Nu, labi jau labi – es nedaudz pārspīlēju. Patiesībā Amerikā ar likumu nav noteikts, ka darbiniekam obligāti būtu jāpiešķir apmaksāts atvaļinājums. Tas gan nenozīmē, ka nevienam netiek piešķirts atvaļinājums. Vienkārši tas ir kā bonuss. Kārtīgi darbaholiķi.

But employers in the United States are not obligated under federal law to offer any paid vacation, so about a quarter of all American workers don’t have access to it, government figures show.

Most U.S. companies, of course, do provide vacation as a way to attract and retain workers.

But the fear of layoffs and the ever-faster pace of work mean many Americans are reluctant to be absent from the office — anxious that they might look like they’re not committed to their job. Or they worry they won’t be able to cope with the backlog of work waiting for them after a vacation.

Then, there’s the way we work.

Working more makes Americans happier than Europeans, according to a study published recently in the Journal of Happiness Studies. That may be because Americans believe more than Europeans do that hard work is associated with success, wrote Adam Okulicz-Kozaryn, the study’s author and an assistant professor at the University of Texas at Dallas.

Tas gan neliedz viņiem ierindoties ceturtajā vietā starp ekonomiski konkurētspējīgākajām valstīm pasaulē.

He noted that the United States came in fourth in the World Economic Forum’s 2010-2011 rankings of the most competitive economies, but Sweden — a country that by law offers workers five weeks of paid vacation — came in second.

Vienkārši nezināju, ka Amerikā atvaļinājums ir bonuss darbaholiķiem.