To be fair, having the government mandate how much time you get off for working 40 hours a week is kind of just codifying the indentured servitude you're under.
That's only the minimum of paid time off though, and how many hours of a week you work is determined between you and your employer in the form of a contract. If you think that this is indentured servitude, to the state which provides you with taxes and services, then I really don't know on which planet and or reality you live in.
I still remember putting in vacation at my first job, three months in advance and they still said "well it's your job to make sure your shifts are covered". Fuck you, Karen, you make the damn schedule one month at a time, just don't put me on it that week.
Seriously. You aren't really managing your employees if they have to organize resource shortages for you. At my job, I tell my colleagues to just take time off and, like me, list a few close co-workers as people to contact in case of emergencies in their OOO reply. Nothing is life-or-death, so people can deal with waiting. It's not like anyone is taking off months straight.
What happens, if you are ill for a longer? You can't just work ethic an illness away.
And it's also stupid from the company's perspective. If someone has the flu and you have them come in - well - everyone will be sick and everyones performance will suffer.
Who thought this is acceptable, let alone a good idea?
Funny story, my wife told her boss she needed time off for our honeymoon as we drove to our wedding. She got it, but they teased her about it for a month.
Back when I worked a shitty retail job we would usually hire a few people on fixed term/fixed hours over the Christmas/New Year peak (ie, you get minimum 20 hours a week for 16 weeks starting November 1st), first couple of weeks are mostly training, then peak, then cover into the new year while the full time people take some leave.
Had one guy who got to the end of his training then informed management that he would need leave approved starting now and right through peak because his family was going to an expensive ski resort but that he'd happily pick up some more hours when he got back. Got really salty when he was told that that wasn't going to happen, and he was welcome to go anyway but shouldn't expect a job when he got back.