Take Back Your Time Day

In the USA October 24th is recognised as the national take back your time day. October 24th falls 9 weeks before the end of the year, which represents the amount of time Americans would have off it they lived in Wester Europe. The idea of the day is to raise awareness of the importance of time of time off in our lives and to promote the ideas of the organisations 'time to care' public policy agenda.

The agenda includes the following policies:

- Guaranteeing paid leave for all parents for the birth or adoption of a child. Today, only 40% of Americans are able to take advantage of the 12 weeks of unpaid leave provided by the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993.

- Guaranteeing at least one week of paid sick leave for all workers. Many Americans work while sick, lowering productivity and endangering other workers.

- Guaranteeing at least three weeks of paid annual vacation leave for all workers. Studies show that 28% of all female employees and 37% of women earning less than $40,000 a year receive no paid vacation at all.

- Placing a limit on the amount of compulsory overtime work that an employer can impose, with our goal being to give employees the right to accept or refuse overtime work.

- Making Election Day a holiday, with the understanding that Americans need time for civic and political participation.

- Making it easier for Americans to choose part-time work. Hourly wage parity and protection of promotions and pro-rated benefits for part-time workers.

Their belief is, "these broad policy ideas -- all taken for granted in other countries -- really speak to the needs for time poverty relief that millions of Americans share. They are not political bills -- we encourage legislators to take these ideas and design specific legislation around them -- but they are ideas for action, a comprehensive program to win more free time for Americans."

Having read Carl Honore's book In Praise Of Slow last Summer as part of a research project, I have become interested in the links between working hours, leisure and productivity. I feel that it is clear that we often work harder than we need to because of government guidelines, rules and regulations which actually limit our productivity and creativity.

OECD figures show that Americans works 125 hours (5 Days) a year on average more than the UK and 468 hours (19.5 days) more than the Netherlands. It is for this reason that the American people are trying to raise awareness of how more relaxed working hours could improve not just their productivity, but their health and happiness too.



Some of the suggested activities that take place on Time Day include,

"Close your office for the afternoon or the day.
Meet friends at a local café to talk about overwork, time poverty, and the environment.
Sleep in.
Buy stew vegetables from your local farmer’s market, cook and eat slowly with your family, taking time to enjoy the food and company.
Plant a native tree in your backyard.
Instead of watching TV, write to your senator about an issue important to you.
Play with your children or visit elderly relatives.
Cancel something.
Go for a walk in a place threatened by or saved from development.
Put up Time Day posters around your neighborhood.
Plan a rally or hold a press conference.
Hold a party where everyone brings one thing they bought and never used. Tell stories about them and trade.
Ask your pastor, rabbi, etc., to speak on work/life balance issues at the next service."

I think that this day is a worthwhile cause. There are many countries, possibly including the UK that could achieve much more as a nation if they took more leisure time. The expansion in terms of taking the idea to different countries is one that is dependent on the nature of individual governments.

More liberal governments are likely to be interested in the idea of improving health happiness and productivity of its people because it would save time and money for them. Expansion would be dependent on individual countries adopting some of these policies and deciding whether they would work successfully. If they were a success then there is no reason that the restructuring of working hours could not be considered on a global level.