Green Medina

What are six things society can do to create a reasonable future of work? Here is a list of six items below.

Above is an image I found that I thought worth sharing and discussing when it comes to the future of work.

These items below are not charity. They are essential for living in a society that is healthy, safe, and functional for everyone. Indeed, societies with more humane practices for workers are often happier, safer, and healthier places to live for all.

Sick and Disability Leave:

If you go to a restaurant, do you want the cook sneezing Covid all over your food? Do you want someone piloting a plane with a fever? Or driving a 16 wheeler half asleep?

Sick and disability leave are essential safeguards for employees facing health challenges. Offering paid time off for illness ensures that workers do not have to choose between their well-being and their paycheck, reducing the spread of illnesses in society and the workplace.

For those with disabilities or long-term health issues, disability leave provides the necessary time for recovery without the threat of losing one’s job. This leads to both job and business security. If the owner of a business becomes incapacitated due to an injury and can’t take the time off to recover, that could be a major blow to the whole business. Indeed, I know someone whose father was running a roofing business, he fell, broke his back, didn’t have the means for health care or recovery, and then the whole business went under with him—and all the employees lost their jobs.

A Living Wage:

A Living Wage ensures that workers can afford the basic necessities of life, such as housing, food, healthcare, and education. It goes beyond the current minimum wage, reflecting the true cost of living in a given area. According to the MIT Living Wage Calculator, in a two working parent, two child family, if both parents are earning minimum wage ($7.25), they would each need to work 96 hours a week to afford their basic needs. This means a single mother of two children earning minimum wage would have to work 252 hours a week to afford the basic needs for herself and her children (given that there are 168 hours in a week, this isn’t even possible).

When it comes to minimum wage, some people might be thinking, “Well maybe that person should get a better job than flipping hamburgers.” Or, “Maybe they should’ve gotten an education.” In many areas, minimum wage jobs are all that is available. And college itself is a luxury many working class people can’t afford. Also, if everyone magically got a better job, then who would flip the hamburgers? The freaking Hamburglar? Given that service employees are an essential part of our society, they should be getting paid enough to at least obtain housing, eat food, and go to the doctor if they need it. I don’t think this is asking that much.

A living wage is key to reducing poverty, along with reducing homelessness, crime, and drug use. It can also result in the business providing better service. There’s been a lot of talk about quiet quitting in the aftermath of the pandemic. This is a phenomenon where people are basically “phoning it in,” at their jobs. Meaning, they show up, but they do the bare minimum required to stay employed. Can you blame them though? If people aren’t even making enough at their jobs to pay their most essential bills, it would definitely be hard to stay engaged and to care. And I, for one, would like the person flipping my hamburger to care whether it’s fully cooked or not.

Vacation Time?

Vacation time is more than just a perk—it’s critical for health. Time off allows employees to rest, recharge, and spend time with loved ones, leading to better mental health and reduced burnout. Studies consistently show that workers who take regular vacations are more productive, creative, and engaged upon their return. Some studies even show that frequent vacations can lessen the risk of coronary heart disease or heart attacks!

In countries where vacation time is mandated, there is often a greater emphasis on overall well-being, and businesses can benefit from a more motivated and loyal workforce. Prioritizing vacation time reflects a recognition that rest is integral to long-term success, both for employees and organizations.

A 30-Hour Work Week?

The concept of a 30-hour work week has gained traction as a potential solution to improving work-life balance without sacrificing productivity. By reducing the standard workweek, employees can have more time to rest, pursue personal interests, or spend time with family, ultimately leading to increased job satisfaction.

It has been shown that a shorter workday actually improves productivity, health, reduces stress, and leads to more engaged employees. Afterall, in many places there’s diminishing returns once employees have been in the office for a certain amount of time. They’re tired, unfocused, and not achieving much after that 3pm slump. They might as well go home and recharge, so they can be more productive the next day.

Year-Long Paid Parental Leave:

Year-long paid parental leave reduces the pressure on parents to return to work prematurely, ensuring they have adequate time to recover physically and emotionally. This extended leave also promotes gender equality, allowing both mothers and fathers to share caregiving responsibilities. Countries that have adopted generous parental leave policies often see improved child health outcomes and higher workforce participation rates among women, proving that investing in families ultimately benefits society as a whole.

Paid Maternity Leave By Country: The Complete Guide for Global HR Teams

It should be noted that the U.S. has no federal compensation for maternity leave.

Executive to Worker Compensation Balance:

CEO pay has skyrocketed 1,322% since 1978, according to the Economic Policy Institute (EPI). In 2020, the typical CEO was paid 351 times as much as their typical employee.

Did you know in 1950, a CEO was paid just 20 times as much as a typical employee?

Some people may say, “Well the CEO deserves it! They are just working harder.” Sure, if dipping your hand into the cash register of your store and taking most of the money counts as working hard. CEOS are getting a disproportionate amount of money, not because they are working longer hours than they were in 1950 (they’d have to be working 17X more hours for this math to make sense). The truth is that the corporate boards running America’s largest firms are giving top executives oversized compensation packages that are growing much faster than the stock market. In fact, according to the EPI report linked above, from 2019 to 2020, there was an 18.9% increase of pay for CEOS in the top 350 firms.

Why does this matter? Excessive CEO pay is a major contributor to the rapidly rising inequality in our society. CEOs are getting more because of their power to set pay (basically to take out of the register as they so choose) and because so much of their pay (more than 80%) is stock-related, not because they are increasing their company’s productivity or possess specific, high-demand skills.

By aligning CEO compensation more closely with company-wide performance, businesses can foster a culture of mutual respect and shared success. If a CEO’s pay is tied to the success of the company and their workers, clearly they’re going to be more inclined to actually want the company to succeed, and for their workers to thrive. If the CEO’s pay is simply a matter of giving themselves all the Monopoly money in the box, this fosters a culture of bleeding companies dry before going on to the next. Vulture capitalism at its finest, ladies and gents!

Do you agree or disagree with this list? Let me know what you think in the comments.