There are media and social media posts about Europeans having more vacation from work than workers in the U.S. But the differences for many are not so large.
The main difference is European workers start out with 4-5 weeks of annual vacation leave – which may grow with tenure by an additional 1-3 weeks. Many US workers also increase their annual leave by 1-3 weeks, with tenure.
Many American workers have 10-12 Federal holidays; many in Europe have a similar number of holidays.
Many American workers may have additional options including personal leave days, volunteer leave days (to volunteer outside of work), and sick leave that is sometimes combined as a pool of days for either vacation or sick leave or both.
The overall result is that the number of paid leave days in the U.S. is slightly less than Europe, but not as big a difference as implied by news or social media posts.
(The following summary was written by AI and edited by me.)
Comparison of Time Off in Europe and the U.S.
European Entitlements
- Vacation Days: Generally ranges from 20 to 30 days depending on the country, with most offering around 4 to 5 weeks.
- Public Holidays: Typically 10 to 13 paid holidays depending on the country, which can further enhance time off.
- Personal and Sick Leave: These are often additional and can further increase the total time off available to workers.
U.S. Entitlements
- Vacation Days: Most U.S. workers start with around 2 to 3 weeks of paid vacation, with some companies offering more based on tenure.
- Public Holidays: Generally, around 10 to 12 paid holidays are common in many workplaces.
- Personal Leave and Sick Days: Many employers provide additional personal or sick days, which can lead to a total comparable to some European systems.
