Holidays too short? Hardly anyone in the world has it better

Holidays too short? Hardly anyone in the world has it better

Holidays over? Did they holidays go by too quickly? Spare a thought for your neighbours in other countries. It’s a lot better for the average Belgian employee than it is for his or her counterpart in other parts of the world.The average Belgian gets 25 days a year of holidays, exclusive of public holidays like Easter and Christmas. That places them in the top 12 in the world, a table led by the United Arab Emirates (33), Brazil, Peru and Finland (30) and Russia (28).

Others have it less comfortable. Mexico and China have 15 mandatory days off on average, to come at the bottom of the table established by HR consultants Mercer. Lower than the Philippines, Thailand, Argentina and Columbia, on 17 days a year, but slightly better than the US, where the average worker gets 16 days a year paid holiday. Or more than two weeks less than in workers’ paradise Russia.

Averages never, of course, tell the whole story. “In America, workers often get no more than ten days’ paid holiday,” said Chrisy Wilson of Mercer, pointing out that public holidays often help fill in the gaps. In Colombia that adds 17 days to the total. The Philippines, Hong Kong, Malaysia. Indonesia and Thailand each has 15. In South Korea, however, make do with four.

Add it together and what have you got? Belgium comes in 17th place with Venezuela on 35 days off a year; far behind leaders Brazil, United Arab Emirates and Peru.

Alan Hope
The Brussels Times


Copyright © 2024 The Brussels Times. All Rights Reserved.