After years of social progress and improvements to work-life balance, conflicting pressures are fragmenting the work world’s approach to paid leave.
Employers struggling to attract talent are paying workers more, leaving firms understaffed but with a steep payroll to meet and a reluctance to give time off. In 2022, only 35% of U.S. organizations offer paid maternity leave–a shocking drop from 53% just two years ago, according to a survey from the Society for Human Resource Management(SHRM). For paid paternity leave, the drop is from 44% to 27% in the same period.
Meanwhile, workers continue to suffer the health and mental health fallout of the pandemic. COVID-19 prompted a 25% rise in anxiety and depression globally. Today, the workforce is adjusting to post-lockdown conditions–whether returning to the workplace, adapting to a permanent WFH or hybrid situation, or rethinking things entirely in light of lay-offs, organizational changes, and the volatile economic landscape.
And governments are stepping in to maintain a balance. Around the world, some are mandating paid leave for the sick and even for victims of domestic violence, while others resist pressure to add annual bank holidays to the calendar.
In these fluctuating conditions, it makes sense to know your rights and manage your time with care. So, Resume.io has found out how much paid annual leave and how many public holidays are available in every country around the world–and how paid vacation days to compare in total from one place to another.
What They Did:Resume.io reviewed the annual statutory paid leave and paid public holidays laws in 197 countries, referring to gov websites, the OECD, the International Labour Organization, etc. They then ranked the countries based on the combined number of statutory paid leave days and paid public holidays per year.
Paid leave refers to the statutory minimum annual time off bookable by the individual. Vacation days refer to the combined total of paid leave days and paid public holidays.
This article was written by Resume.io.