Paid Time Off

By Sam Hananel WASHINGTON -- It seems like a simple proposition: give employees who work more than 40 hours a week the option of taking comp time or paid time off instead of overtime pay. The choice already exists in the public sector. Federal and state workers can save earned time off and use it weeks or ...

U.S. Post Service worker Deborah Ford retired this week with a perfect attendance record: 44 years on the job, without taking a single sick day. That means the 64-year-old Ford (above) logged just short of 11,000 workdays. ...

Finally, the holidays are here and you've had a chance to relax and reboot. But as you begin to unwind on Christmas vacation, and enjoy yourself, you may find yourself asking: Have I been happy at work this year? What other job could I be doing that would be more fulfilling -- monetarily and spiritually? ...

Most experts preach the importance of taking a vacation. And there are plenty of studies showing it's good for your health, productivity and creativity. But in America, most of us are limited to two weeks paid vacation. And most of us don't take even that in large part because we fear for our jobs, according ...

Even with both Republican and Democratic parties bragging about their ground game, Americans will likely hit Nov. 7 knowing at least one number: just 50 to 60 percent of the voting age population will have cast ballots. There are many reasons for this. For people in non-swing states, their presidential ...

If you're like most Americans, you probably feel like Labor Day snuck up on you. That's because you spent most of the summer working -- or looking for work. The majority of American workers don't use up all their vacation time, most of them leaving an average of 11 days on the table, according to one survey (via ...

How can you get paid for all the hours you worked? Whether it's getting paid vacation days or lunch breaks, lots of AOL Jobs readers have concerns about this issue, so I'm going to answer three readers' questions in this column. Please note: I'm giving general answers based on federal law. Your state may have ...

The Great Recession and subsequent fragile recovery have shifted many Americans' view of taking time off from work. Fearing that they won't have jobs upon their return, plenty of workers leave paid vacation and sick days on the table -- and lose them because their employers require those days to be taken within ...

A lot of American companies move their labor offshore to save on costs. But there is one expense that is greater in almost every other country: paid vacation. Of 62 countries studied by Mercer, a human resources research and consulting organization, the U.S. is the only country without any statutory paid ...