First, the employees don't subsidize shit. If employees have to do extra work to accommodate a colleague who is on leave, whether that leave is due to vacation

First, the employees don't subsidize shit. If employees have to do extra work to accommodate a colleague who is on leave, whether that leave is due to vacation time, medical leave, parental leave, bereavement leave, or any other reason, the employees have to do extra work because the leadership of the organization has chosen to prioritize the bottom line over properly resourcing the team. That is not the fault of the individual who is on leave, or the employees who are doing extra work to make up for it. Second, the company has to subsidize that because of hard fought labour rights legislation. Enough people thought it was important enough that they had strikes and participated in elections until the laws were changed. American labour rights in relation to time off and parental leave are among the most pathetic in developed or "1st world" countries. Employees should not be thankful to their employers for the rights they have, they should be thankful for the blood shed and work done by workers and labour activists that earned them those rights. And just to be clear, I say this as a business owner, and an employee of another business. I choose to hustle for 60-80 hours a week because of the things I want to achieve. I don't, and shouldn't, have the right to grind others into the gears of my business because they don't want to.