[Global] Comparison of annual leave entitlements

New research looking at how Australia’s annual leave entitlements stack up against the rest of the world shows its standard 20 days for full-time employees ranking quite favourably in comparison with countries like the United States and Canada, Yahoo Finance reports.

Employees in the US have no statutory entitlement to annual leave at all. Leave entitlements are decided at the employer level and average just 14 days per year.

Workers over the border in Canada may reportedly be even worse off. Most Canadian provinces legislate just 10 days per year; one of the lowest annual leave entitlements for a developed nation.

In the UK and Ireland, workers enjoy the same annual leave entitlement as Australians, at 20 days. While in Scotland workers enjoy a massive 28 days of paid leave per year.

The only European countries to offer more annual leave than Scotland are Monaco - the world's second-smallest state - and Andorra. These tiny principalities are big players when it comes to annual leave, offering 30 days paid to all employees.

A surprisingly large number of countries around the world actually tie for first place with Monaco and Andorra. The Marshall Islands, the Maldives, Bhutan, Comoros, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Yemen, Togo, Niger, Algeria, Libya, Mali, Panama and Peru all reportedly offer employees 30 days of paid annual leave.

South African employees get one more day than Australians at 21 days. By contrast, workers in Africa's largest economy, Nigeria, only receive six day

Public holidays

Annual leave isn't the only paid time off consideration. In addition to the standard four weeks paid annual leave most Australians get, there are seven national public holidays each year, as well as another two to five days - decided at the state level - depending on where you live. This brings the total to 29 paid days off for workers in NSW and 32 for full-time workers in Tasmania.

Women's rights protests in Iran have been making headlines recently and the country is not known for progressive social measures but the Islamic republic does offer a number of public holidays at 27 days per year. This, together with their generous annual leave entitlement of 26 days, means Iranian workers are entitled to 53 days of paid leave every year.

The European micro-state of San Marino offers 20 paid public holidays annually, for a total of 46 paid days off every year. It also reportedly offers one of the lowest corporate tax rates in the EU at just 16 per cent.

Citizens of Canada and the US enjoy nine and 10 annual public holidays, respectively, however, their low leave entitlements mean the amount of paid days off they receive count among the lowest in the world.

To find a worse deal for workers you would reportedly need to travel to the furthest reaches of the Pacific, where citizens of Micronesia are entitled to just nine days of paid days off each year.

New research looking at how Australia’s annual leave entitlements stack up against the rest of the world shows its standard 20 days for full-time employees ranking quite favourably in comparison with countries like the United States and Canada, Yahoo Finance reports.

Employees in the US have no statutory entitlement to annual leave at all. Leave entitlements are decided at the employer level and average just 14 days per year.

Workers over the border in Canada may reportedly be even worse off. Most Canadian provinces legislate just 10 days per year; one of the lowest annual leave entitlements for a developed nation.

In the UK and Ireland, workers enjoy the same annual leave entitlement as Australians, at 20 days. While in Scotland workers enjoy a massive 28 days of paid leave per year.

The only European countries to offer more annual leave than Scotland are Monaco - the world's second-smallest state - and Andorra. These tiny principalities are big players when it comes to annual leave, offering 30 days paid to all employees.

A surprisingly large number of countries around the world actually tie for first place with Monaco and Andorra. The Marshall Islands, the Maldives, Bhutan, Comoros, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Yemen, Togo, Niger, Algeria, Libya, Mali, Panama and Peru all reportedly offer employees 30 days of paid annual leave.

South African employees get one more day than Australians at 21 days. By contrast, workers in Africa's largest economy, Nigeria, only receive six day

Public holidays

Annual leave isn't the only paid time off consideration. In addition to the standard four weeks paid annual leave most Australians get, there are seven national public holidays each year, as well as another two to five days - decided at the state level - depending on where you live. This brings the total to 29 paid days off for workers in NSW and 32 for full-time workers in Tasmania.

Women's rights protests in Iran have been making headlines recently and the country is not known for progressive social measures but the Islamic republic does offer a number of public holidays at 27 days per year. This, together with their generous annual leave entitlement of 26 days, means Iranian workers are entitled to 53 days of paid leave every year.

The European micro-state of San Marino offers 20 paid public holidays annually, for a total of 46 paid days off every year. It also reportedly offers one of the lowest corporate tax rates in the EU at just 16 per cent.

Citizens of Canada and the US enjoy nine and 10 annual public holidays, respectively, however, their low leave entitlements mean the amount of paid days off they receive count among the lowest in the world.

To find a worse deal for workers you would reportedly need to travel to the furthest reaches of the Pacific, where citizens of Micronesia are entitled to just nine days of paid days off each year.