After reading the passage below, answer the questions that follow. Be sure to "submit" your response for each question. You will initially receive full credit for each question, but your grade may change once your instructor reviews your responses. Be sure to check the grade book for your final grade.
Work–Life Balance: Around the Globe and Around the Block
Chances are that when you consider a job or career, you think not only about salary but also about benefits. Some of the most appealing companies to work for offer enticements like flexible work hours, in-house dining, child care, and even laundry services. These kinds of perks are relatively new and rare. But what about the most basic benefit of any job — time away from the job.
Two weeks of vacation time is standard in most U.S. companies — but it is not guaranteed by law. Of course, most successful U.S. companies do offer vacation time to employees, even if they are not required by law to do so. But lower-wage workers typically receive fewer paid days off (seven on average) than higher-wage workers (thirteen on average; Ray, Sanes, & Schmitt, 2013; Ray & Schmitt, 2007). Almost one in four U.S. workers has no paid time off at all.
In other developed nations, things are quite different. Many European Union (EU) countries have developed requirements that exceed even the EU’s mandated twenty days paid vacation for all workers employed. In France, employees are required to use a minimum of thirty calendar days in a twelve-month period, and in Spain, workers get twenty-five vacation days in addition to fourteen paid holidays. Even Canadians enjoy a minimum of ten vacation days and nine holidays. In some of these nations, employers are even required to provide a little extra pay to help with vacation expenses (Maye, 2019).