Paid vacation should be mandatory (Rep. Alan Grayson)

Tourism. It’s Florida’s largest business. More than 75 million visitors a year. $57 billion for the state economy. Jobs, jobs, jobs. Wouldn’t it be great for our economy if more people went on vacation?

That’s one reason why people are talking about our Paid Vacation Act. Stations from Orlando to Fresno are reporting on it. One poll shows 69% of all Americans support the bill. It requires companies with at least 100 employees to give workers one week of paid vacation after a year of service; specifically, employees who work at least 25 hours a week (1,250 hours per year).

How many American employees never get a day off? Guess. The number is . . . 27 million. That’s right — 27 million workers in America never get a single day of paid vacation. And half of all American employees get less than a week each year. No wonder 69% of all Americans support this bill.

Listen to people’s comments on this legislation and you’ll hear one thing over and over — “people need time to recharge their batteries.” They’re right. Study after study has shown that people are healthier, happier, and more productive after a vacation –- not just for the following week, or even the following month, but for the whole year. The gains in productivity make up for the time off, and more. What kind of workforce do we need? People who are stressed, burnt out, and pretending to work, or people who are rested, paying attention, and trying to get things done?

The statistics are startling. We spend more than $3000 per employee per year on health care for stress-related conditions. Employees without vacations are much more likely to have a heart attack and die. We are literally working ourselves to death. We’ve all heard the saying “all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.” Well, it turns out that all work and no play makes Jack a DEAD boy.

We’re rightly proud of the fact that America leads the world in so many areas. Add this one to the list –- we lead the world in employees who can never take a day off. Every major country in the world has laws that provide for paid vacations for employees –- more than 140 countries.  Why don’t we?

And here’s another category in which We Are Number One: the number of hours worked. A number that is up by 160 hours per year since 1976. Remember that one of the most successful ad campaigns in history told Americans, “you deserve a break today.” That’s right — we do deserve a break.

I’ll admit, there are some people who tell me that they oppose this bill. I ask them one question:  “Do you get vacation?” Their answer always is “yes.”  So it turns out that they’re not against vacations, just vacations for other people.

There is a good reason why my district, which includes Disney World and Universal Orlando, is called “the happiest place on earth.” It’s because the happy people who visit us all have one thing in common – they’re on vacation. Do you support family values? Then give 27 million Americans a chance to spend some time with their families.