Statutory leave entitlement varies by country, with some not having a law defining minimum time off. Europe has generous laws, with some countries offering up to 30 days off plus national holidays. The US has no law mandating paid time off, but many employers still offer it. Having vacation time written into a contract is the best way to guarantee it. Many employers exceed the minimum amount of vacation days guaranteed by law.
Statutory leave entitlement means statutory time off for workers enrolled in government law by statute. This amount of time varies by country, and some countries do not have a law defining a minimum time off that workers are entitled to each year. This does not mean that most employers in a country without statutory holiday entitlements do not offer paid time off, but it could mean that the exact amount cannot be expected from each employer and that employees have little protection under state or federal law that they will get some vacation time.
In Europe, there are some of the most generous legal laws on holiday entitlements. Ireland, the UK, Russia and Lithuania have laws granting full-time employees a minimum of 28 days of holiday per year, excluding bank or national holidays, which can take the total up to more than 5 weeks of paid holiday. Finland, Brazil (in South America) and France exceed this, offering a minimum of 30 days off plus national holidays. Many countries offer three to four weeks or 22 to 26 days, and Spain, Hungary, Portugal, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Poland, Greece and Austria are among them.
There are countries where the statutory leave entitlement laws are not so generous. China, Canada and India allow paid annual leave of 10-14 days. Many countries fall in the middle, offering regulated paid leave between 14-21 days.
In each of these countries, the statute may be different and it should be noted that employees may need to have worked for a certain amount of time to be entitled to a certain period of annual leave. While most employees get public vacation right away, the actual amount of vacation days can depend on the time spent. Some employees have to work at least a year or more years to meet the terms of the statutory paid holidays.
Some countries are not entitled to holidays by law. The United States is one of them. There is no law that mandates a certain amount of paid time off for employees.
Many employers still try to honor the spirit of those laws, and the average worker’s paid time in the US is between 10-15 business days, not including holidays. Even if the law doesn’t guarantee minimum days, employers who offer paid holidays as part of a contract to workers tend to have to honor them. There may be laws in various regions governing the terms of a contract entered into between an employee and an employer at the time of employment. The best way to guarantee a minimum leave is to have it written into a contract when an employee takes on a job.
It should also be noted that many employers in countries with statutory holiday entitlements exceed the amount guaranteed by law. Because employees stay with a company longer, they can get more than the minimum number of vacation days. This is even true in places like the United States, where loyalty to a company, measured in years of work, is often rewarded with extra vacation time every year.
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