- Four weeks is the most common floor in our guides, for example in Australia, Germany (20 days on a five-day week), Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand and Switzerland. The UK's 5.6 weeks can include bank holidays.
- Five weeks or more: France and Austria (5 weeks), Sweden (25 days), Brazil and Spain (30 calendar days) and the UAE (30 days after a year).
- Short statutory minimums in parts of Asia and the Americas: the Philippines (5 days of service incentive leave), Singapore and Hong Kong (7 days at first), Malaysia (8 days) and Ontario in Canada (2 weeks).
- Leave rises with service in Argentina, Austria, Canada, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Poland, Singapore and South Korea.
- Units differ: some laws count working days, some calendar days (Spain, Brazil, Argentina), and France and Germany count Monday to Saturday. Compare like with like.
| Country | Minimum paid annual leave | Rises with service? | Public holidays |
|---|---|---|---|
| Argentina | 14 calendar days | Yes: 21, 28 and 35 days after 5, 10 and 20 years | Not in our guide |
| Australia | 4 weeks (5 weeks for shiftworkers) | No | Not in our guide |
| Austria | 30 working days on a six-day count (5 weeks) | Yes: 36 days after 25 years | 13 |
| Belgium | 4 weeks (20 days on a five-day week), based on the previous year's work | No | 10 |
| Brazil | 30 consecutive days after each 12 months, paid with at least one third extra | No | Not in our guide |
| Canada | Ontario: 2 weeks | Yes: 3 weeks after 5 years (Ontario) | 9 (Ontario) |
| Colombia | 15 consecutive working days after a year | No | 18 |
| France | 2.5 working days a month, up to 30 working days counted Monday to Saturday (5 weeks) | No | Not in our guide |
| Germany | 24 working days on a six-day week (20 days on a five-day week) | No | Not in our guide |
| Hong Kong | 7 days in years 1 and 2 | Yes: one more day a year, to 14 from year 9 | 15 statutory holidays (2026) |
| India | 1 day for every 20 days worked (for 180+ days worked in a year) | No | Vary by state |
| Ireland | 4 working weeks | No | 10 |
| Italy | 4 weeks | No | Not in our guide |
| Japan | 10 days after 6 months (80% attendance) | Yes: up to 20 days from 6.5 years | Not in our guide |
| Malaysia | 8 days (under 2 years' service) | Yes: 12 days from 2 years, 16 from 5 years | 11 gazetted |
| Mexico | 12 days after the first year | Yes: to 20 days in year 5, then 2 more every 5 years | Not in our guide |
| Netherlands | 4 times the weekly working hours (20 days on a five-day week) | No | Not in our guide |
| New Zealand | 4 weeks after each 12 months | No | 12 |
| Philippines | 5 days of service incentive leave after a year | No | Not in our guide |
| Poland | 20 days (under 10 years' service, including education) | Yes: 26 days from 10 years | 14 |
| Portugal | 22 working days | No | 13 national |
| Singapore | 7 days in the first year (after 3 months' service) | Yes: one more day a year, to 14 from year 8 | 11 |
| South Africa | 21 consecutive days (15 working days on a five-day week) | No | 12 |
| South Korea | 15 days (at least 80% attendance) | Yes: one more day every 2 years, to 25 | Government-office holidays (5+ employees) |
| Spain | 30 calendar days | No | Up to 14 (2 local) |
| Sweden | 25 days | No | Set by law, plus Sundays |
| Switzerland | 4 weeks (5 weeks up to age 20) | No | Set by the cantons |
| United Arab Emirates | 30 days after one year (2 days a month from 6 to 12 months) | No | Paid public holidays |
| United Kingdom | 5.6 weeks, capped at 28 days; bank holidays can count towards it | No | Can count towards the 28 days |
Some countries add a payment for annual leave on top of normal pay: Brazil pays at least one third extra with the annual vacation, Mexico a vacation premium of at least 25%, and Belgium double holiday pay. See 13th-month pay by country for other extra payments, and the Employer Cost Index for total employer costs.
What is the statutory annual leave in the UK?
How many days of annual leave are required in Germany?
How much annual leave is required in Australia?
How much annual leave do employees get in Japan?
Which countries have the most statutory annual leave?
Does Singapore have statutory annual leave?
- 1Argentina: Ley de Contrato de Trabajo (Law 20.744)
Argentina.gob.ar (InfoLEG)
Consolidated text including Law 27.802 (6 March 2026): trial period (art. 92 bis), aguinaldo (arts. 121โ122), vacation (arts. 150โ155), overtime (arts. 197 bis, 201), notice (arts. 231โ233) and severance (art. 245).
