Mandatory paid vacation days or holidays for those of you in the UK vary greatly by country. Excluding sick days, parental leave, and other health-related pay, these types of pay fall into two categories.
Paid Vacation Days
While rules vary from place to place and among employers, these days correspond to what Americans think of as traditional vacation. Individuals take time to go to the beach, ski, or perhaps attend a family event. As far as mandatory pay for these days, the tiny principality of Andorra mandates the highest number of days with 31 for everyone. Some countries offer more paid vacation days for certain workers. France awards bonus days for taking vacation during low-demand periods. While state employees and older workers earn more paid vacation in Luxembourg. The US is the only country without a nationally mandated minimum number of paid vacation days.
Public or Banking Holidays
These are nationally observed days, e.g., Thanksgiving in the US or the first Monday in May in the UK, when banks, schools, and many other businesses close. As with paid vacation days, the number of paid public holidays varies a great deal. Iran and Cambodia have the most with 27. A few other countries offer more than 20, but most require somewhere between 10 and 20. Nearly 50 countries, including the US, require no pay for public holidays.
What’s the Deal in the US?
While the US has no statutory minimum number of paid vacation or public holidays, most people do receive vacation pay. Roughly 3 out of 4 (77%) of private employers offer a paid vacation benefit for their full-time employees. The average is two weeks or ten days per year for new employees. Many of these companies offer more days to employees with longer tenure. For example the average climbs to 15 days after 6 years of service and 20 days after 15 years. A similar percentage of employers also offer paid time off for public holidays. On average they pay for 8 of the 11 recognized holidays.
Featured Map
That brings us to our featured map courtesy of Wikipedia. Unfortunately, the color blocks for the key didn’t translate well to my blog. While it’s a poor substitute, I’ve included a brief description & example country for each level below the map.
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No data at all (White, North Korea)
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No mandatory vacation (Grey, US)
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1–5 days (Yellowish Green, China)
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6–10 days (Light Green, Canada)
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11–15 days (Green, India)
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16–20 days (Light Blue, Russia)
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21–22 days (Blue, Brazil)
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23–28 days (Darkest Blue, France)
FWIW, the country with most required paid days is Iran with 56.
As always thanks for reading.
Armen
Note to Pay the Bills: Because many US holidays track closely to the Christian calendar and their antecedent pagan festivals, they also factor into the Misaligned series. Their impact ranges from the mundane school vactions days, to the magical impacts of the Celtic holidays. If you’ve ever wondered how to mix theoretical physics and Welsh mythology in a YA fantasty story, you can learn more here or find links to purchase books here.
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