July 2018

2 3 I Continuously improving is at the core of BrandPoint Services’ DNA. Every job is surveyed and reviewed as part of our quality-control process, ensuring that we delivered on our promise. But we don’t stop there. We find opportunities to deliver an even better experience from location to location, project to project. When you choose BrandPoint, you won’t need to manage multiple suppliers. From painting and flooring to repairs and remodeling, BrandPoint is the solution for expert project management and quality work across North America. Learn how BrandPoint Services can help you improve your next multi-site program. BrandPointServices.com 800.905.4342 © 2016 BrandPoint Services, Inc. PAINTING • GRAPHICS • FLOORING • SURVEYING • GENERAL REPAIRS Improving From the Editor It’s vacation time in America. Or is it? For most Americans, Christmas week represents about half of the time off they will enjoy all year long. Compared with Australians (at least 4 weeks off, plus 10 public holidays), Brazilians (22 days of paid leave with a 33 percent salary vacation bonus), and the French (at least 5 weeks off and as many as 9 for many public employees), American workers are seriously bereft. In fact, while the U.S. is the only OECD country out of 37 that does not require employers to provide even a day of paid leave to its em- ployees (the The Fair Labor Stan- dards Act (FLSA) does not require payment for time not worked, such as vacations, sick leave, or federal or other holidays; these benefits are matters of agreement between an employer and an employer), we are terrible at even taking the days off that we are granted. According to a survey of nearly 4,400 U.S. workers by the non-prof- it organization, Protect: Time Off, while the average American employ- ee earned 23.2 paid time off days in 2017, they only used 17.2 days of them. Last year, more than half of us – 52 percent – did not use all of the vacation time we earned, leaving an accumulated 705 million unused va- cation days on the table. The survey also found that 24 percent of Amer- icans haven’t taken any vacation in more than a year. Work-related challenges had the most influence on Americans’ abili- ty, or desire, to vacation. According to the survey, employees who were concerned that they would appear less dedicated, or even replaceable if they took a vacation, were dramat- ically less likely to use all their vaca- tion time (61% leave time unused, compared to 52% overall). Those who felt their workload was too heavy to get away were also more likely than average to have unused vacation time (57% to 52%), as were employees who felt there was a lack of coverage or that no one else could do their job (56% to 52%). Yet the benefits of vacation are clear. Taking time off from work not only helps people de-stress and feel happier, it also helps productivity and mood upon return. Studies have shown that even anticipating vaca- tion time with an optimistic attitude is beneficial to one’s mental and emotional health. Of course, not all vacations are equal. Those who travel report they are happier with how they spend their time off compared to home- bodies (76% to 48%), and employees who spend more of their vacation travelling may also be more success- ful when they are in the office. More than half (52%) of mega-travelers re- ported receiving a promotion in the last two years, compared to Ameri- cans who use some (44%) or little to none (44%) of their time to travel. In 1910, President William How- ard Taft proposed giving American workers two to three months of paid vacation every year. The naturalist, John Muir, said better than com- pulsory schooling, the U.S. should consider compulsory vacationing. In 1938, Congress proposed the 40- hour work week, a minimum wage, and two weeks of paid vacation, but in the final legislation, the vacation proposals died. So, while we await the possibility of mandated vacation time – such as it exists in the rest of the indus- trialized world – we should at least turn off our computers and shut the door behind us when we do have the chance. Odds are, all of the work we leave behind will be waiting for us, anyway, when we return. We just might be a little bit happier to face it. Al Krulick Editor-in-Chief Editor-in-Chief Al Krulick Associate Editor Lorie Steiner Director of Advertising Lauren Blackwell Research Directors Paul Payne Brendan McElroy Josh Conklin Lisa Curry Joanna Whitney Matthew Mitchell Christian Combes Digital Strategist Jon Bartlow Alyson Casey Director of Administration Creative Director Dana Long Vice President of Business Development Erin O’Donoghue Vice President of Publishing Andre Barefield CGO Alexander Wynne-Jones COO Brian Andersen Executive Publisher / CEO Marcus VandenBrink USA Canada Caribbean Oceania Email for all inquiries: info@businessviewmagazine.com WWW.BUSINESSVIEWMAGAZINE.COM 12559 New Brittany Blvd Fort Myers, 33907 239.220.5554 CONTACT US