News You Can’t Use: Workers would prefer to spend day off with Obama than McCain

This Labor Day, employees would prefer to spend the extra day off with a variety of celebrities and political figures, according to a new survey from The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc.

When asked about a dream day off, employees say they’d like to spend the day:
* Working on home improvement with Ty Pennington, 17%
* Cooking with Rachael Ray, 13%
* Playing golf with Tiger Woods, 12%
* Having lunch with Sen. Barack Obama, 12%

In the dream day off vote, Democratic presidential candidate Obama beat out Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain by a three-to-one margin.

The survey also found Americans have spent fewer than half of their days off this year (42%) on vacation away from home and just 9% on hobbies or enjoyable activities.

News You Can Use: Friday Fray gets on top of Paid Leave

If you've got a job, (an uncertain thing in today's topsy-turvy economy) chances are you're well aware of your company's leave policy. Are you on a traditional time off plan or has your organization made the switch to PTO leave blocks?

Whether you're simply wondering how the other side lives or searching for ways to modify your company's policies, tune in to this week's Friday Fray.

Ophelia Galindo, a principal at Buck Consulting, and Alison Avalos, a practice leader at WorldatWork, will answer your questions.

Register today because there are only a limited number of slots available for the online discussion, which will be held at 1:00 p.m. EST on Friday, Aug. 15, 2008.

If you would like to submit some questions in advance, e-mail EBN Managing Editor Leah Carlson Shepherd at leah.shepherd@sourcemedia.com.

Also check out related coverage on this topic:

• Getting out of the office: Are your employees using their vacation time?
• Paid leave approved in New Jersey
• Intermittent FMLA absences cause major headaches for employers