American View: Take your paid leave while you can … if you dare

Future of Work11 Aug 2026

My brother-in-law texted me Monday morning at quarter-to-seven asking if I could dog-sit for him. He’s having all the windows in his house replaced this week while the weather is accommodating.

My brother-in-law texted me Monday morning at quarter-to-seven asking if I could dog-sit for him. He’s having all the windows in his house replaced this week while the weather is accommodating. ^[1] In theory, I fully support and endorse everyone in Texas modernising their homes to reduce electricity usage (if they can afford to). Naturally, I’d agree to help … but I was sound asleep and missed BiL’s text. Shrug. Fortunately for BiL’s puppy dog, his spouse phoned my spouse minutes later and presented the same request. My wife woke me up and asked if I’d mind watching the Little Fuzzball™ all week. Groggy, I said “sure” (or something like it).

Fifteen minutes later, I was just starting my breakfast of leftover muffins and black coffee when sister-in-law rang our doorbell. Within seconds of my darling wife opening our front door, their puppy had bolted into our house, leapt onto our couch, then vaulted directly onto the plate I was holding … followed, a second, later, by our puppy who was exhilarated to play “chase” with his lifelong best friend. My muffins exploded under the impact like little baked hand grenades, showering the room with edible crumby debris. The dogs then raced around the room like fuzzy racecars, oblivious to the “bonus breakfast” raining down upon them. Goofy dogs.

Don’t get me wrong; I was amused, not angry. It was a fun morning. As is normal when my BiL’s puppy comes to stay at our place, it takes hours for the two fuzzballs to calm down and start snuggling together. They’re always like this when they reunite. If I’d had my coffee before I’d started noshing, I’d’ve likely remembered to eat over the kitchen sink for safety’s sake, but … . Lessons re-learned. I’m sure the crumbs will be gone by lunchtime.

The reason I’m sharing this slice-of-life (crumb-of-life?) anecdote is because it represents an important work benefit that Americans have been steadily – but inexorably – losing over the last decade-and-a-half: the flexibility to support friends and family on short notice. Being able to call into work and ask for unexpected leave is a necessity, not a luxury. It’s a benefit that we seem to be losing as our already oppressive work culture devolves.

Especially since some of the worst people you know have become emboldened to unshackle their ids thanks to our mortifying domestic politics.

No surprise, then, that it’s a running joke worldwide that Americans are overworked and don’t get to take their paid time off. So much so, that Senator Bernie Sanders (Independent, Vermont) reintroduced the Guaranteed Paid Vacation Act last Friday (7th August). Six paragraphs into his GPVA announcement, Sanders’ office argued:

“Meanwhile, nearly one in four workers in America — or more than 33 million workers nationwide — receive no paid vacation time at all. At the same time, almost 40% of workers report being on the job at least 45 hours a week and the average full-time worker in the U.S. now reports working 43 hours a week. Moreover, more than nine million Americans work multiple jobs, with more than five million working a second part-time job on top of a full-time job.” ^[2]

Employers have reacted to the contracting American economy by sloughing off employees. Last week’s economic numbers were grim. Inflation is rising, while consumer confidence continues to drop. Adding to the statistics and – to my jaundiced eye – overly optimistic opinion pieces, the American economy is teetering on the edge of implosion. I’ve stayed in touch with my mates who got laid off like I did in early 2026. We’d all experienced the same frustrations: nearly half of all job postings we’ve applied to seemed to be for “open positions” that never existed. Prof. Michelle Travis discussed this in a blood-chilling piece in Forbes back in May:

“Employers use ghost job ads to assess market interest, gauge the availability of skillsets, learn about salary expectations, or build a pipeline for potential openings or expansions. … 59% of hiring managers reported posting fake job ads to collect resumes for possible future use. 

“Employers also use ghost jobs for strategic reasons unrelated to potential hiring needs. Companies may post fake job ads to project an appearance of growth and success, for brand promotion, or to attract potential investors. Two-thirds of hiring managers … said they used ghost job ads to foster a perception that the company is growing. And 23% of recruiters … said they used ghost job ads to make their company appear viable during a hiring freeze. 

“Employers also use ghost job postings to send messages to their existing workforce. … 63% of hiring managers admitted posting ghost jobs to make their employees believe there were plans to hire new workers to lighten workloads. And 62% of hiring managers said they had used ghost job ads to make current employees feel replaceable, in hopes of increasing productivity.”

Because that’s how smart companies get top performance out of their disposable labour units: scare the **** out of them.

When you combine the new wave of mass layoffs, skyrocketing prices, and a corrupted jobs market, the pressure on family wage-earners to stay employed becomes a crushing weight. The threat of losing your pay and health insurance on an employer’s whim becomes a spiked cudgel for management. All your boss needs to do to wring more productivity out of you is hint that workers will be judged by their willingness to sacrifice their “personal time” for the “good of the organisation.” The existential threat of losing everything just for taking a day off or for refusing to contribute unpaid overtime empowers bad bosses to wreak havoc on their workers’ lives, health, and sanity.

To be clear, this is less about productivity than it is about power dynamics. Frightened workers won’t speak up about abuses or misconduct. It’s a get-out-of-hell-free card for organisations to conduct questionable (or even illegal) conduct without internal push back. To say nothing of the intoxicating power it awards bullies whose predatory misconduct would normally be kept in check by laws and regulations.

I predict this negative trend will only get worse as the USA approaches the 2026 midterm elections. As such, I’m enjoying this week’s unexpected opportunity to dog-sit. I can work out of my home office while attending to the puppies. Sure, my brother-in-law’s dog brings chaos and crumb showers with her, but that’s okay. I can help my extended family for a week without risking more unemployment … This week, at least. That’s a perquisite that most Americans don’t seem have this year. I’m deeply grateful that I do, even if it’s only for a limited time. That said, I’m deeply concerned about how much worse this might become in 2027.

^[1] Texas accommodating, that is: blistering hot with zero chance of rain.

^[2] Links in the quoted text appear in the original.

Future of Work