- 2Australia: Annual leave and the National Employment Standards (fact sheet)
Fair Work Ombudsman
4 weeks' paid annual leave (5 for shiftworkers), payment at the base rate, leave loading under awards and agreements, and payout on termination.
- 3Austria: Urlaubsgesetz ยง 2
RIS (Bundeskanzleramt)
30 working days of annual leave, 36 after 25 years.
- 4
- 5Belgium: Holiday pay: ONSS instructions and FPS Employment brochure
ONSS / FPS Employment, Labour and Social Dialogue
Simple and double holiday pay for white-collar employees; no employer contributions on double holiday pay (13.07% employee withholding); exit holiday pay 15.34%. FPS Employment brochure: double holiday pay of 1/12 ร 92% per month worked; 4 weeks' leave.
- 6Belgium: Jours fรฉriรฉs
FPS Employment, Labour and Social Dialogue
Ten paid public holidays a year and replacement rules.
- 7Brazil: Consolidaรงรฃo das Leis do Trabalho (CLT)
Presidรชncia da Repรบblica (planalto.gov.br)
Art. 29 (work card), 58โ59 (working time, overtime), 74 ยง2 (time records), 130 and 134 (leave), 392 (maternity), 445 and 451 (fixed-term and experience contracts).
- 8Canada: Your guide to the Employment Standards Act: Vacation
Government of Ontario
Vacation time and vacation pay.
- 9Canada: Your guide to the Employment Standards Act: Public holidays
Government of Ontario
Ontario's public holidays and holiday pay.
- 10Colombia: Cรณdigo Sustantivo del Trabajo, arts. 186-190
Secretarรญa del Senado (Colombia)
Arts. 186, 189 and 190: 15 consecutive working days of paid vacation, cash payment of up to half, and accumulation.
- 11Colombia: Ley 51 de 1983
Congreso de Colombia
Ley 51 de 1983 in the Gestor Normativo: the 18 paid public holidays and the move of ten of them to Mondays.
- 12France: Labour Code (Code du travail)
Lรฉgifrance
Current text of arts. L8241-1 (staff lending), L1221-2, L1242-8 and L1242-8-1 (CDI and CDD), L1221-19 and L1221-21 (probation), L3121-27 (35-hour week), L3141-3 (paid leave), L1234-1 (notice), L1232-1, L1234-9 and R1234-2 (dismissal and severance).
- 13
- 14Hong Kong: A Concise Guide to the Employment Ordinance
Labour Department
Continuous contract (from 18 January 2026), statutory holidays (15 from 2026, 16 from 2028, 17 from 2030), annual leave, sickness allowance, notice, severance and long service payment, and the abolition of MPF offsetting from 1 May 2025.
- 15India: Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 (Gazette of India text)
Ministry of Labour and Employment
s. 6(1)(f) (appointment letters), ss. 25โ27 (hours, weekly holidays, overtime at twice the wage rate), s. 32 (annual leave with wages).
- 16Ireland: Organisation of Working Time Act 1997 (revised) and S.I. No. 50 of 2022
Law Reform Commission (Revised Acts) / Irish Statute Book
ss. 11, 13, 15 (rest and 48-hour average week), s. 19 (4 weeks' leave), s. 21 and Schedule 2 (public holidays). S.I. 50/2022 (https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2022/si/50/made/en/print) adds the St Brigid's Day holiday.
- 17Italy: D.Lgs. 66/2003 (working time)
Normattiva
Normal 40-hour week (art. 3), 48-hour average maximum (art. 4), overtime (art. 5) and annual leave (art. 10).
- 18Japan: Labor Standards Act (Act No. 49 of 1947)
Japanese Law Translation (Ministry of Justice)
Articles 15, 20, 32, 34โ37, 39, 65 and 89. Translation of the version as amended by Act No. 71 of 2018.
- 19Malaysia: Employment Act 1955 (Act 265), reprint as at 1 August 2023
Attorney General's Chambers (Laws of Malaysia)
Notice (s 12), maternity (s 37), hours (s 60A), holidays (s 60D), annual leave (s 60E), sick leave (s 60F), paternity (s 60FA), and the RM4,000 exclusions in First Schedule para 1A.
- 20Mexico: Federal Labour Law (Ley Federal del Trabajo)
Cรกmara de Diputados
Consolidated text, last reform DOF 14-05-2026: subcontracting (arts. 12โ15), written conditions and contract duration (arts. 24, 35, 37), probation (art. 39-A), dismissal and compensation (arts. 47โ50), working time, vacation, aguinaldo, PTU (art. 127) and seniority premium (art. 162).
