A weekly presentation of downloadable charts and short analyses designed to graphically illustrate important economic issues. Updated every Wednesday.

Snapshot for May 10, 2000

European vacations

Every European economy except Italy and the United Kingdom requires employers to offer annual paid vacations to their workers. Sweden provides the most generous vacation benefits, requiring a minimum of 32 paid days off per year. Workers in Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, and Spain, by law, enjoy at least 30 days vacation each year. Germany has the least generous vacation policy among those countries that require annual paid vacation — just 18 days per year. Labor laws in the United States do not require employers to offer paid vacation to their workers. The average actually offered is about 16 days per year.

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