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If you’re reading this you’re not on holiday

Ged Kearney

by Ged Kearney

10 Jan 05:40am

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Filed under: Employment, Holidays, Leave, Summer, Unions, Work

40 comments

Are you on annual leave right now? If so, you’re already doing better than one third of Australians who toil on through the entire year without taking a breath.

Cartoon by Eric Lobbecke

And there’s a very good chance you’re ruining your break entirely.  Be honest – have you checked your Blackberry or your iPhone or your remote email account?

Did you take a call that related to work? Did you get online to check something work-related? Then you’re not really on leave.

Our brave new digital age means you’re only ever a few clicks, taps or swipes away from the wide world of work. 

At the moment you’re on The Punch – which is okay.

Even better, though, is to make a concerted effort to disconnect entirely.  You may have heard a rumour that Australians work the longest hours in the developed world. Well, it’s true.

According to the Australia Institute we slog out 200 more hours of work per year than employees in other countries. We work longer hours than the Japanese, the English and the Americans.

Germans – hardly renowned globally for being slackers – work far fewer hours than us. And they take six weeks annual leave.
Australians, on the other hand, get in early, leave late and clock up days and days worth of unpaid overtime. Two million of us work more than 50 hours per week.

Ironically, just to counterbalance this phenomenon, many people report being underemployed, needing more working hours to make a decent living and ends meet. How did this happen? How did we get so out of kilter?

Has the trend toward precarious, insecure work stretched that employer-employee relationship to the limits of exploitation? Are we worried about our jobs, career advancement to the point of going beyond the pale? Or are we just conscientious?

Whatever the reason I would like to see this situation change. I believe we can be a productive and prosperous nation without many of us working ourselves to within a whisker of total meltdown while others worry about not having enough work.

I think Australians are slowly waking up to the fact that a satisfying career is not necessarily a mad, blind scramble up the chain, but a series of more thoughtful decisions about what is likely to improve our lives.

However, the fact remains that at the moment we are racking up the longest working hours in the developed world and I understand we’re not going to transform into the cruisier French or Dutch overnight.

Surely all of us deserve some hot, lazy summer days to chew through some of our four allocated weeks of leisure. We deserve an uninterrupted stretch of time to eat, snooze, swim, stroll and relax in a variety of other ways.

We deserve to actually get to know our families and maybe even our neighbours. We deserve to switch off properly. After all, that used to be a quintessential part of the Australian way of life. 

So if you’re taking a summer break – make sure you’re doing it right. Chances are you deserve it more than just about any other worker in the OECD.

Achieving Optimal Annual Leave Outcomes: Key Performance Indicators

  • You’ve forgotten where you left your smart phone
  • That nap you took after Christmas lunch has now become an indispensible part of your day
  • Even if the office has been overrun by wild dogs, you have no way of knowing
  • You set out for a walk without thinking of a route or destination
  • It took you more than a minute to work out what day it is
  • You can’t believe you ate the whole lot

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40 comments

Show oldest | newest first

    • BookerT says:

      06:35am | 10/01/11

      I was working less and enjoying my holidays during the Howard years. Sadly the ALP and the huge cost in living and job insecurity it has brought on has made having and enjoying a vacation a lot harder.
      Thanks Gillard and friends (for nothing).

      Reply

    • KH says:

      07:53am | 10/01/11

      Thats weird - my job is very stable and as secure as a job can get, and I am planning my 6 week adventure holiday for this year…...yet I had two jobs made redundant during the Howard years, and I had a total of just 5 weeks holiday in nearly 6 years because of the pressure…........

      Don’t generalise based on your own personal experience - there are always anomalies and you could be one of them.

    • Peter says:

      09:02am | 10/01/11

      KH obviously works as a public servant.

      Job losses under the Libs, job security under Labor.

    • Gladys says:

      01:39pm | 10/01/11

      Booker T : spot on, dude.

    • Raindancer says:

      02:40pm | 10/01/11

      ‘Don’t generalise based on your own personal experience’ KH? And whose experience should we base our ‘weird’ generalisations on? Anyway, here’s another ‘weird’ anomaly for you - my income has dropped by more than 40% since 2007 and we’ve spent all our hard-earned savings (plus) just surviving. It’s too bad we can’t all work in the public sector, so we could all sit around at work planning six week holidays, taking coffee breaks, Punch blogging on someone else’s computer and getting paid for it.