- 21Netherlands: Dutch Civil Code, Book 7, Title 10 (employment contracts)
wetten.overheid.nl
Arts. 7:629 (sick pay), 7:634 (leave), 7:652 (probation), 7:668a (chain rule), 7:669โ7:671b (dismissal), 7:672 (notice) and 7:673 (transition payment).
- 22New Zealand: Holidays Act 2003
New Zealand Legislation
Annual holidays (s 16), public holidays (s 44), time and a half and alternative holidays (ss 50, 56), sick leave (ss 63, 65, 66).
- 23Philippines: Labor Code of the Philippines (renumbered, 2022 edition)
Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE)
Arts. 83, 87, 93 (hours, overtime, rest days), 95 (service incentive leave), 106 (contracting), 292(b), 294, 296โ298 (probation and termination).
- 24Poland: Labour Code (Kodeks pracy)
Internetowy System Aktรณw Prawnych (ISAP)
Unified text as of 14 Oct 2026 (t.j. Dz. U. 2026 poz. 1245): probation (art. 25), fixed-term limits (art. 25ยน), written form (art. 29), termination and reasons (art. 30), notice (art. 36), working time (art. 129), overtime (art. 151ยน), annual leave (arts. 154โ155).
- 25Poland: Act on days free from work (Ustawa z dnia 18 stycznia 1951 r. o dniach wolnych od pracy)
Kancelaria Sejmu (Sejm ELI)
Unified text (t.j. Dz. U. 2025 poz. 296), art. 1: the 14 public holidays, including 24 December, and Sundays.
- 26Portugal: Labour Code (Cรณdigo do Trabalho), Law 7/2009, consolidated
Diรกrio da Repรบblica
Arts. 40 (parental leave), 112 (probation), 131 (training), 140โ149 (fixed-term contracts), 168 (telework expenses), 203, 228 and 268 (working time and overtime), 234โ239 (holidays and leave), 263โ264 (allowances), 351โ373 (dismissal and compensation) and 400 (resignation notice).
- 27Singapore: Annual leave eligibility and entitlement
Ministry of Manpower
7 to 14 days of annual leave by year of service.
- 28
- 29South Africa: Basic Conditions of Employment Act, 1997
South African Government
Department of Labour consolidated text as amended to 2002: hours (s9), overtime (s10), Sunday and holiday pay (ss16, 18), annual leave (s20), sick leave (s22), notice (s37) and severance (s41).
- 30South Africa: Public holidays
South African Government
The 12 public holidays under the Public Holidays Act, 1994, with 2026 and 2027 dates.
- 31South Korea: ๊ทผ๋ก๊ธฐ์ค๋ฒ (Labor Standards Act)
Ministry of Government Legislation (law.go.kr)
Scope (art. 11), dismissal (arts. 23, 24, 26, 27), working hours (arts. 50, 53), holidays (art. 55), premiums (art. 56) and annual leave (art. 60). English translation on elaw.klri.re.kr.
- 32South Korea: ๊ด๊ณต์์ ๊ณตํด์ผ์ ๊ดํ ๊ท์ (Regulation on Holidays of Government Offices) art. 2
Ministry of Government Legislation (law.go.kr)
Public holidays as amended on 30 April 2026 (in force from 1 May, and for national holidays from 11 May 2026), including Labour Day and all national holidays under the National Holidays Act; applied to private employers by the Labor Standards Act Enforcement Decree art. 30.
- 33Spain: Workers' Statute (Estatuto de los Trabajadores), consolidated text
Boletรญn Oficial del Estado (BOE)
Arts. 8.3 (contract notification), 14 (probation), 15 (fixed-term contracts), 31 (extra payments), 34 (working time and time recording), 37.2 (public holidays), 38 (annual leave), 43 (worker transfer), 48.4 (birth leave), 49.1.d (resignation), 52โ54 and 56 (dismissal). Consolidated text updated 3 October 2026.
- 34Sweden: Semesterlag (1977:480)
Sveriges riksdag
Section 4 (25 days' leave), 16 a (same-salary rule with a 0.43% supplement per day for monthly-paid staff) and 16 b (12% percentage rule).
- 35
- 36Switzerland: Obligationenrecht (OR), SR 220
Fedlex (Swiss federal law)
Arts. 321c (overtime), 324a (sick pay), 329a (holidays), 329fโ329g (maternity and other-parent leave), 335bโ335c (probation and notice), 336c (protected periods). Stand am 1. Oktober 2026.
- 37United Arab Emirates: Types of leaves
The Official Portal of the UAE Government (u.ae)
Annual, sick, maternity, parental, bereavement and study leave; work on public holidays (Article 28).
- 38United Kingdom: Working Time Regulations 1998
legislation.gov.uk
48-hour week and opt-out (regs 4โ5); annual leave (regs 13โ13A).