U.S. fares poorly in holiday entitlements

Workers in the U.K. and Poland have the most generous statutory employee holiday entitlements while employees in the U.S., Canada, Philippines, China and Thailand have the least generous entitlements, according to an overview of employee regulation and employment practices released by Mercer.

Statutory holiday entitlement is the amount of time off work that an employer must provide its employees by law. Workers in the U.S. have no statutory holiday entitlements while employees in the U.K. have 28 days. U.S. federal law does not mandate pay for time not worked and holiday policies vary widely.

“A break from the daily routine is essential in maintaining employee wellbeing,” said Dr. Lorna Friedman, partner in Mercer’s global health management practice. “Companies that keep holiday provisions as low as possible in order to reduce lost income from absent workers may find that their employees are less robust, in poorer health and crucially, less productive. It’s key to create a culture of health in the workplace and employees will take the message home with them and look after their health outside work as well.”

Here’s a breakdown of statutory holiday entitlements:

  • U.K. (28 days)
  • Poland (26 days)
  • Greece, Austria, France, Sweden, Luxemburg, Finland and Denmark (25 days)
  • Venezuela (24 days)
  • Brazil, Peru, Spain, Portugal, United Arab Emirates (22 days)
  • Norway (21 days)
  • Argentina, Italy, Belgium, Germany, Cyprus, Ireland, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Latvia, Russia, Slovenia, Serbia, Slovakia, Lithuania, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Romania, Japan, Australia and New Zealand (20 days)
  • South Korea (19 days)
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