Across the European Union, the longest working weeks (see note 1), worked by full-time employees in their main jobs, are found in Romania (41.8 hours), the Czech Republic (41.7 hours) and Latvia (41.7 hours). The shortest are in France (38.4 hours), Belgium (38.6 hours) and Ireland (38.9 hours). Only three of the EU15 countries have working weeks longer than the average for the entire EU27; by contrast, workers in 10 of the 12 new Member States work longer weeks than the EU27 average. The report also compares the average collectively agreed entitlements for paid annual leave in the EU. It finds that the average number of fully paid holidays in Europe is 25.2 days per year. The average in the EU15 and Norway stands at 26.5 days, with a substantial difference between the average in Sweden (33 days) and in Greece (23 days). Among the new EU Member States, the average is 21.4 days per year, with notable, though smaller, differences between the Czech Republic (25 days) and Estonia (20 days). Download the full report
The report also compares the average collectively agreed entitlements for paid annual leave in the EU. It finds that the average number of fully paid holidays in Europe is 25.2 days per year. The average in the EU15 and Norway stands at 26.5 days, with a substantial difference between the average in Sweden (33 days) and in Greece (23 days). Among the new EU Member States, the average is 21.4 days per year, with notable, though smaller, differences between the Czech Republic (25 days) and Estonia (20 days).
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1) Harmonised Eurostat figures for average number of actual weekly hours of work in main job of full-time employees, based on its labour force survey for the third quarter of 2008.
Emphasis mine "Dieu se rit des hommes qui se plaignent des conséquences alors qu'ils en chérissent les causes" Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet
