The United States is the only industrialized nation that does not mandate paid vacation time. A 2007 CEPR study showed the US ranking last among 21 nations in days off for salaried employees, and non-salaried workers fare much worse. In the current economic environment, workers are discouraged from using vacation time, and leave benefits are increasingly on the chopping block.
Unless US employers are required to provide paid leave, they won't. While worker productivity has soared in recent years, American competitiveness has fallen in terms of quality of life for the worker. Ensuring personal time is afforded to all American employees should be a goal of any administration striving for workplace equality. A national law guaranteeing 3 weeks and federal holidays would be a good start.