    • Against the Man says:

      06:27am | 11/01/11

      Electricity bill, gas and water bill, private health insurance, grocery all seem to increased since ‘07. I wonder why…............? Thats right ALP uselessness in doing the best for Australians!

    • cranky says:

      06:50am | 10/01/11

      who cares jed oops sorry you do! ye right all you lot care about in reality is the unions control over of free thought and personal responsibility. oh yes and an easy lift into the gravy train of state or fed politics.

      Reply

    • Bitten says:

      07:29am | 10/01/11

      Unlike apparently the rest of the Australian population living in a developed economy, my life is not a tragedy. I don’t feel inclined to whinge, whimper and whine about how sad and wrong it is that I have to go to work today, or I had to unload a dishwasher last night, or my dry cleaning didn’t get done. I’m feeling a little unAustralian because I just don’t have that much tragedy to whinge about.

      I prefer to consider the fact that I am healthy, my family is healthy, I have the opportunity to gain an education, to seek employment, to earn an independent income and (how exciting) to spend it however I wish. But, hey, not all of us are that lucky. Some of you apparently have to check emails or something when being paid to be out of the office - how awful!

      Reply

    • Sarah says:

      12:31pm | 10/01/11

      You are a champion. Its refreshing when you can look at life and say “Its not perfect but I like it.”

    • Spanish Girl says:

      02:03pm | 10/01/11

      I’m in the same boat as you Bitten.  I actually enjoy my life immensely.  I’m healthy, employed in a well paying stable job that I like and I have a wonderful man in my life who loves and adores me.  I don’t have that much to complain about either.  Except maybe having to get up early to go into work.  If I could start later and finish later, my job would be perfect.

      My office closes down for Christmas/New Year and I’ve only come back today so I have mandatory holidays every year whether I take extra ones or not. 

      Thank God for living in a first world country!

    • Bitten says:

      03:22pm | 10/01/11

      Sarah, Spanish Girl - it is so refreshing to hear others who have something positive to say about their lives. We’re so lucky everyone!! Get out of the dumps and start loving your lives!!

    • Colin J Ely says:

      07:37am | 10/01/11

      How about democratically listening to your members and what they think are the priorities that their Unions and the ACTU should be dedicating themselves to, instead of telling them what agenda you are following!?

      Reply

    • CornerStone says:

      07:50am | 10/01/11

      What does the ALP have to do with this?
      Perhaps you meant GFC?

      Reply

    • PD says:

      08:07am | 10/01/11

      You weren’t the only one working less in the Howard years, given that unemployment has hit historic lows in the past couple of years.

      Reply

    • AdamC says:

      08:09am | 10/01/11

      Oh my, another silly missive from the commanding heights of Australian trade unionism.

      Obviously, not everyone has the same work entitlements. Why should they? Different things are worth more to different people. As far as I can tell, it is only trade union ideologues who think everyone should work under identical conditions.

      And if you are that offended by getting the odd work phone call while on your holiday, you are in the wrong job.

      Reply

    • Simon says:

      08:40am | 10/01/11

      Hear , Hear!

    • Jim says:

      09:31am | 10/01/11

      The union idealogy of bringing everything to the lowest common denominator means that there wouldn’t be too many union gimps in a position that warrants calls or emails while on holidays…it’s usually staff that are in those positions…you know; the ones who are competent enough NOT to need a union!

    • Henry says:

      08:27am | 10/01/11

      That’s right BookerT the ALP caused the global financial crisis…

      Oh, wait ... their stimulus spending kept Australia OUT of the GFC.

      And knocking back Howard’s WorkChoices legislation protected job security.

      But you’re too one-eyed to see that of course.

      Reply

    • jf says:

      02:08pm | 10/01/11

      Maybe the ALP didn’t but the economic, political and social philosophy of entitlement certainly did.

    • Chris L says:

      08:17pm | 10/01/11

      You mean when the banks demanded and received government bail-out money JF? Sounds pretty socialist of them to me.

    • jf says:

      07:03am | 11/01/11

      Well that too Chris. And I agree, Governments supporting Banks is definitely a socialist policy and should never happended. However, in very simple terms, what caused the banks to be in a position to be going broke was that people over-extended themselves; the reason that they were able to over-extend themselves was because of a residential property boom that was caused by policies of the Clinton government, in the name of social equity, that were supposed to enable people to buy homes that they normally wouldn’t be. This then lead to mass consumerism which lead to unsustainable growth and so on. That is, the unintended consequences of a Government interfering in the normal process of the markets.

