Annual leave
{{Short description|Paid time off from work}}
{{redirect|Paid Vacation|the album by Richard Marx|Paid Vacation (album)}}
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Annual leave, also known as statutory leave, is a period of paid time off work granted by employers to employees to be used for whatever the employee wishes. Depending on the employer's policies, differing number of days may be offered, and the employee may be required to give a certain amount of advance notice, may have to coordinate with the employer to be sure that staffing is available during the employee's absence, and other requirements may have to be met.{{Cite web|title=FMLA Frequently Asked Questions {{!}} U.S. Department of Labor|url=https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/fmla/faq|access-date=2022-01-15|website=www.dol.gov}} The vast majority of countries today mandate a minimum amount of paid annual leave by law.{{Cite web|title=Additional leave entitlements for working parents|url=https://www.oecd.org/els/soc/PF2_3_Additional_leave_entitlements_of_working_parents.pdf|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150905145522/http://www.oecd.org/els/soc/PF2_3_Additional_leave_entitlements_of_working_parents.pdf |archive-date=5 September 2015 }}
Among the larger countries, China requires at least five days' paid annual leave and India requires two days of paid leave for every month worked. The United States mandates no minimum paid leave, treating it as a perk rather than a right.{{Cite web|last=Johanson|first=Mark|title=Life in a no-vacation nation|url=https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20141106-the-no-vacation-nation|access-date=2022-01-15|website=www.bbc.com|language=en}}
Leave
Most countries have labour laws that mandate employers give a certain number of paid time-off days per year to workers.
Canada requires at least two weeks, which increases to three weeks for employees that have worked for a certain number of years (In Saskatchewan this entitlement starts out at three weeks and increases to four weeks).{{sfn|Ray|Sanes|Schmitt|2013|p=10}} An additional fourth week is provided to federally regulated workers after working for a further number of years.{{Cite web |last=Canada |first=Employment and Social Development |date=2015-07-29 |title=Annual vacations |url=https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/services/labour-standards/reports/annual-vacation.html |access-date=2022-04-29 |website=www.canada.ca}}
In the European Union the countries can set freely the minimum, but it has to be at least equivalent to 4 working weeks.{{cite journal |title=COUNCIL DIRECTIVE 93/104/EC |journal=Official Journal of the European Communities |date=23 November 1993 |volume=L 307 |page=20 |url=https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:31993L0104&from=EN}} In the Netherlands this is achieved by mandating at minimum 4 times the number of contracted hours in a person's working week; e.g. if someone works 4 days of 7 hours a week, the annual leave hours a year is 112 at minimum.
Full-time employees in Australia are entitled to at least 20 annual leave days a year.{{sfn|Ray|Schmitt|2007|pp=1–3, 8}}
In New Zealand, 20 days' paid leave is also the normal minimum in addition to the 11 paid statutory holidays (e.g. Christmas, New Year's Day).{{Cite web|title=Minimum leave and holidays|url=https://www.employment.govt.nz/leave-and-holidays/minimum-leave-and-holidays-entitlements/|access-date=2022-01-15|website=Employment New Zealand|language=en-NZ}} However, many employers offer 5 or more weeks, especially in the public sector.
Some countries, such as Denmark and Italy, or particular companies may mandate summer holidays in specific periods.{{Cite web|title=NON-STANDARD EMPLOYMENT AROUND THE WORLD|url=https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/@dgreports/@dcomm/@publ/documents/publication/wcms_534326.pdf|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200419231211/http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/@dgreports/@dcomm/@publ/documents/publication/wcms_534326.pdf |archive-date=19 April 2020 }}
Argentina has different labour laws for public employment and private employment. Public employees have between a minimum of 21 days paid to 45 days paid for vacations (including holidays and weekends). Private employees have between a minimum of 14 paid days to 28 paid days (including holidays and weekends). In both cases are always relying on the years of service. The more years the worker has worked the more days of paid vacation they will have.
