem to work very hard and if you don't stop once in a while to go somewhere different or experience something new, then what is it all for? It doesn't have to be expensive or far away. Visiting other places can also be educational and it gives you a chance to recharge your batteries and reset your life.
OK so we all need holidays, but why do employees feel they have a right to be paid for that privilege. As a past employer, I have had to provide, not only time off from the workplace but also PAY employees for the privilege. Let them have the holidays by all means, but stand their own costs and see how many holidays they are likely to take then
We rest animals....
How on earth can an obvious luxury such as a holiday be deemed a necessity let alone a right? Historically people have survived entire lifetimes without one. This is not to say they are not beneficial, but if every beneficial luxury became a right then there would be no cause to work and we would just cease to function altogether.
People need time off whatever they are doing. Now this can be broken down into either going on holiday or just staying local (i.e. at home). I think this is more difficult for contractors who, if they take a holiday, don't get paid for it. At the end of the day, a break IS essential for everyone.
Certainly not. We work for the benefit of ourselves and society. No-one should be entitled to holiday, it is a reward to those that work hard. As an employer, I expect my team to work until they drop, and then work some more. They are in a privileged position having a job in the first place and as such should be grateful. Retirement is for holidays, not your working life.
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