The U.S. stands out in a bad way when it comes to paid time off laws, and as for vacations, it's the second-worst around the world for offering the fewest days.
Nationally, the average American gets 10 vacation days — all public holidays like Memorial Day and Thanksgiving — after a year of service. When left up to businesses, the average American worker gets another 11 days of paid vacation in their first year at a company.
Meanwhile, workers in many countries around the world, particularly in Europe, are known to take vacations for months at a time. For many, that's thanks to the European Union Working Time Directive, which passed in the early 1990s, and requires at least 20 working days of paid vacation in all EU countries.
Several countries offer even more by law, giving workers more than a month of business days in vacation time per year. That doesn't include paid public holidays, which, in some countries like Spain, can mean up to an additional 14 paid days off from work every year.
Here are nine European countries that give workers more than a month of paid vacations a year, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development:
- France: 30 days of paid vacation per year
- United Kingdom: 28 days of paid vacation per year
- Austria: 25 days of paid vacation per year
- Denmark: 25 days of paid vacation per year
- Finland: 25 days of paid vacation per year
- Norway: 25 days of paid vacation per year
- Spain: 25 days of paid vacation per year
- Sweden: 25 days of paid vacation per year
- Portugal: 22 days of paid vacation per year
Given the culture of rest prioritized around Europe, many workers get even more days off from their company.
Kimberly Sorce, 32, grew up in New Jersey but moved to Sweden, and works for a tech company. While Swedes are guaranteed 25 paid vacation days by law, her employer adds a few extra days to bring her up to 30 paid vacation days a year.
Some businesses require their employees to take a certain number of days off to ensure they're taking breaks from work. In Norway, Lene Vindenes, 28, gets 25 paid vacation days per year, and her company requires her to take three weeks of vacation during the summer between June and August.
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