UK
London, 13 October 2009

• Employees in Finland, Brazil and France are entitled to the greatest amount of statutory annual leave and those in India, Canada and China, the least
• Employees in Japan and India have the highest number of public holidays while those in the UK, Netherlands and Australia, the least
• Lithuanian and Brazilian employees potentially have access to the most generous overall holiday entitlements

Employees in Europe receive the most generous statutory holiday allowances in the world according to data released by Mercer. However, taking public holidays into account, employees in Lithuania and Brazil have the potential to access the most time off work.

The data comes from Mercer’s 2009 Worldwide Benefit and Employment Guidelines which provides data into global working practices and regulations. The report analyses both the statutory minimum number of days’ holiday that companies must provide to staff, as well as the number of public holidays in over 40 countries. The following comparison is based on statutory entitlements for an employee working five days a week, with 10 years’ service.

All employees are entitled to a statutory holiday allowance, which is the term given to the amount of paid leave that companies must, by law, offer their staff.

Employees in Finland, Brazil and France are entitled to receive as many as 30 days’ statutory holiday a year, with those in Lithuania, Russia and the UK being entitled to 28 days. Poland (26) follows closely behind, with employees in Greece, Austria, Denmark, Sweden and Norway entitled to 25 days’ statutory holiday. 

By comparison, Asia-Pacific countries fare poorly with Australian, New Zealand and Japanese employees receiving the highest levels of statutory holidays (20) followed by Taiwan (15), Hong Kong and Singapore (14), India (12) and China (10).

Employees in Canada are amongst those with the lowest entitlement with only 10 days and while there is no statutory minimum in the US, employees typically receive 15 days a year.

In addition to statutory holidays, public holidays can markedly increase the amount of time employees have off work. Japan and India top the global list with 16 days’ public holiday a year, closely followed by Cyprus, Slovakia and South Korea with 15. Malta and Spain both have 14 while Portugal, Austria, Lithuania, Slovenia and Taiwan all have 13 days’ public holiday. The UK, Australia and the Netherlands have the lowest number of public holidays (8) followed by Denmark, Ireland, Switzerland, Canada and Romania (9).

According to Matthew Hunt, a principal in Mercer’s International team who advises multinationals on their employment practices, “There are wide variations in the local implementation of employment practices governing public holidays.  Employers are often within their rights to ask employees to work on public holidays, or require that they be taken as part of their annual leave entitlements. For example, while it appears that employees in the UK have more total holidays than those in Malta, company contracts can create a different picture.  While the UK statutory minimum is 28 days, companies are allowed to include the 8 public holidays as part of this entitlement, so some employees may only be given 20 days holiday a year and Maltese employees may, in fact, have a better deal.”

Assuming they receive the maximum statutory holidays in addition to public holidays, employees in Brazil and Lithuania would have the world’s most generous holiday regime with a potential 41days off a year, while those in Finland, France and Russia could receive a total of 40 days. In contrast, Canadian employees receive only 19 days, Chinese employees 21, and those in the US and Singapore both 25.

Europe holiday overview
Finland and France make provision for a statutory minimum of 30 days’ holiday a year for employees, closely followed by Lithuania and Russia (28), the UK (28), Poland (26) and Greece (25). The vast majority of countries have a statutory minimum of 20 days including Germany, Belgium, Cyprus, Ireland, Italy and the Netherlands. Cyprus and Slovakia (15 days) have the most bank holidays in Europe followed by Malta and Spain (14 days) and then Lithuania, Austria, Portugal and Slovenia (13 days). France, Poland, Finland, Germany and Belgium have 10, while Denmark, Romania and Ireland have 9. With 8 bank holidays a year, the UK and Netherlands have the least in Europe. However, in some European states such as Norway and Switzerland, public holidays can be nullified if they fall on a weekend.  

Overall, including the statutory minimum and public holidays, employees in Lithuania are potentially entitled to the greatest amount of paid leave in Europe with 41 days’ holiday per year. France, Finland and Russia rank second with 40 days, followed by Austria and Malta (38), Greece (37) and Sweden, Spain and the UK (36). Employees in Italy have 31 while those in Germany, Romania and Belgium have 30. Employees in Ireland and the Netherlands have the least amount of holiday at 29 and 28 days, respectively. If employers provide 8 bank holidays on top of the statutory minimum, UK employees would receive 36 days’ paid holiday a year, one of the most generous in Europe.

The Americas holiday overview
The United States offers employees no statutory minimum holiday allowance but the typical average is 15 days compared to Canada which offers a statutory minimum of 10 days. Contrary to popular European belief, low levels of statutory holiday in the United States and Canada are not comparative to European standards when taking public holidays into account. Employees in the United States and Brazil have an additional 10 and 11 days public holiday respectively, while workers in Canada are entitled to 9 days’ public holiday. In total, employees in Brazil who can take the full entitlement and the full number of public holidays would receive 41 days off, those in the United States typically 25 days and those in Canada 19 days.

Asian holiday overview
Australia, Japan and New Zealand have the most generous statutory holiday regime, offering employees 20 days’ statutory holiday. South Korea (19), Taiwan (15), Hong Kong and Singapore (14), India (12) and China (10) have less generous entitlements. In addition, Japanese and Indian employees receive 16 public holidays a year followed by South Korea (15), Taiwan (13), Hong Kong (12), and New Zealand, Singapore and China all have 11 days. With 8 days, workers in Australia are entitled to the least public holidays in Asia.

