Balancing Work and Life: Advocating for Equitable Holidays in the Workforce

As a member of the workforce in this busy world with hustle and bustle almost on a daily basis, the importance of taking a break to relax, regain our strength, and come back stronger to give our best input at work can't be overemphasized. For this to be achieved, there is a need for more holidays to be stipulated. Although there are many holidays already, most are fashioned towards the enjoyment of children rather than that of the workforce, and thats what brings me to penning down my need for the workforce to have more so we can discharge our duties more efficiently in the right state of mind.

Although, to be fair, I must say that as a teacher, I tend to enjoy almost all holidays, regardless of whether they're procured for children, teachers, workers, the nation at large, and the like. On that note, it might seem unreasonable for me to come out and clamor for more holidays, but while you can say that and be right, it's also worthy of note that most workers in other sectors tend to be given leave breaks for about a month, and when this is compared with the end-of-term breaks we teachers get, that makes it somewhat equal.

But that's not the focal point for today's writeup, so let me not deviate but go back to the subject matter, which is a cry for more holidays to be implemented to give room for the workforce to have a few breaks during the work days all year long. The holidays we've presently mostly cater for the children, leaving us adults with the responsibility of jogging between work and being there for our young ones who are on break, and this can be so cumbersome, draining the individual to the point where they can't perform their duty efficiently.

As we all know, the world is going through a lot of troubles economically. In my country, Nigeria, it seems far worse because the inflation has risen to the point where the price of fuel has tripled the initial amount it was sold for in the past. The same is the case with food items, transport, and the like, which, all put together, have made life a living hell for basically everyone in the country.

With this most self-employed individual increasing the amount of their goods and services to meet up with the present situation of things so they'll survive and make ends meet, unfortunately for us, the workforce employed by the government, the same isn't the case; our wages remain the same, yet the prices of items skyrocket, leaving us with nothing to save. After collecting our wages, one literally spends it all on needs without having anything to save for the rainy days.

With this realization and the delay of the government in implementing a new minimum wage, states like Lagos, where I work, introduced some helpful strategies to help workers cut costs while still being present at their workplace, and what Lagos did was reduce the total workday of most public service work durations per week to just 3 days, giving them an extra 2 days off work to help them reduce the amount spent on transport for those two days.

This is a great idea, and when I heard the governor make the declaration, I was thrilled until he spoke further and said teachers are exempted from this new 3-day per week implementation. It's disheartening to hear him say such. I mean, teachers in the state are shortstaffed, meaning we work overboard; we're one of the lowest earners in the country, and yet when an implementation meant to help workers cut costs in the face of this inflation is implemented, we're exempt from it.

It's annoying and painful having to work all week long while other staff who earn more than I do work just three days, and yet nothing is done to compliment me. So with that being said, what I'll love as a holiday is the same two days of reduced work per week to help me cut costs and take a break, so that when I come back, I'll be refreshed and discharge my duties efficiently.

Now it's worthy of noting that this doesn't mean I don't like my job; I love it and would gladly do it, but the situation on the ground, as I highlighted above, is beyond control, and one needs either an increase in wages to sail through or a reduction in workdays per week. Since the minimum wage increases aren't taking shape presently and the governor has given some workers two extra days off, the best he can do for me is to let that go around to everyone, including us teachers, so we can also survive this high cost of living sponsored by inflation.

That's my take on this subject matter. With a reduction in the number of work days, life would be fairer, as I can't do anything about the increase in amounts of everything I indulge in daily, and since they refuse to increase our wages to meet the current situation, we all deserve the reduction in work days, and I hope they implement this pretty soon.

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That's about all my thoughts, opinions, and clamor for more holidays and breaks to be given to us, the workforce. Thanks so much for your time. I hope you enjoyed the read. Do have a wonderful day and stay blessed.

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