Study: Number of employers giving day as holiday rises
The banks are closed. The post office is closed. But many of us are headed to work this Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
A recent study says that only 32 percent of employers give today off as a paid holiday to their employees. Matt Sottong of Bloomberg BNA, which conducted the study, was surprised at some of these numbers.
“It is somewhat surprising. Employers are slow to react, and in some cases very slow to react,” Sottong told KTRH.
Rice University's Eric Cech also thought the numbers were somewhat surprising.
“It is lower than I expected. I thought it would be higher than that. But generally it’s moving in the right direction,” Cech explained to KTRH.
But the number of employers giving the day off to their workers is up from 31 per cent last year. Cech says KTRH this is a positive.
“The increase is a good sign. This is recognized as a historically important and a socially important aspect of our society,” Cech said.
Sottong told KTRH you shouldn't look at the year to year change in the results.
“If you look at the trend over the last ten years, if it goes up one percent each year for ten years, now you’re talking. Now you’re seeing some traction.
Eleven percent of the companies surveyed said will sponsor special programs or events to acknowledge Dr. King's life. The 32 percent number is up from the average of 22 percent from the 1990's.
Hear the podcast with Matt Patrick and Houston's Morning News as he talks with Klineberg:
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