Paid annual leave by country: legal minimum vacation days in 12 countries

Minimum paid annual leave: the comparison table

Figures are for a full-time employee on a five-day week. Where a law counts six-day “working days” or calendar days, the table converts to five-day weeks so the rows compare. Sources are linked in the country sections below.

Countries with little or no statutory leave

United States

The US Department of Labor states that the Fair Labor Standards Act does not require payment for time not worked, such as vacations. Paid vacation is a matter of agreement between employer and employee. Some states and cities require paid sick leave, and a few regulate what happens to accrued vacation when you leave, but there is no national vacation floor. That makes the PTO line of a US offer something to negotiate, not assume.

Philippines

Article 95 of the Labor Code gives every employee who has rendered at least one year of service a yearly service incentive leave of five days with pay. The article excludes employees already enjoying at least five days of paid vacation leave and establishments regularly employing fewer than ten workers, among others. In practice unused service incentive leave is converted to cash at the end of the year, and many employers give more as a company benefit.

Japan

Article 39 of the Labor Standards Act grants 10 days of paid leave to a worker who has been employed continuously for six months and worked at least 80% of all working days. The entitlement rises with each further year of service, reaching 20 days after six and a half years. Since April 2019, employers must make sure that workers entitled to 10 or more days actually take at least five of them each year, by setting dates if necessary.

Mexico

A reform of the Federal Labour Law in force from 1 January 2023 raised the minimum from 6 to 12 days after the first year. Article 76 then adds two days a year up to 20 days in the fifth year, and two more days for every further five years of service. Article 80 requires a vacation premium (prima vacacional) of at least 25% of the wages for the vacation days.

Four weeks and up: the EU, UK, Canada and Australia

European Union

Article 7 of the Working Time Directive (2003/88/EC) requires every member state to give workers at least four weeks of paid annual leave, and says it may not be replaced by a payment in lieu except when the employment ends. Each country implements this floor in its own law, and many go beyond it, as the German, French and Spanish rules below show.

Germany

Section 3 of the Federal Leave Act (Bundesurlaubsgesetz) sets a minimum of 24 working days, defined as every calendar day that is not a Sunday or public holiday. On a five-day week that equals 20 days, or four weeks. Collective agreements commonly provide more, so offers in Germany often quote 25 to 30 days.

United Kingdom

Almost all workers in the UK are legally entitled to 5.6 weeks’ paid holiday a year, which is 28 days for someone working five days a week. The statutory entitlement is capped at 28 days, and employers can choose to include bank holidays within it. So a UK offer of “20 days plus bank holidays” is roughly the legal minimum, while “25 days plus bank holidays” is above it.

Canada

Employment standards are mostly provincial, so your province’s law usually applies. For federally regulated employers such as banks, airlines and telecoms, the Canada Labour Code gives two weeks of vacation after one year, three weeks after five years and four weeks after ten years, with vacation pay of 4%, 6% and 8% of wages respectively.

Australia

Under the National Employment Standards in the Fair Work Act 2009, full-time and part-time employees get four weeks of paid annual leave a year, pro rata for part-timers, and some shift workers get five. Leave accrues progressively and unused leave rolls over from year to year. Casual employees do not get paid annual leave; they receive a casual loading in their hourly rate instead.

Five weeks or more: France, Spain and Brazil

France

French employees earn 2.5 working days of paid leave per month worked, up to 30 working days a year. The law counts working days (jours ouvrables) as Monday to Saturday, so 30 days equals five weeks. Many full-time employees on a reduced-hours scheme (RTT) receive additional rest days on top.

Spain

Article 38 of the Workers’ Statute sets paid annual leave by collective agreement or contract, with a minimum of 30 calendar days, and it cannot be replaced by money. Thirty calendar days is about 22 working days on a five-day week.

Brazil

Article 130 of the Consolidation of Labour Laws (CLT) gives 30 calendar days of vacation after each 12-month acquisition period, reduced if the employee has more than five unjustified absences in the period. The Constitution adds that vacation is paid with at least one-third more than normal pay, so the vacation month costs the employer about 133% of a monthly salary.

How to value leave when you compare job offers

Paid leave is pay for time you do not work, so it changes your effective hourly rate. Put each offer on the same basis:

1. Count working days in the year: 52 weeks × 5 days = 260, minus public holidays and paid leave.
2. Divide the annual salary by those working days to get an effective day rate.
3. Example: 60,000 a year with 10 days of leave and 10 public holidays is 60,000 ÷ 240 = 250 per working day. The same salary with 25 days of leave and 8 public holidays is 60,000 ÷ 227 ≈ 264, about 6% more per day worked.
4. Check the extras: Mexico’s 25% vacation premium and Brazil’s one-third bonus add cash, not just time.
5. Ask whether unused leave carries over, is paid out on leaving, or is lost.

The hourly wage calculator converts annual pay into hourly and daily rates. For the full checklist of what to compare beyond base pay, see comparing two job offers and bonuses, overtime and total compensation.

Remote workers and contractors

Statutory leave belongs to employees. If you are employed through a local entity or an employer of record in your country, local leave law should apply and appear in your contract. If you invoice a foreign client as an independent contractor, there is no paid leave at all: every day off is a day unbilled.

That is a concrete reason to price contracting above salary. Someone who wants five weeks off plus public holidays bills roughly 225 days a year, not 260, so the day rate needs to cover the gap. See salary vs contractor pay and freelancer vs full-time remote employee.