Should Massachusetts require employers to provide paid vacation time?
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Yes BILL HUMPHREY Newton city councilor
Massachusetts should meet the basic global labor market standards established more than half a century ago by requiring employers to provide paid vacation days.
The International Labour Organization — the United Nations agency that helps set and monitor baseline international agreements to foster economic stability between workers and employers and to promote parity across borders — has had a broad-based minimum paid vacation compact since 1970.
That standard, which has never been adopted by the United States, requires all workers (except seafarers) be guaranteed paid vacation days each year equivalent to three working weeks, as well as paid days off correlating to all public holidays.
The European Union goes further, requiring four work weeks (20 days) of paid vacation annually for all workers plus public holidays, with many member countries mandating even longer paid leave.
Massachusetts views itself as a policy leader in the US and a world economic player, seeking to attract top global talent. But our lack of paid vacation puts us behind the curve. Even our nearest Canadian provincial neighbors guarantee at least two weeks of paid vacation days per year, which is still less than what about 150 other countries require.
The International Labour Organization explains the rationale for such mandates: “Paid leave is not just a reward for service; it is a key means of promoting the health and wellbeing of the worker and in many countries helps workers to meet their family responsibilities.”
Contrary to fears that such paid vacation mandates might break a workforce already stretched thin, it could actually relieve pressure and reduce burnout and labor churn that has been growing since the 2008 recession and intensifying since the pandemic began.
Guaranteed vacation time might also strengthen Massachusetts’ tourism sector, boosting local job creation and tax revenues.
As for concerns that some smaller businesses might not be able to absorb a paid vacation mandate as easily as a major enterprise, we would do well to heed the words of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, when he said in 1933 that “No business which depends for existence on paying less than living wages to its workers has any right to continue in this country.” It is decades past time for Massachusetts to make paid vacation a basic right for all our workers.
No KONRAD MARTIN CEO of Tech Advisors in Medfield; Medway resident
As the owner of an information technology firm with offices here in Massachusetts, I know firsthand that a company is only as good as its employees. The most successful firms have great, loyal workers. As an employer, I know the value of attracting and retaining quality talent in this competitive market. I further understand that a company with lower turnover generally fares better than one where employees churn in and out.
I’ll also add that our company provides generous vacation and benefits packages. With that said, however, I do not support the notion that Massachusetts employers should be mandated to offer paid vacations to employees.
There must be a distinction between what we believe we should do and what governmental agencies have the power to require us to do. Fewer regulations are better than many.
Additionally, the mandate is simply not necessary.
Thousands of jobs in this state are going unfilled. We have all heard the stories about how companies (restaurants and hospitality at the top of the list) are desperate for help. How do these businesses compete in a tight market where potential employees can in many cases write their own tickets?
They do so in part by offering the best compensation and benefits packages that they can afford. Employers understand that this is an employees’ market and companies must be competitive in their offerings. This principle applies not only to new employees but to existing ones who are also well aware of their market opportunities.
I can think of no way that a state-mandated vacation package would be helpful. In a competitive market, employers already compete aggressively for new hires and to retain their current employees. Most companies’ proposed benefits packages (vacations included) will far exceed any state-mandated amount.
Businesses in Massachusetts have endured many difficult conditions over these last several years. COVID-19 forced many businesses to close or scale back operations. Mandates and restrictions on travel made the business climate extremely challenging.
Now that we have a glimmer of hope that we have turned the corner with COVID, this is not the time to impose additional mandates. We have lived with enough mandates these last years. Let the market – not the state — dictate the level of compensation and benefits that are appropriate.