    • Jim says:

      08:51am | 10/01/11

      “However, the fact remains that at the moment we are racking up the longest working hours in the developed world…”

      Is this another ‘fact’ sprouted by the unions, Ged? I personally have had jobs where I work 14 days straight, over 16 hours a day, then have a 7 day break…that works out to be a touch under 75 hours a week over a year. It was my choice to do so - the pay was crap but it led me on to bigger and better things.

      But the systematic rorting I see every day where the union rep here on site runs a secret roster where people blow shifts then pick up an overtime shift does not mean most people are racking up big hours. On paper yes, in reality no.

      Reply

    • fairsfair says:

      11:16am | 10/01/11

      Oh my Jim… Are you implying that your sacrifice in days gone by and “putting in the hard yards” lead to you obtaining a better job? How dare you!

      I am with you champ - I am sick to death of being told what my employment conditions should be and that they should be the same as the lazy *ss that sits beside me and does nothing. It is not right and it is all a big fat front. Your employer doesn’t rip you off - the union does both economically and emotionally. This article appeals to the fact that we would all love to paid to do nothing and take limitless holidays - that ain’t life unfortunately. Also, I would love to know where all these people who don’t take leave are? I have never come across them in my varied work history. If you don’t take leave owing to you it is your own stupid fault.

      So thankful that my new employer is US based and we don’t have to deal with any of this sh*t. Coming from a place where we were forced to stop work and head to the top floor of a building for a “union meeting” every month was infuriating. It was a waste of susage rolls and iced vovos (oh and lets not forget work time for a couple of hundred people).

    • Lucky Country says:

      01:17pm | 10/01/11

      Firstly, the ‘fact’ in question comes from the Australia Institute. Specifically, it comes from Clive Hamilton. Secondly, the number he came up with was 1855 hours. Thirdly, Koreans work 2390 hours, Poles work 1984 hours, and Mexicans work 1980 hours. We only pip the Greeks, at 1811 hours. 

      I recently came back from Hong Kong and Japan and I can say without a shadow of a doubt, Australia is an productivity backwater. In Hong Kong, I had a tailored dinner suit and 6 business shirts made for me in 3 days from go to whoa (with a public holiday in the middle!). They did the tailoring in HK and the sewing in Shenzhen. Imagine trying to get an Australian business to do that for you around a public holiday. Imagine trying to get it done within one week at all! You could forget it!

      There is no way any australians work more than anyone else; we’re too busy being idle trade unionists. We would be able to see ourselves as others do if only we traveled more for work. Oh wait, that’s right, the Rudd government extended the tax system to those working overseas, thus making Australian’s more expensive to employ. Oh well, she’ll be right, mate.

    • worker says:

      10:51am | 10/01/11

      what’s going on? people work hard and deserve a rest. sounds fair to me, ged, good stuff. How is that so many people reading this has turned it into something about unions, workchoices and disliking the government?

      Reply

    • iansand says:

      11:27am | 10/01/11

      They are a little mad.  It’s quite entertaining.

    • fairsfair says:

      11:44am | 10/01/11

      Because Ged is the president of the ACTU worker.

    • Ian Freely says:

      11:12am | 10/01/11

      Amazingly the rubbish spewed forth by contributors has nothing to do with what Ged’s article is about.

      People need to take holidays to ensure they are refreshed and on top of their game.  I don’t think many employers really want people worn out, it only hurts productivity. Then there are those here that love to tell everyone else how hard they work - like it’s relevant to undercutting the argument for taking leave.

      There’s nothing wrong with encouraging people to take their holidays; they’re things we’re entitled to.  I didn’t read anyone complaining when Tourism Australia started their promo called “No Leave No Life”.

      Reply

    • Sarah says:

      12:25pm | 10/01/11

      First day back. Let’s see how I did:

      1. You’ve forgotten where you left your smart phone (Knew where it was but battery was flat I think.)
      2. That nap you took after Christmas lunch has now become an indispensible part of your day (That started long before X-mas time)
      3. Even if the office has been overrun by wild dogs, you have no way of knowing (Damn I failed this one, but only because it started before x-mas. Mind you I think she took anual leave too)
      4. You set out for a walk without thinking of a route or destination (Failed here too. I couldn’t be stuffed getting up from the Nanna Nap.)
      5. It took you more than a minute to work out what day it is (Even now I don’t really think its Monday)
      6. You can’t believe you ate the whole lot (I swear it wasn’t me, I blame the wild dogs)

      Reply

    • Ryan says:

      01:40pm | 10/01/11

      With the number of companies doing compulsory annual leave days, a friend of mine is down to two weeks (voluntary) holiday a year. The family holiday is gradually disappearing.

