Is it true there is no statutory paid maternity leave in the US?

[Martinus]

Watching John Oliver now and he is claiming there is no statutory paid maternity leave in the US? Is it true? I find it hard to believe.

[dps]

Yes, it's true.

[Martinus]

Wow. Did you guys make it to the 20th century yet?

[alfred russel]

You also don't need to give any vacation time and can fire people for no reason at all.

[alfred russel]

Wow. Did you guys make it to the 20th century yet?

I'm not saying the American system is perfect, but it works okay. I think there is a reason more Poles want to work in America than vice versa.

[Martinus]

I just find it bizarre. America is the richest country in the world and a lot of politicians use every opportunity to say they are pro-family. So you can't really afford paying your female employees after they give birth to babies? I mean, Poland is not a rich country and neither we are a socialist paradise but we can somehow afford a 20+ week fully paid maternity leave for new mothers (the duration is longer if multiple babies are born).

[alfred russel]

I just find it bizarre. America is the richest country in the world and a lot of politicians use every opportunity to say they are pro-family. So you can't really afford paying your female employees after they give birth to babies? I mean, Poland is not a rich country and neither we are a socialist paradise but we can somehow afford a 20+ week fully paid maternity leave for new mothers (the duration is longer if multiple babies are born).

Paid maternity and paternity leave isn't uncommon here--I'm not sure how common. I haven't heard of a salaried job that didn't include paid vacation.

These things just aren't mandated by law. Lots of theories out there on why America is different than Europe in these regards. We don't have the same social and religious traditions. Also lots of Americans don't really relate to our underclass. The marginal hotel maid etc. in America is probably black or Mexican/Salvadoran/etc. In Poland that maid is probably Polish, or possibly other eastern European.

[alfred russel]

Martinus, if you really want to be shocked by how different America is from Europe, did you know that in certain places*, an employer can tell his male and female employees to have sex with each other while he watches and films, and if they don't comply he can terminate them?


*porn production studios

[Martinus]

I just find it bizarre. America is the richest country in the world and a lot of politicians use every opportunity to say they are pro-family. So you can't really afford paying your female employees after they give birth to babies? I mean, Poland is not a rich country and neither we are a socialist paradise but we can somehow afford a 20+ week fully paid maternity leave for new mothers (the duration is longer if multiple babies are born).

Paid maternity and paternity leave isn't uncommon here--I'm not sure how common. I haven't heard of a salaried job that didn't include paid vacation.

These things just aren't mandated by law. Lots of theories out there on why America is different than Europe in these regards. We don't have the same social and religious traditions. Also lots of Americans don't really relate to our underclass. The marginal hotel maid etc. in America is probably black or Mexican/Salvadoran/etc. In Poland that maid is probably Polish, or possibly other eastern European.

My cleaning lady is Ukrainian. Not sure how this parses with a paid maternity leave.

[sbr]

Getting paid for not working is socialist and if there is something we won't tolerate around here it is socialists.

[Ideologue]

Martinus, if you really want to be shocked by how different America is from Europe, did you know that in certain places*, an employer can tell his male and female employees to have sex with each other while he watches and films, and if they don't comply he can terminate them?


*porn production studios

I'm pretty sure they're all contractors, not statutory employees.

Anyway, another thread where Martinus feigns shock because there are differences between America and Europe.  Did he make it to college yet?

(Which is not to say that it's a good thing that our labor regulation regime is backward and threadbare, only that I have no idea why anyone would be surprised that the United States, a society practically founded upon market liberalism, has a backward and threadbare labor regulation regime.)

[Ideologue]

Other thread ideas:

Is it true that you can deny the Holocaust in the US?
Is it true that 18 year olds can join the military but not drink alcohol in the US?
Is it true that gays, lesbians, and transgender people have no federal workforce protection in the US?
Is it true that you don't need to pay waged employees overtime if they're classified as "professionals" in the US?
Is it true that not every vote for president counts equally in the US?
Is it true that the capital gains tax rate is less than the top marginal income tax rate in the US?
Is it true that there is no single-payer healthcare system in the US?

Believe it or not, all these things are true!

[Martinus]

So where's the revolution?

[Admiral Yi]

Pregnant women don't make good urban terrorists.

[The Brain]

So where's the revolution?

History books.