The recess of Congress recognized by "The Rule of Law" begins at least by the first Friday in August in odd numbered years, but by July 31st otherwise, until the second day after Labor Day. This law generously recognized a diligent Congress not one so lazy they are never in session.
Congress needs a structured work schedule such as 40 hours a week for at least nine months of the year. The Congress would have to find a way to maintain civilized structure if they were forced to perform the country's business 252 days out of the year from 9AM to 5PM for a total of 2016 hours per year.
The 2016 hours per year would be exclusive without counting holidays as session hours.
August 2, 2014
By Bryce Covert
Congress managed to adjourn on Friday night, (click here) sending all members home for a legislatively required recess for the entire month of August after becoming a close contender for the least productive Congress ever, with lots of unfinished business on the table.
The Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970 requires that the House and Senate take a break“not later than July 31 of each year,” or in an odd-numbered year “that Friday in August which occurs at least thirty days before the first Monday in September (Labor Day) of such year to the second day after Labor Day.” Congress can stay if the country is in a state of war, but that hasn’t happened since 1941. The law was passed after Congressional sessions had stretched so long that in 1963, the session began in January and ended in December with just a three-day weekend as a break in the whole time.
Lawmakers can come back early if both houses agree to it. And of course many of them hold town halls and other political or campaign events and meetings while they’re home. But they also get another break in December and often get nearly 250 days off from work in the nation’s capitol each year.
The American worker, on the other hand, could very well get no days off from work in a year. We are the only advanced country in the world that doesn’t guarantee that workers get some paid vacation time. There is no law, as there is for Congress, making sure they can take a break. The European Union, on the other hand, requires 20 paid vacation days, and many countries go further, such as the mandated 30 days in France, 28 in the United Kingdom, and 25 in Austria, Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden. Even our northerly neighbors Canada require 10....
