Most know that Americans are hard workers and with that often means we don't have time to get away. Or more like we are not allowed time to get away. Few of us get the courtesy 2 weeks vacation, and even with 2 weeks we often do not get to take it all at once and have to be in touch via phone and email. A vacation in the US is often not a "real" vacation at all.

According to a recent report from the Center for Economic and Policy Research called the No-Vacation Nation, the US is one of the only advanced nation where the government doesn't require companies to offer vacation days. Where as in many other nations not only are vacation days mandated, it is often a few weeks or more that is required to be given to every employee.

Most countries in Europe offer a minimum of 4 weeks paid vacation in addition to paid holidays. Australia and New Zealand require at least 20 vacation days per year, and Canada and Japan mandate at least 10 paid days off.

So the question is why does the US feel the need to get their workers working and does this make us more efficient? There is no proof that working more makes our businesses better. Actually the US came in 4th in the World Economic Forum's 2010-2011 rankings for the most competitive economies, where as Sweden who offers a mandatory 5 weeks vacation came in 2nd.

But no matter how hard we work and often get burnt out the government does not want to get involved in mandating a vacation. What do you think, do we need mandatory vacation time?

Source: CNN.com