acomparisonofleaveandholidayNo-vacationnationUSA.PDFVIP

No‐vacation nation USA – a comparison of leave and holiday  in OECD countries European Economic and Employment Policy Brief No. 3 – 2007 ISSN 1782‐2165 Rebecca Ray and John Schmitt A comparison of leave and holiday in OECD countries No-vacation nation USA – a comparison of leave and holiday days per year. Canada and Japan mandate at in OECD countries least 10 paid days off. The United States is the only advanced economy in the world By Rebecca Ray and John Schmitt 1 that does not guarantee its workers paid leave. The gap between paid time off in the Introduction United States and the rest of the world is even larger if we include legally mandated Average annual working hours are substanti- paid public holidays, where the United States ally shorter in European countries and offers none, but most of the rest of the worlds elsewhere in the worlds advanced economies rich countries offer between five and 13 paid than they are in the United States. One public holidays per year. important reason for the difference is that workers in the United States are less likely In all countries many employers offer, to receive paid annual leave and paid public usually as a result of collective agreements, holidays, and those U.S. workers that do p