In theory, employees in Japan are entitled, in total, to the most generous holiday allowances with 36 days followed by South Korea (34) and New Zealand (31).  Employees in Australia, Taiwan and India would potentially get 28 days followed by Hong Kong (26), Singapore (25) and China (21)

In addition to annual leave and public holidays, employers in some states are required by law to give special leave for getting married, or for the death of a spouse or close relative, for example. Even when there is no requirement, many larger employers provide additional leave for special circumstances.

“Employers trying to co-ordinate business operations across the world are caught in a maze of legislation when it comes to holidays,” commented Matthew Hunt.  “Public holidays tend to be rooted in local tradition or religious beliefs, so it can be difficult to change practices.  But with the increasing cultural diversity of the global workforce there is pressure for greater flexibility around public holidays.” 

Notes for Editors

The figures above are based on statutory entitlements for an employedd working five days a week with 10 years' service.

Public holidays do not include Saturdays and Sundays.

1 Finland: Sundays are not included in the calculation, but Saturdays are. This means that employees are entitled to five weeks of vacation per year
2 Finland: Midsummer’s Eve and Christmas Eve are not official public holidays by legislation and not included in the list above. However, most employment contracts provide these two days as full holiday.

3 Brazil: 30 calendar days
4  France: the law provides for five weeks of paid vacation (that is, 30 calendar days + Sundays)
5  Lithuania: minimum annual leave is 28 calendar days
6  Russia: 28 calendar days
7  United Kingdom: effective from 1 April 2009, a worker is entitled to 28 days of annual leave each year (up from 24 previously). Public holidays (of which there are eight days in the UK) may count towards the employee’s annual leave entitlement.
8  Poland: the length of holiday in a calendar year depends on the seniority of the employee – 20 working days under 10 years’ service, 26 working days above 10 years’ service.
9  Greece: employees who have completed 10 years of service with the same employer, or 12 years with several employers, are entitled to 25 working days of paid leave per year.
10 Norway: employees are entitled to 25 working days of vacation per year. Working days are defined as all days except Sundays.
11 Hungary: mandatory vacation is calculated according to the age of the employee (minimum 20 max. 30 after age 45). An employee aged 31 to 32 would be entitled to 23 days.
12 Spain: paid vacation period is not lower than 30 calendar days or 22 working days.
13 Portugal: the number of 22 workdays is increased, by between one and three days, if the employee did not miss without justification any working day in the previous year.
14 South Africa: 21 consecutive days’ paid leave per year. This is the equivalent of three weeks’ time off. Weekends during the vacation period are counted as leave days.
15 Germany: for a five-day week, the mandatory vacation entitlement is 20 working days. Companies typically supplement: typically 30 working days based on a five-workday week.
16 Germany: public holidays differ from each state (Bundesland). The overall amount of public holidays ranges from nine to 13 days in the course of a calendar year.
17 Australia: the law provides for four weeks of paid annual leave
18 Australia: there are usually at least two additional public holidays proclaimed in each state/territory each year, which must also be observed. Some are applicable to certain industries, such as banking, or only apply to certain regions.
19 Japan: annual vacation is variable according to length of service – 20 days for an employee with 10 years of service
20  Netherlands: the statutory rules have a minimum character. It is customary for employers to grant more paid vacation (between 25 and 30 days).
21 Switzerland: public holidays vary across cantons and municipalities. 1 August is a federal holiday; in addition, each Swiss canton is authorised to institute a maximum of eight public holidays per year. In addition, there might be several work free days according to the canton/municipality.
22 New Zealand: every employee is entitled to four weeks’ paid vacation after 12 months’ service.
23 South Korea: annual vacation is variable according to length of service – 19 days for an employee with 10 years of service
24 Taiwan: annual vacation is variable according to length of service – employees with more than five but less than 10 years of service are entitled to 14 days of leave, employees with over 10 years of service are entitled to one additional day per year of service up to a maximum of 30 days.
25 United States: Federal law does not mandate pay for time not worked. Although vacation policies vary widely, many organisations provide three weeks of vacation after five to ten years of service. Unionised employees generally have vacation time specified under collective agreements.
26 Hong Kong: annual vacation is variable according to length of service – 14 days for an employee with 10 years of service
27 Singapore: annual vacation is variable according to length of service – 14 days for an employee with 10 years of service
28 India: every worker who has worked for 240 days or more during a calendar year is entitled to leave at the following rate: one day for every 20 days of work performed during the previous calendar year.
29 India: the use of public holidays is not appropriate in the Indian context when dealing with private establishments. Private establishments must observe national holidays (26 January, 15 August and 2 October) and holidays on major festivals. The average number of such festivals may vary from five to seven. Local variations, depending on the state, are prevalent.
30  Canada: mandatory vacation entitlements vary between provinces. Figures in the table represent the mandatory entitlement for Ontario: two weeks of paid time off. Companies typically supplement statutory requirements, vacation schedules vary by company and may provide up to six weeks’ vacation after 20 or 25 years of service.
31 Canada: Ontario’s Civic Monday (first Monday in August) is not provided by statute but is generally offered. Not included in the public holidays above as it is not mandatory.
32 China: the employee is entitled to five days’ paid vacation if the accumulated service year is more than one year and less than 10 years; 10 days’ paid vacation if the accumulated service year is more than 10 years and less than 20 years.

This research is primarily based on information from Mercer's Worldwide Benefit & Employment Guidelines (WBEG)  reports.  The WBEG reports are available in five volumes (Americas, Asia Pacific, Central & Eastern Europe, Western Europe and Middle East & Africa), which contain country-by-country information on employment conditions, statutory benefits and typical benefits practices.