Countries with the Most Holidays

By Rajeshni Naidu-Ghelani, CNBC.com

Countries With the Best Holiday Entitlements

It's that time of year again, when workers go on leave, businesses shut down and the general work-life balance scale dips toward "social." But employees in some countries have it especially good, with generous government-mandated holiday entitlements.

With that in mind, we've put together a list of the top 10 countries with the highest number of mandated paid holidays per year, according to a 62-country report "Worldwide Benefit and Employment Guidelines" released by the human resources consulting firm Mercer.

The rankings are based on the minimum mandated holidays an employee is entitled to per year, not counting national holidays. (In cases where countries have the same number of statutory holidays we sorted them alphabetically.)

Some of the results may surprise you and some of the benefits may make you envious. Check out which countries give their workers the most time off each year.

See the full slideshow: 10 Countries With the Best Holiday Entitlements


United KingdomUnited Kingdom
Statutory holidays: 28
Public holidays: 8

Workers in the United Kingdom are entitled to the highest number of holidays compared to anywhere else in the world.

However, vacation entitlements are often more complex in the UK, since the actual holiday provision depends on company contracts and the treatment of public holidays. While employees are entitled to 28 days, employers are allowed to include the eight public holidays as part of the 28-day package. Therefore, some workers actually have fewer vacation days than their European peers, where in general, public holidays are an addition to statutory days off.

While, the UK still has very generous holiday entitlements, it suffers from higher unemployment than such peers as Sweden and Denmark. Unemployment in Britain hit 8.3 percent in October, the highest level since 1994. Unions in the country are also threatening strikes as the government plans cuts to workers' pensions and other austerity measures.


PolandPoland
Statutory holidays: 26
Public holidays: 11

Poland is the only eastern European country to make the list of countries with the best holiday entitlements.
Workers are entitled to 20 days' annual leave after nine months of employment and receive 26 days after working for 10 years. Despite these benefits, many Polish workers are drawn to western Europe, where wages are higher.

After the EU's expansion in 2004, an estimated 1 million people from eastern Europe moved to Britain, according to the Institute for Public Policy Research, a British think tank. But with Poland's unemployment rate at 11.8 percent in October, compared with above 20 percent seven years ago, and estimated GDP growth of 4 percent for 2011, many organizations and scholars argue that the migrants are now returning to the ex-communist state.

Government data show that remittances from Poles living in Germany reached $1.5 billion in 2010, whereas British-based Poles sent home more than $1.05 billion. Total remittances from Poles living abroad last year reached over $22 billion.


AustriaAustria
Statutory holidays: 25
Public holidays: 13

Austria has among the highest number of public holidays in Europe with 13 days annually. Its capital, Vienna, also ranks as the world's best city to live in, according to a separate Mercer ranking.

Employees can work a maximum of five and half days per week and are entitled to 25 days of annual vacation after only nine months employment, according to the World Bank. Mothers are entitled to a maximum of two years' maternity leave, while fathers can also claim parental pay for up to 36 months, but not at the same time as the mother.

But some Austrians are worried about slipping living standards and decreasing worker benefits after the country dropped visa barriers to workers from countries that joined the EU in 2004 , namely Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic. The leader of Austria's far-right Freedom Party, Heinz-Christian Strache, wants the country's borders to stay shut until living standards in the new EU members reach at least 80 percent of Austrian levels.


BoliviaBolivia
Statutory holidays: 25
Public holidays: 12

Bolivia is the only country outside of Europe to make the list. That's despite the fact that it's one of the poorest countries in South America, with more than 60 percent of its 9.1 million people living in poverty.

Companies must provide 25 days of annual leave to their employees per year. According to the World Bank, workers who have 10 years of seniority in a company are entitled to 30 days off annually. Employees are also entitled to 16 hours of rest per day.

Bolivia's 12 public holidays are also generous compared to countries in Europe, but pale in comparison to regional counterpart Colombia, which has the most public holidays in the world at 18.

Bolivia, where tardiness is regarded as a national habit, made headlines in February after leftist lawmakers proposed a new labor code that called for workers to get a "punctuality bonus" for arriving at work on time. The bill also called for employers to give staff a refreshment bonus to buy snacks during breaks and subsidize travel costs for those living more than 1.25 miles from work.


DenmarkDenmark
Statutory holidays: 25
Public holidays: 9

Often ranked among the best places to live in the world, Denmark has extremely generous benefits for employees and a strong belief in work-life balance. Workers are allotted at least 11 hours of rest daily by law and are allowed to work a maximum of six days in a week, according to the World Bank.

Companies often give five additional days of holiday to workers, on top of the 25 days for the year. The country also has generous benefits for young parents. Parents can split a total of 52 weeks of maternity or paternity leave per child, however they cannot take time off at the same time.

Yet despite its employment benefits, Denmark is also known as one of the easiest places in Europe to get fired. Under its "flexicurity" system, employers can freely choose to dismiss an employee as long as the termination is justified. Businesses also have no obligations to rehire former employees, and severance payments are not given to workers unless they have worked for at least 12 years.


Check out the full list. See the slideshow: 10 Countries With the Best Holiday Entitlements


More from CNBC:
Easy High-Paying Jobs
World's Most 'Liked' Companies
Companies With the Happiest Employees