Employees in the UK get less time off work than almost any other country in
the European Union.
A study by Mercer HR Consulting, which took both statutory holiday
entitlement and public holidays into account, finds that staff in the UK and
The Netherlands are worst off with just 28 days’ leave, while workers in
Finland fare best, with 39 days off.
EU citizens generally have a statutory right to national and regional public
holidays, but in France, Sweden and the UK, employers can require their staff
to work on these days, or to take them off as part of their annual holiday
entitlement.
Mercer’s European partner David Formosa points out that the plethora of
different public holidays across Europe puts the co-ordination of business
activities under strain.
Around 50 different dates are observed as national public holidays across
the EU, and certain areas even have regional holidays as well. www.mercerhr.com
