It's summer, vacation season, and with this in mind, it's worth talking about the situation with the right to rest. Although the article speaks about the US example and was written in 2013, it can be considered relevant for different countries around the world, including Armenia.

The author of the article, Lynn Stewart Parramore, compares the work cycle of a medieval peasant and that of modern citizens, noting that perhaps the life of a medieval peasant was not that easy, taking into account the hard work of farming, but they still had a long vacation period, which could last from eight weeks to half a year. Of course, the church, on the other hand, being wary that the peasants' free time could reflect badly on the state and the church (since the peasants could rebel), in turn introduced a mandatory holiday schedule (while birthdays and weddings could last weeks). All this allowed the peasant to enjoy full rest before the start of the new farming season (mostly without rebelling, of course).

And what is happening to today’s American workers? After the first year of work, they can barely hope for eight days of vacation (after 3 years - ten days, after 25 years - 15 days). The author notes that the United States is probably the only developed country that does not have a national vacation policy. Many Americans continue to work even on public holidays, and vacation days remain unused. Even when they manage to snatch a few days of vacation, what do these workers (well, most of them) do? Continue answering emails; in a word, they don't fully switch off.

But the author hastens to note that not much depends on the employee. Today (at least the article is about ten years old), when unemployment rates are high, and labor unions, which would be engaged in the protection of labor rights, are weak ( still relevant today), employees do not find an alternative to simply accepting the conditions dictated by the environment, the employer. Therefore, in a situation where the employment contract can be terminated at any time, it is not so easy to complain (let alone dream of a vacation).

It is noteworthy that working hard does not promise efficiency at all. On the contrary, according to studies (although this is understandable even without it), efficiency especially increases after vacation, when employees go to work “recharged” (who said that phones need to be charged, but people do not). Well, the longer the vacation, the more motivated the employee (we are definitely not talking about five-day vacation).

Moreover, according to a study by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Greeks work more than any other European, but the economy is the worst in Greece (seems still relevant today). Meanwhile, the Germans, for example, are the second from the bottom in the list in terms of working hours. They occupy the 8th place in Europe in terms of their efficiency, while the hardworking Greeks - 24th.

Concluding the article, the author notes that some people have tried to put an end to such working trends in America, and even Congressman Alan Grayson introduced a legislative proposal on paid vacation in 2009, but it did not even reach the Congress. At the same time, the author does not miss the fact that the US congressmen seem to be the only ones in the United States who receive as much vacation as a medieval peasant, specifically in 2013, 239 vacation days (though it may be a lot less, if one considers that these are not real vacation days. As for real days off, they may still get more than average workers - 30-50 days).

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