Tuesday focus: The workplace

Feeling gloomy about your work environment? You’re not alone.

A new study found that 11 percent of workers said what they’d most like to have in their work environment are “more attractive colleagues.”

And 12 percent of workers cited a bad scent or odor as what they dislike most about their work environment.

Apparently a well-placed fern would solve both problems. The study was conducted for Ambius, a company that provides “interior landscaping for all kinds of environments.”

Vacation season is in full swing. So while your unattractive colleagues are lounging on a beach, you’re stuck reading these random facts about vacations in America:

“The average U.S. employee works more hours and has fewer annual vacation days than his or her peers in Japan, the United Kingdom, France, Australia, Ireland, any of the Scandinavian countries, Germany, Brazil, New Zealand and other countries. A Hewitt Associates report last year said U.S. workers average 10 vacation days a year, compared with 15, 20, even 30 in the above-named countries.

“Today’s work force is increasingly mobile, making it even harder to add vacation time through longer job tenure.

“Paid vacation is something of a luxury. No law mandates it. It’s an option for employers to provide. Indeed, about one-fourth of the U.S. workforce has no time-off benefit.

“According to The Workforce Institute at Kronos Inc., seven out of 10 full-time employees plan to take a vacation between Memorial Day and Labor Day.

“Yahoo HotJobs said its summer vacation survey this year found that slightly more than half of the respondents planned to forgo their vacation in order to save money.

“A Career Builder.com survey this month found that one-fourth of workers said they stay in contact with their workplaces while on vacation. One in 10 said their bosses expect them to do some work while away.

From wire reports