Whoever said ‘more money, more problems’ never had to endure the financial risk of booking a holiday with unpaid leave through irrational company procedures. Luckily, some countries have laws that make paid time off not only available to their workers, but a requirement – easing the mind and wallets of employees while they take a bit of R&R.
But which countries have the most enviable set-up when it comes to annual leave? Payroll and HR supplier Moorepay has analysed statutory PTO and public holidays across the globe to find the destinations with the best benefits for their workers, as well as the countries coming up short.
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The country with the most paid days off is Yemen, with a whole month and a half (46 days) of paid leave and public holidays available for workers. Libya (45), Bahrain (44) and Austria (43) follow suit with well over a month off, with Monaco ranking as the fifth best option with 42 days.
The country with the least amount of paid time off goes to the United States, and by ‘least’, we mean zero. The US has no federal law that requires workers to receive paid vacation or public holidays. The ‘land of the free’ is followed by Japan with 10 total days, Guyana with 12 and Liberia and the Philippines with 16.
While the UK offers 28 days, its European neighbours France, Sweden, Iceland, Finland and Italy offer over 35 paid days off, offering a better work-life balance and much better opportunities to travel.
So did your country make the nice or naughty list? Here are the top 10 countries with the most and least paid time off.
The countries with the most paid time off
- Yemen
- Libya
- Bahrain
- Austria
- Monaco
- Maldives
- Georgia
- Iran
- Ivory Coast
- Sweden
The countries with the least paid time off
- United States
- Japan
- Guyana
- Liberia
- Philippines
- China
- Brunei
- Thailand
- Mexico
- Malaysia
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