      Reply

    • jf says:

      02:26pm | 10/01/11

      “However, the fact remains that at the moment we are racking up the longest working hours in the developed world and I understand we’re not going to transform into the cruisier French or Dutch overnight.”

      And yet, in 2010, Australia is second on the United Nations qualify of life index versus France at 14 (down six from 2009) and the Netherlands at 7 (down 1). Perhaps, in Australia, we are receiving a pretty fair reward for the hours we put in. Perhaps a lot of actually find our work rewarding, fulfilliing and empowering. Perhaps, if the Unions stopped telling us how to run our lives and allowed people the freedom to decide whether to work hard or not, our quality of life would be even better; perhaps many of us value freedom more than having our lives micro-managed by over-paid bureaucrats sucking on the workers tit. Perhaps the unions should stick to representing those people that are genuinely being exploited rather than finding causes as sops to justify their existence, their fees and their careers all workers would be better off.

      I can’t help but wondering how much better off Australia would be if Gen Kearney had stuck to nursing (especially if she had stuck to nursing in the public sector) instead of pursuing a lucrative and cruisy role in trade unionism.

      Reply

    • AdamC says:

      03:50pm | 10/01/11

      Jf, I think unionists often come from the premise that everyone hates their job and hates their employer even more. This is based on the Marxist concept of class struggle, seeing the (capitalist) boss as the natural enemy of the proletariat.

      If workplace realities were ever as straightforward as that, they certainly aren’t now. I suspect unions’ attachment to outmoded concepts of industrial relations are one of the things that turns potential members off.

    • Shane From Melbourne says:

      02:51pm | 10/01/11

      Unions have no place in the public sector. They are however a useful tool for the state to use against the private sector and should be supported in this role whenever possible.

      Reply

    • Smokey says:

      03:26pm | 10/01/11

      How can we go about lobbying for mandatory 9 day fortnights? smile

      Reply

    • Markus says:

      03:59pm | 10/01/11

      I’d even forego that if Australians managed to lobby for a mandatory afternoon siesta smile

    • Polar Bear says:

      04:10pm | 10/01/11

      For many years the labour movement fought for a combination of increased wages and decreased working hours.  Remember the campaigns for a 48 hour working week, then 44, 40 and even 38 or 35 in some industries.

      As our society became wealthier, part of the wealth could be ‘redistributed’ as increased leisure hours rather than as pay increases.  This meant everyone could earn a good living and have ample leisure time too.

      Why did this trend stop?

      Now it is just about wage increases, paid for by ‘productivity improvements’ - that is, longer hours or harder work with fewer employees.

      Not surprisingly, we now have many people working excessive hours and another group who consider themselves under-employed.  And when do the people earning the extra money have time to spend it?

      Imagine for a moment…if existing employees were offered an extra 10 days of annual leave a year in lieu of a 4% pay increase, and the salary saving was used to employ 4% more people in each company…

      Reply

    • guy lee hanlon says:

      08:13pm | 10/01/11

      Labor people work 100 hours weekly and whinge zero hours.
      Liberal voters work zero hours weekly and whinge 100 hours weekly.

      Reply

    • Christopher L ward says:

      11:14am | 11/01/11

      From my experience, we may be working more hours, but we are getting less done, that’s the issue, and legislation and modern work practices enforce it, the “safety” factor alone makes a simple and reasonable safe task if done by a competent person (without all the extra tacked on crap) now take up to 10 times as long, occasioning more often in a small job just not being possible to do at all (wasting more time, with no work produced).

      Reply

    • Jeana says:

      11:48am | 21/11/11

      I don’t know who you wrote this for but you helped a borther out.

      Reply

    • Alexandra Wright says:

      11:54am | 11/05/12

      Instead of enjoying their holidays, I have seen a lot of friends end up bringing their office and work together on their trips. They worry about whether their destinations have Internet connectivity, power sources, and whether the time zone differences will affect their ability to be contactable.

      Reply
 
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