In the category of "News That Surprises No One," a recent survey indicates that a majority of Americans would support a paid vacation law.

What may surprise people is that there is a group working to have such a law passed by Congress. "The Minimum Leave Protection, Family Bonding and Personal Well-Being Act" would amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to mandate a minimum of three weeks vacation for every worker after a year's employment.

The group, a consortium of academics, business leaders, labor leaders and others working under the name Take Back Your Time, wants to have the act placed on the legislative docket next year. To help build a head of steam, they commissioned the survey, which was conducted in June.

Of 1,002 respondents, 69 percent said they would favor a paid vacation law.

More telling is that 52 percent of the respondents said they had received one week or less of paid vacation during the last year, 65 percent had less than two weeks, and 78 percent had less than three weeks.

Younger respondents favored such a law more strongly than older ones did, and those in lower income brackets favored it more strongly than higher wage earners. But for Joe Robinson, author of "Work to Live," and one of the founders of Take Back Your Time, the central message of the survey results remains clear: People want more vacation.

More than that, they need it -- the stress of unrelenting work can be fatal, according to the group's Web site (www.right2vacation.org), which says men who don't take regular vacations are 32 percent more likely to die of heart attacks, and that women are 50 percent more likely to do so.

Which raises a question: If we want and need more vacation, why do so many of us not use the vacation that we have?

"Vacations are seen as not legitimate," Mr. Robinson said. "People feel that if they take their time -- all of it -- they may be penalized. People are overworking, working through their vacations, to try to preserve their jobs."

A vacation law would not only protect workers' jobs, he said, but it also would help to remove a stigma that has been attached to vacation in a culture where "the only value comes from output."

In such a culture, would such a law have a snowball's chance of passing?

Charles Jellinek, who specializes in labor law with Bryan Cave LLC, is not so sure. Historically, he said, Americans have not be "overly concerned with overwork." Even when the 40-hour workweek was established, he said, "it was more about how you compensate people for long hours" than about eliminating long hours.

Also, he noted, if the law requires that time be taken in large chunks, it would go against a current trend among workers who "want the flexibility to take their time in smaller increments," even a single day here or there to catch a child's soccer game or school play.

"In its present incarnation, I think [the proposed bill] has got a lot of issues and problems."

But Mr. Robinson remains confident that the time is right for giving workers more time off.

"In the knowledge economy, it's all about a refreshed and energized brain," he said. "And that's what this provides."