Western European employees typically have the most statutory paid holiday globally while employees in Asia Pacific have the lowest, according to research by Mercer, a human resources consulting firm.
Specifically, workers in the United Kingdom have one of the most generous statutory holiday entitlements at 28 days, and U.S. workers have no statutory holiday entitlement, the research finds.
Mercer is of the belief that holiday entitlement is often more complex because actual holiday provision generally depends on company contracts as well as the number and treatment of public holidays. For instance, while UK employees are entitled to 28 days, the UK also has eight annual public holidays, which means UK employees could be on holiday leave for 36 days or 10 percent of each year for one of the highest entitlements of all 62 countries. However, companies are allowed to include the eight public holidays as part of the 28-day entitlement, meaning UK employees actually have fewer holidays than the rest of Europe, where most employees take public holidays along with their statutory entitlements.
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Although employees in Asia-Pacific have low levels of statutory entitlement in comparison to other countries, public holidays are taken on top of statutory entitlement, rather than as part of it. Still, the levels of holiday entitlement in Asia-Pacific are below those in Western Europe.
"Despite continued economic turmoil, interest in the issue work-life balance continues to grow," says Dr. Lorna Friedman, partner in Mercer's global health management practice. "From the employees and company's perspective, health creates wealth. Companies recognize that a healthy, happy work force is a productive one, and this feeds directly into the bottom line. How companies interpret holiday regulations provision is a major factor. With pay rises muted and often below the rate of inflation, companies are searching for other ways to motivate their staff. Flexible working and a good employee work-life balance helps improve employee engagement when the usual financial tools are unavailable."
Austria employees could have the most holiday time with 25 days of statutory holiday entitlement and 13 days of public holidays, and Malta employers have 24 statutory day of holiday entitlement and 14 days of public holiday. Employees in both countries could have 38 days holiday a year. The countries with the lowest possible entitlements are the Philippines with 20 days and Canada with 19 days. Employees in Columbian employees have the most public holidays at 18 days while those in Mexico have the least at seven days.
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