The table also highlights that part-time workers, low-wage earners, and workers in small firms (fewer
than 100 workers) are less likely to receive either paid vacation or paid holidays. When these types of
workers do see these benefits, they receive fewer paid days off. Low-wage workers are less likely (52
percent) than higher-wage workers (91 percent) to have paid vacations. The disparity is even wider
between part-time and full-time workers — 40 percent and 90 percent, respectively. Seventy percent
of employees in small establishments receive paid vacations compared to 86 percent of employees in
medium and large establishments.
Of workers who do receive benefits, part-time workers and low-wage (bottom 25 percent) workers
average the fewest paid vacation days and paid holidays—10 and 6, respectively, for both groups.
Overall, private-sector part-time workers receive an average of four vacation days and three holidays,
and low-wage workers receive an average of five vacation days and three holidays a year. Among
workers who receive benefits, those who work for larger firms (100+ employees) fare better than
those who work for small businesses, averaging three more vacation days and one more holiday per
year. The difference is even greater when workers who receive neither paid vacation nor paid holidays
are included; those who work for small firms receive five fewer vacation days and two fewer holidays
than those who work for larger firms. Part-time workers, low-wage earners, and those who work for
smaller establishments are routinely excluded from paid leave benefits compared to full-time workers,
high earners, and employees of larger establishments.
Paid Holidays
Many advanced economies also guarantee paid holidays, including New Year’s Day, Good Friday,
Easter Monday, and Christmas. Other popular paid holidays are Labor Day, Ascension Thursday, and
All Saints’ Day. Portugal and Austria have 13 paid public holidays. Spain has 14 public holidays, two
of which are local holidays; Italy, Norway, and Belgium, 10; Ireland, Denmark, and the Netherlands,
nine; Australia, eight; and Switzerland, four. France guarantees only one paid holiday. Two countries
determine public holidays at the regional level: Germany (with a minimum of nine holidays), and
Canada (which offers at least five in each province, and nine on average). Again, US law has no
provisions mandating paid holidays, though this is also the case in the United Kingdom.