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Statutory leave entitlements across developed countries: Why US workers lose out on work–family balance
Author(s) -
Block Richard N.,
Park JooYoung,
Kang YoungHee
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
international labour review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.433
H-Index - 46
eISSN - 1564-913X
pISSN - 0020-7780
DOI - 10.1111/j.1564-913x.2013.00172.x
Subject(s) - statutory law , dominance (genetics) , balance (ability) , legislature , temporary work , work (physics) , labour economics , bargaining power , demographic economics , industrial relations , labour law , business , economics , political science , law , engineering , medicine , mechanical engineering , biochemistry , chemistry , physical medicine and rehabilitation , gene
. Using a composite index of legal provisions for annual and family leave in western Europe, the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan and the Republic of Korea, the authors rank legislative support for this aspect of work–family balance. The United States ranks last: its employers are not required to grant annual leave and employees can take no more than 12 weeks' family leave per year. The United States' comparatively low labour standards, the authors argue, may be due to the dominance of a market‐based conception of employment and the assumption of equal employer–employee bargaining power, neither of which is fully shared by the other industrialized democracies.