The summer is here and vacation and time off is all the rage. What are your vacation plans? Is it time to finally plan that trip down to Florida? Are you headed out west? Here are a few of the top stories making the news regarding time off and vacations.

1. Project Time off – Apparently there’s another study out. This one, however, is interesting for a number of reasons. The outfit is called Project: Time Off and it has been studying our vacation habits. It turns out Americans’ vacation habits are getting increasingly erratic and some might even say there are some disturbing trends. For instance, in 2000, Americans on average took 20.3 days of vacation per year. In 2015, that number was down to 16.2 days. And what are the reasons we are so scared of taking time off? Well, from being worried that you might lose your job when you get back to having mountains of work waiting for you or just plain ole feeling like a failure if you take too much time off, the reasons why Americans are not taking much needed time off need well, their own vacation. You can read more about the report from Project Time Off from the Crains Cleveland Business.
2. Brock Turner case: Embattled judge Aaron Persky takes time off. It turns out handing out a controversial ruling on a high profile legal case can take a toll on you. Apparently, the judge in the Aaron Pesky rape case decided to take some time off (a little earlier than previously planned). Judge Aaron Persky did wait for a preliminary hearing he was scheduled to handle today (Wednesday, June 22nd, 2016). For a prima on this case and the subsequent early summer vacation, MercuryNews has a great write-up.
3. Democrats are wanting to give you more time off to attend your kid’s school events: So some House Democrats want to expand the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) so that employers will be required to give their employees time off to attend school events and extracurricular activities. Of course, given the tendency of Congress to not act, we are curious if this proposed bill has any chance of actually becoming law. Read more about this bill from the WashingtonExaminer.
4. Sorry guys. Ford workers to get less time off this summer: According to the CourierJournal in Louisville, Ford Motor Company is knocking a week off the traditional two-week summer shutdown at the Louisville Assembly Plant on Fern Valley Road and two other SUV factories to handle increased demand. So business is good, right? Read the rest of the story from the Journal.

With all this flurry of vacation and time off events occurring, how are you tracking your leave requests? For a simpler, less hassle way, try CaptureLeave. It is free to start.

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