Would you take two extra weeks' vacation?

A man casts his vote in Carouge, Switzerland, Sunday, March 11, 2012. (Salvatore Di Nolfi/Associated Press/Keystone)

Swiss citizens have rejected a proposal to have six weeks' paid vacation per year instead of four, amidst warnings that two more weeks without work could cost the country $6.5 billion US a year in labour costs.

An estimated 67 per cent voters rejected the proposal, Reuters reported, one of many decided upon Sunday in several national referendums.

Russia, Germany, Italy and other European countries currently pay for six weeks' vacation.

"In rejecting the initiative, citizens have kept a sense of reality," said Hans-Ulrich Bigler, director of the Swiss Union of Arts and Crafts. He said the vote "clearly shows that the population continues to focus on individual freedom and responsibility of citizens."

"The Swiss are reasonable enough," Jean-Francois Rime, a federal councilor, told the Telegraph. "They know that someone will have to pay for those two weeks of extra vacation, and the economic situation is already problematic owing to the strong franc."

Swiss union Travail Suisse were disappointed with the decision, but its president Martin Flugel said he was glad to raise awareness about the issues of stress and overwork.

Paid vacation time in Canada varies from province to province, but usually clocks in at two to three weeks per 12-month period.

Would you take two weeks' extra vacation time per year? Why or why not? Would you take as much time off as possible, or is your country's economic strength enough of a concern to turn it down?


(This survey is not scientific. Results are based on readers' responses.)