UK employers offer 28 days per annum of statutory annual leave with a further 8 public holidays, these are referred to as Bank Holidays. Some employers may include the 8 bank holidays within their annual leave decreasing it to 20 days. Workers also have the legal right to paternity/maternity pay as part of this, as well as requesting holiday at the same time as sick leave.{{Cite web |title=Holiday entitlement |url=https://www.gov.uk/holiday-entitlement-rights |access-date=2024-12-10 |website=GOV.UK |language=en}} For regular-hours workers (full- or part-time), employers must pay at least 4 weeks of the worker's statutory entitlement at their "normal" rate of pay, and the remaining 1.6 weeks at a "basic" rate of pay.
US federal law does not require employers to grant any vacation or holidays, though, as of 2007, only about 25 percent of all employees receive no paid vacation time or paid holidays.{{sfn|Ray|Schmitt|2007|p=1}} Due to the lack of federal legislative requirements, paid leave in the US is mainly a matter of employment contracts and labor union agreements.{{cite news|url=https://www.dol.gov/general/topic/benefits-leave|title=Leave Benefits|publisher=U.S. Department of Labor|accessdate=August 13, 2022}}{{cite news|url=https://www.kff.org/womens-health-policy/fact-sheet/paid-leave-in-u-s/|title=Paid Leave in the U.S.|publisher=Kaiser Family Foundation|date=December 17, 2021|accessdate=August 13, 2022}} Some jurisdictions within the US, including the states of Maine and Nevada, require paid time-off days.{{cite news |last1=Douglas |first1=Genevieve |title=Paid Leave 'for Any Reason' Laws Embraced by States, Localities |url=https://news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-labor-report/paid-leave-for-any-reason-laws-embraced-by-states-localities |access-date=October 2, 2021 |agency=Bloomberg Law |date=July 12, 2019}}
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics in the United States, the average paid holidays for full-time employees in small private establishments in 1996 was 7.6 days.{{cite press release |date=15 June 1998 |title=Employee Benefits in Small Private Industry Establishments, 1996 |url=https://www.bls.gov/news.release/ebs.nws.htm |location=Washington |publisher=US Bureau of Labor Statistics |access-date=14 July 2018}}
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=Consecutive holidays=
Consecutive holidays refers to holidays that occur in a group without working days in between. In the late 1990s, the Japanese government passed a law that increased the likelihood of consecutive holidays by moving holidays from fixed days to a relative position in a month, such as the second Monday.
In New Zealand, consecutive paid holidays occur for Christmas/Boxing Day, New Year's Eve/New Year's Day, and Good Friday/Easter Monday, the last of which straddle a weekend. However, these are among 11 'statutory paid holidays' that are additional to 'paid annual leave'.
See also
References
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=Bibliography=
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- {{cite book|last=Ghosheh|first=Naj|year=2013|title=Working Conditions Laws Report 2012: A Global Review|url=http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_protect/---protrav/---travail/documents/publication/wcms_235155.pdf|location=Geneva|publisher=International Labour Organization
|isbn=978-92-2-127516-9}}
- {{cite book|last1=Ray|first1=Rebecca|last2=Schmitt|first2=John|author2-link=John Schmitt (economist)|year=2007|title=No-Vacation Nation|url=http://cepr.net/documents/publications/2007-05-no-vacation-nation.pdf|location=Washington|publisher=Center for Economic and Policy Research
|access-date=14 July 2018}}
- {{cite book|last1=Ray|first1=Rebecca|last2=Sanes|first2=Milla|last3=Schmitt|first3=John|author3-link=John Schmitt (economist)|year=2013
|title=No-Vacation Nation Revisited|url=http://cepr.net/documents/no-vacation-update-2014-04.pdf|location=Washington|publisher=Center for Economic and Policy Research|access-date=14 July 2018}}
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{{Employment}}
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