Romania is one of the countries with the lowest number of legal days off, according to a recent study by de Mercer Marsh Benefits on 64 countries in the world. Romania has nine days off by law a year, while Spanish and Greek employees have 14 official free days a year, according to the Worldwide Benefit and Employment report on 2013.

Finland ranks first, with 15 free days, and UK, the Netherlands and Hungary come second to last, with 8 days. The study only took into account the number of free days by law during the working week.

In Eastern Europe, Turkey has the highest number of bank holidays, 14.5, followed by Russia, 14, and Slovakia, 13. Romania and Serbia each have 9 days off by law.

Germany has nine legal days off, but the number varies from one region to the other, with some regions offering 13 days off.
“Knowing the holiday practices, both legal days off and yearly holiday is important for those responsible for employee mobility. Moving employees abroad is essentials for companies when developing local markets. For example, if the benefits the employee would normally have in his home country are not comparable to those in the country where he is about to move, he might be reticent in taking the offer to move. This could affect the company’s business,” said Ellyn Karetnick, leader of the Global Mobility Practice with Mercer UK.

The number of legal days offer varies from one year to the other even in the same country, as well as from country to country. Some countries choose to offer days off for cultural events or for religious celebrations, while others leave these decisions to local Governments. “For HR managers to make the most efficient decisions for the company and for its expats, a correct and timely evaluation of practices in this field is vital,” Karetnick added.

editor@romania-insider.com