Friday, June 22, 2012

Maybe This Helps Explain Why Europe is in Trouble: Workers Now Get a Paid "Vacation Do-Over" if Sick

BRUSSELS — "For most Europeans, almost nothing is more prized than their four to six weeks of guaranteed annual vacation leave. But it was not clear just how sacrosanct that time off was until Thursday, when Europe’s highest court ruled that workers who happened to get sick on vacation were legally entitled to take another [paid] vacation. 

“The purpose of entitlement to paid annual leave is to enable the worker to rest and enjoy a period of relaxation and leisure,” the Court of Justice of the European Union, based in Luxembourg, ruled in a case involving department store workers in Spain. “The purpose of entitlement to sick leave is different, since it enables a worker to recover from an illness that has caused him to be unfit for work.” 

With much of Europe mired in recession, governments struggling to reduce budget deficits and officials trying to combat high unemployment, the ruling is a reminder of just how hard it is to shake up long-established and legally protected labor practices that make it hard to put more people to work and revive sinking economies.

The ruling applies across the European Union of 27 countries, but does not apply to the 25 percent of the Spanish labor force that is currently unemployed."

HT: Bill Greenway

17 Comments:

At 6/22/2012 1:54 PM, Blogger The Drill SGT said...

You left off the punchline:

The ruling applies across the European Union of 27 countries.

snip...

The ruling does not apply to the 25 percent of the Spanish labor force that is currently unemployed.

 
At 6/22/2012 1:57 PM, Blogger Mark J. Perry said...

Thanks Drill SGT, I was in a rush and missed that, but just added it to the post. Thanks again.

 
At 6/22/2012 2:28 PM, Blogger Krishnan said...

If paying people unemployment helps stimulate the economy (ask the Sage Nancy Pelosi) why would not giving people more sick leave stimulate the economy?

unemployment compensation: Multiplier effect: 1.5 (?)
Sick leave: Multiplier effect: 2.5 (?)

So, the way to grow an economy is to have everyone either sick or unemployed.

No better example of how "Prosperity breeds envy leading to insanity". Those that do not work believe that those that do work will continue to do so no matter how much abuse is heaped on them.

Yes, Atlas will Shrug.

 
At 6/22/2012 2:48 PM, Blogger FloridaSteve said...

This is a symptom of just an awful and a much larger mindset. They keep moving the pieces around the board but I don't think they even know the rules of the game they are playing.

 
At 6/22/2012 2:56 PM, Blogger The Drill SGT said...

Krishnan said...
If paying people unemployment helps stimulate the economy (ask the Sage Nancy Pelosi) why would not giving people more sick leave stimulate the economy?
...
So, the way to grow an economy is to have everyone either sick or unemployed.


That would be sooo unfair to the workers in the food stamp office or the hospital who could not be unemployed or sick.....

PS: Nancy told us that with Obamacare we didnt have to worry bout health insurance and we could all be artists, or whatever....

 
At 6/22/2012 4:43 PM, Blogger OBloodyHell said...

>>> So, the way to grow an economy is to have everyone either sick or unemployed.

No, actually, the best way to grow an economy is to have all the Democrats and Lefties and Greens dead.

Not that I have any idea how to put that into effect.

But I predict the economic stimulus from such an event would be downright phenomenal.

 
At 6/22/2012 4:46 PM, Blogger OBloodyHell said...

>>>> PS: Nancy told us that with Obamacare we didnt have to worry bout health insurance and we could all be artists, or whatever....


Great. All the world needed, The Virgin Mary in Rinocerous Dung, and Piss Mohammed.

No, wait, forget that last one. Too dangerous.

 
At 6/22/2012 4:48 PM, Blogger OBloodyHell said...

>>> I don't think they even know the rules of the game they are playing.

Unfortunatly, the rule for them is "whoever moves the pieces makes the rules".

It's the political version of Calvinball...

 
At 6/22/2012 6:29 PM, Blogger NormanB said...

Greece recently voted to give pedfiles disability pay and the same goes for kleptomaniacs.

But we are in the final throes of this stupidity. It'll be messy but it has to be because they won't give up their benefits volantraily, they have to get empty envelopes for it to hit home.

 
At 6/22/2012 7:03 PM, Blogger StVIS said...

At a former company 10 years ago, I remember haggling with the French when we set up operation there. They'd come in at 9 a.m., take a two-hour lunch break at 11 a.m. And what do they drink during lunch? Wine of course, which meant they were useless the rest of the afternoon.

Needless to say, the "French experiment" was over in less than two years.

 
At 6/23/2012 9:54 AM, Blogger Buddy R Pacifico said...

Gee, we now know specifically what hardship European Union austerity is causing:

Having to wait until the next paycheck, for do-over time off pay.

 
At 6/23/2012 6:13 PM, Blogger Ron H. said...

"Having to wait until the next paycheck, for do-over time off pay."

Next great benefit? Employer provided payday loans.

 
At 6/24/2012 12:22 AM, Blogger sethstorm said...

The employers don't want to hire and the workers don't want to work. One would think that the problem would be obvious to spot.

 
At 6/25/2012 2:37 PM, Blogger Jaesun said...

Where does the state get the funds to pay the sick and unemployed? They steal it and alot more from those who are productively employed.

The state can not improve an economy, they can only cause problems that make things worse. Economies improve because business provides solutions that benefit consumers and business alike... and the state takes credit for it.

 
At 6/25/2012 4:23 PM, Blogger Wabano said...

Ah....

You get the leaders and governments YOU DESERVE!!!

Just look at the muslim countries!

'Slimes have taken over Zeropa practically, and you are seeing the consequences right there!

Contrast with Canada, who have a SIX MONTH UNEMPLOYMENT PERIOD due to weather and yet the unemployment insurance scheme posted a 800 million SURPLUS last year!

 
At 6/25/2012 7:32 PM, Blogger Ron H. said...

This comment has been removed by the author.

 
At 6/25/2012 7:36 PM, Blogger Ron H. said...

Wabano: ""Contrast with Canada, who have a SIX MONTH UNEMPLOYMENT PERIOD due to weather and yet the unemployment insurance scheme posted a 800 million SURPLUS last year!"

Hmm. I guess if Canadians are unemployed half the year then a 50% premium for UE insurance could result in a surplus.

Help me out here, VangelV, is that how it works?

I wonder why more countries haven't figured that out?

 

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