Your Legal Vacation Days
by on Dec.18, 2007, under General Vacations
You work hard, right? And you need a vacation sometimes, right? If your employer’s not the type to give you one, your government might have you covered – depending on where you live! Take a look below at some of the vacation stats from around the world, and notice how North American countries stack up as far as legally due vacation days. No wonder why the Mont Tremblant real estate market welcomes so many foreigners.
France: 30 days (+1 paid national holiday)
Finland: 25 days (+9 paid national holiday)
Norway: 25 days (+2 paid national holiday)
Spain: 22 days (+12 paid national holiday)
Switzerland: 20 days
Italy: 20 days (+13 paid national holiday)
Canada: 10 days (+8 paid national holiday)
United States: None
21 Comments for this entry
December 25th, 2007 on 8:38 pm
I know! Why we don’t have a better system for vacation time here in the US is beyond me. This is the 21st century and I think we should consider that people need time with family and/or just to recharge. I love the US.. but maybe we could learn something from other advanced nations.
December 26th, 2007 on 7:48 am
Spain has 30 days paid holidays + national and local holidays
December 26th, 2007 on 10:34 am
What, no United Kingdom? Half of Europe’s up there but not us?!
December 27th, 2007 on 12:45 pm
Why should the government get involved in the agreement you come into with your employer?
Government can barely do anything right. Why would you want it to do more?
December 27th, 2007 on 2:25 pm
It figures that the US would have none. The corporations can’t let us common folk have time off because then we have time to think.
December 27th, 2007 on 10:30 pm
we work way too hard in america.
December 28th, 2007 on 12:42 am
Wow. The American government sucks. :’(
December 28th, 2007 on 1:29 am
At least you don’t have to work Saturdays. Many contries work 6 days a week. So technically you get 52 days more vacation.
So, would you please quit complaining and get back to work.
December 29th, 2007 on 7:35 pm
Jason Unger above said it perfectly;less government is the best government.
If you are dependent on the government,you are pitiful.
January 1st, 2008 on 4:09 am
Apparently America is the only one who got it right. The less government interference the better. If your job doesn’t give you vacation time, then get a new job. Even crappy fast food/retail jobs gives you time off after so many hours.
January 1st, 2008 on 6:43 am
What, no United Kingdom? Half of Europe’s up there but not us?! - Anonymous Coward
Hey, back off, pal. Jingosim is OURS, damnit! USA! USA!
January 2nd, 2008 on 11:11 pm
Technically, the FMLA is a government mandated ability to take time off of work if personally/medically necessary.
January 3rd, 2008 on 4:01 am
I have an idea, if your employer doesn’t give you enough time off, quit. No that’s much to risky, lets lets just create a socialist government that regulates buisness until they are all buisness are completely unprofitable. You work hard, you are entitled to getting payed for not working.I dispise the socialist mentality. FYI that list is almost in order of worst to best economies in the world too.
January 7th, 2008 on 5:24 pm
To Jason Unger
How can the goverment do anything wrong when it comes to preset vacation rules?
If the limit is exceeded, the employer will prosecute actions against the employee. If you take too little vacation, the employer is forced to send the employee on vacation
Its not any more magical than that…
January 8th, 2008 on 12:12 pm
so you want the government even more involved in your daily life? If you can’t negotiate better vacation then you deserve less…
Ever think to hold yourself as worth something and not think of your job as a gift? Write an article about the other crap those governments require of their people… then look at the US.
January 8th, 2008 on 1:32 pm
I used to work in Luxembourg and got 35 days holiday per annum.
January 12th, 2008 on 3:25 am
the one regarding switzerland is wrong anyway. they also have national and kantonal (state) holidays. as it varies from state to state it is quite hard to put an overall figure on the country.
January 23rd, 2008 on 1:52 pm
“If you can’t negotiate better vacation then you deserve less…”
Typical selfish, looking-no-further-than-your-own-fat-belly-rolls American rubbish.
Get some idea of basic human rights, you cretin.
January 30th, 2008 on 9:25 pm
All the USian nahsayers are very quick to regurgitate that the employee should negotiate enough time off, but none provide any stats that is actually happening. In that case I’ll just make some up. The average amount of holidays is 10 + 5 ’sick days’. I think it is tought out by a very cynical misogynist: they do it this way because Aholes have a slighty larger tendency to work themselves to death as more agreeable persons. So over time the population should get nicer. Or overworked people become Aholes because of work…
February 18th, 2008 on 3:26 pm
hahahaha
It is a basic human right to get paid for not working! Wow! You have to love socialists! Dumb!
March 14th, 2008 on 12:43 am
“hahahaha. It is a basic human right to get paid for not working! Wow! You have to love socialists! Dumb!”
In my country i get paid holidays. I can therefore afford to take holidays and i get back to work feeling good and that is why norway is a much more productive country than the US and why our GDP per capita is much higher than yours. In the US you don’t get any paid holidays and yet you laugh. Which one of us is dumb??? Please do tell.
Also, if i get sick, the government will pay for my medical expenses. Yours won’t. Who’s dumb?
In my country, few people live below the poverty line, in yours, more than one in ten.
In my country, i get paid to go to university. In yours, you have to pay a fortune to attend.
And yet you “dispise” (sic) socialism. Who’s dumb?
“FYI that list is almost in order of worst to best economies in the world too.”
Really? Maybe you should read a bit about Norway, perhaps the world’s most ’socialist’ country and let me know if you find any area of economy where the USA leads Norway.