U.S. Is Worst Among Developed Nations for Worker Benefits

[Wicked Blue]

NBCWashington
By Greg Iacurci, CNBC

The U.S. places last relative to its national policies around healthcare, unemployment, retirement, parental leave, and paid vacation and sick days, according to Zenefits, a human resources firm.

The Czech Republic, Latvia, South Korea and Mexico joined the U.S. among the five least-generous countries. Denmark, the Netherlands, Finland, Sweden and Switzerland were the top nations for worker benefits.

The U.S., for example, is the only advanced nation that doesn't guarantee paid vacation time to workers, according to the Center for Economic and Policy Research. By comparison, Europeans get at least 20 days of legally mandated vacation days, and some countries require at least 30.

It's also the only industrialized nation that doesn't offer universal healthcare for its citizens. The U.S. spends more on healthcare than other high-income countries relative to the size of its economy. However, it also has the highest number of hospitalizations from preventable causes and the highest rate of avoidable deaths relative to other wealthy nations, according to the Commonwealth Fund.

https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/business/money-report/u-s-is-worst-among-rich-nations-for-worker-benefits/2562110/

[SheltieLover]

1. I've been referring to it as the "United States of Extortion" for a few decades

for these very reasons. Yes, I was born in the USA & love our country, but not the repuke dynamics of extorting everything from everyone, especially those who can least afford it.

[Wicked Blue]

2. This happens when our nation is

of the corporations,
by the corporations
and for the corporations

[SheltieLover]

6. Absofuckingloutely!

[Ohiogal]

3. We could be so much better - stronger and prosperous

If we could get rid of Republicans and their draconian and inequality-promoting policies.

Why so many people vote against their own self interest in this country, is a question for the ages.

[Wicked Blue]

8. The republicans do what their corporate masters tell them

We need to eliminate "corporate personhood" and find ways to overturn Citizens United campaign financing secrecy, to start with.

[Coleman]

4. Foreign companies love American salaried (exempt) employees

My wife works for a French company, its an IT services company. She manages the F&A reporting group for the North American branch of the company. She is salaried and works a minimum of 12 hours a day. She used to work weekends, but told them no more. Still does a couple hours on weekends. She is salaried so no overtime or even straight pay, vacation time is tough (she takes her laptop with her on vacation).

[Wicked Blue]

11. This happens in American companies too

My husband has worked in IT for more than 35 years. He is salaried. He works so many unpaid hours at night and on weekends that we consider it a miracle if we can watch an hour or two of TV together. He carries his laptop on vacation, and has had to work from highway rest areas en route home from a relative's house.

Unpaid overtime is pretty much the norm for IT workers, who are classified as professionals and as such exempt from receiving overtime pay.

The only way the situation can change is if Congress reclassifies certain job categories such as IT work. IT companies have made fortunes on the backs of its tech workers, who are overworked and exhausted.

[Turin_C3PO]

5. Off topic

but is Mexico considered developed now? I know it used to be in the “developing” category.

[DBoon]

7. The legacy of slavery has a lot to do with this

[Blue Owl]

9. But first among billionaires with multiple yachts

Probably -- since all that benefit money is being stolen and given to the 1%...

[Johnny2X2X]

10. US workers have it hard

I can tell you about the UK vs the US for my company.

We have offices in the US and the UK. We had layoffs last year. In the US, we are pretty fair for the US, told people they were getting laid off, but they had 30 more days before their last day, then they got a week of pay severance for every year of service. We offered training, resume help, job placement help, and some extension of health care benefits. All around, pretty good for the US.

The UK. Well, first we had to inform the unions and the government we intended to lay people off, then there's an 8 month waiting period where we had to jump through hoops, help these people as much as possible, and all around prove to people that we really needed to cut staff. And those people got a bigger severance and then a more robust system from the government to provide income until they can find something else.

In MI, the max UE per week is $362 before taxes. And normally it's available only for 6 months. The federal bonus we';ve seen the last year is a clear message that we don't do enough for laid off workers. $362 is not enough to survive for most families, it barely covers COBRA or a mortgage payment. Getting laid off should not mean financial ruin like it does in the US for too many.

And white collar workers right now are finding out the hard way, you're at risk of ruin if you lose your job. Doesn't matter if you've done everything right, avoided debt, have ample savings, it can all be gone in a short amount of time. I'm watching friends see everything they've worked their whole careers for go down the drain. Savings burned through, savings that took decades to build up. 401Ks accessed, and then accessed again and again. 20 year careers in good jobs build a cushion that provides security, that is gone for many. Everything they thought they were working for can be gone in a year. Should not be this way.

[Ron Obvious]

12. I always wondered why US workers don't know how screwed they are when it comes to healthcare

and why they believe all that crap about "socialised medicine".

Then I realised that the US healthcare "system" is the only one with an advertising budget.