As I left the Dunkin Donuts drive-thru this morning the guy working the window and I exchanged wishes that we have a nice weekend.  That’s something that will be repeated time and time again today because on Friday our thoughts are often on the weekend with most people assuming that Saturday and Sunday are days off.

However that is not the case for a large percentage of us as nearly one third of single-job workers are at work on a Saturday or Sunday and in some cases both days.  Clearly many of those work in retail, food service, hospitals and law enforcement and of course in our area these numbers rise tremendously in the summer.

Let’s be honest if you work in any tourism-related business it’s likely the weekend finds you at work.  By the way, two-thirds of those who work more than one job are working at least one of the weekend days. Also interesting to note is that about 25% of American workers work at night which is between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.

Statistics show that we in the United States work more hours than in most other industrialized countries. Dull-time workers put in more than 40 hours a week and some surveys show that more than a third of us work over 50 hours each week.

Not only do we get less vacation time than those in many other countries but many don’t even take all their vacation time even if where they work its “use it or lose it.”  Most of us don’t leave jobs with large payouts for not taking vacation or sick days because when we are out we’re not replaced. The work just piles up until we return.

I guess the message is when you wish someone a nice weekend don’t be surprised if for them Saturday and Sunday are just two more days to work and not play.

 

 

 

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