A proper work-life balance is essential in today’s life. With more people working from home or remotely, we’ve seen the conversation around work-life balance gain momentum.
It’s important to take a look at the average number of hours worked in a year and compare it to the national average. This is a smart way to find out if you have a good balance.
There’s no denying that the average American works longer hours than most in the Western world. In fact, Americans work an average of 258 hours per year than the European average. That’s an extra hour every working day.
Anyway, if you break it down, how many hours do people work in the US in a year? Let’s take a more critical look at the math behind it all and give you an insight into whether you’ve been working too hard.
Opening hours: a failure
If you work all day, the typical work week is around 40 hours a week. That’s 8 hours a day for 5 days, seven days. There are 52 weeks in a year, after which the average annual working time is 2,080 hours.
fundamental right?
However, people rarely work 2,080 hours a year. In this case, you may want to talk to your boss about adding some breaks to your work year.
As a result, most businesses accept downtime. This includes representative days off, paid holidays, paid downtime, and other work absences.
So assuming 8 paid holidays and 10 days of paid inactivity, 18 working days of overtime are deducted. This means that the average worker works 1,936 hours a year, with no more unpaid work days.
Paid leave and paid deductions
As a company or an employee, it’s important to understand the difference between a paid vacation and paid downtime.
The US federal government does not expect companies to provide paid time off to their representatives. All in all, most companies generally recommend between 5 and 15 days of paid vacation per year. This corresponds to an average of 10 days a year.
Of all the developed countries on the planet, the United States in particular is the one that does not offer its workers’ vacation days or paid holidays. This is because the Fair Labor Standards Act does not require payment for time not worked, so federal law does not provide for vacation pay.
What is the difference between a paid vacation and paid downtime?
paid vacation
Paid public holidays are days recognized by the federal government as public holidays. There are currently 8 days considered public holidays:
. New Year’s
. opening day
. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday
. 16. National Independence Day
. George Washington’s birthday
. Memorial Day
. Workers Day
. Independence Day
Private patrons are not required to offer days off to agents for these holidays.
Deduction paid
It is common practice to offer employees a benefits package that includes some form of paid downtime.
It is an effective way to boost salespeople’s morale and motivation.
Examples of paid time off could be:
. rest days
. holiday season
. personal days
. Nationally recognized holidays
These are in fact considered a benefit and are not required by federal employment law.
Central theses
Whether you are new to the job market or have been working for several years, it is important to know your working hours.
Knowing your work schedule can help you determine if your work-life balance is healthy. You can also track your hourly wages and annual income.
Understanding them can help you make more informed decisions about changing careers or changing jobs entirely.
It’s important to understand your worth as an employee and make sure you don’t burn out on an unhappy salary. By tracking your time and making sure you have compensated appropriately, you can be on an acceptable path to improving your mental and physical health.
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