Annual Leave Entitlement by Country
How many paid days off the law actually guarantees — in 20 countries, each sourced to the statute that creates the right.
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The European Union sets a floor of four weeks — 20 working days — of paid annual leave through the Working Time Directive, and every member state must meet or exceed it. Australia guarantees four weeks under the National Employment Standards. The United States guarantees nothing at all: it has no federal paid leave law, making it the clearest outlier among developed economies.
Every country compared
| Country | Minimum days | Weeks | Payout on exit | Legal basis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | 28 | 5.6 | Required | Working Time Regulations 1998 |
| Luxembourg | 26 | 5.2 | Required | Code du travail luxembourgeois |
| Austria | 25 | 5 | Required | Urlaubsgesetz |
| Denmark | 25 | 5 | Required | Ferieloven |
| France | 25 | 5 | Required | Code du travail, Art. L3141-3 |
| Sweden | 25 | 5 | Required | Semesterlagen (1977:480) |
| Portugal | 22 | 4.4 | Required | Código do Trabalho |
| Spain | 22 | 4.4 | Required | Estatuto de los Trabajadores, Art. 38 |
| Australia | 20 | 4 | Required | Fair Work Act 2009, National Employment Standards |
| Belgium | 20 | 4 | Required | Belgian annual holiday legislation |
| Bulgaria | 20 | 4 | Required | Кодекс на труда, Art. 155 |
| Czechia | 20 | 4 | Required | Zákoník práce |
| Germany | 20 | 4 | Required | Bundesurlaubsgesetz (BUrlG) §3 |
| Greece | 20 | 4 | Required | Greek labour code |
| Ireland | 20 | 4 | Required | Organisation of Working Time Act 1997 |
| Italy | 20 | 4 | Required | Decreto Legislativo 66/2003 |
| Netherlands | 20 | 4 | Required | Burgerlijk Wetboek, Book 7 |
| Poland | 20 | 4 | Required | Kodeks pracy, Art. 154 |
| Romania | 20 | 4 | Required | Codul muncii, Art. 145 |
| Switzerland | 20 | 4 | Required | Swiss Code of Obligations, Art. 329a |
| United States | 0 | 0 | State dependent | No federal statute |
Figures are statutory minimums in working days on a five-day week. Collective agreements and individual contracts frequently grant more. Average across the 20 countries listed: 21.9 days.
The three rules that apply almost everywhere
- The minimum cannot be contracted away. An employment contract or collective agreement may improve on the statutory floor, never reduce it.
- Leave cannot be swapped for cash while employed. The entitlement exists so people actually rest. Payment in lieu is permitted only at the end of employment.
- The untaken balance is paid out when employment ends. This is universal across the EU and Australia — and it is precisely where the United States diverges.
Countries at the EU floor of 20 days
Australia, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechia, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Switzerland sit exactly at the Working Time Directive minimum. In several of these, collective agreements push the practical market norm well above the legal floor — German contracts commonly offer 25 to 30 days despite a 20-day statutory minimum.
The United States is the outlier
No federal law requires a single paid day off. Whether unused time must be paid at separation depends on the state: 12 treat accrued PTO as earned wages that must be paid, while the rest leave it to the employer's written policy. We cover all 51 US jurisdictions separately in the US PTO payout laws guide.
If you employ people in more than one country
This table is the reason multi-country payroll is hard. An employee in Luxembourg accrues 26 days, one in the Netherlands accrues 20 that expire six months after the accrual year, one in Australia accrues 20 that never expire, and one in Texas may accrue nothing at all. A single leave policy cannot express all of that correctly.
For a single-country team, Leavo handles accrual and carryover rules with a proper audit trail. Once you employ across borders, the problem is no longer leave tracking but employment compliance, which is what a platform like Deel exists for. Our software comparison covers where each one fits.
Common questions
What is the minimum paid annual leave in the European Union?
The Working Time Directive (2003/88/EC) requires every EU member state to guarantee at least four weeks — 20 working days — of paid annual leave. Member states may exceed this, and several do: Austria, Denmark, France and Sweden set 25 days, and Luxembourg sets 26.
Which country gives the most statutory paid leave?
Of the 20 countries covered here, United Kingdom has the highest statutory minimum at 28 days. The United Kingdom's 28 days is unusual because employers are permitted to count public holidays towards it, so the practical entitlement is often lower than the headline figure.
Can unused annual leave be paid out instead of taken?
Not while the employee is still employed. Across the EU and Australia, statutory leave must be taken as actual rest, and payment in lieu is permitted only when the employment relationship ends. At that point the untaken balance must be paid.
How much paid leave is required in the United States?
None. The United States has no federal law requiring paid annual leave at all, which makes it a significant outlier among developed economies. Whether unused time is paid out at separation depends on the individual state.
Do public holidays count as annual leave?
In most countries no — public holidays are separate from the statutory annual leave entitlement. The United Kingdom is the notable exception, where an employer may count the eight public holidays towards the 5.6-week entitlement.
How we built this
Each country is summarised from the statute or national framework named in its row, linked on the country page. Figures are statutory minimums, converted to working days on a five-day week so they are genuinely comparable — several countries express entitlement in six-day Werktage or in calendar days, which makes raw headline numbers misleading. See our methodology.