MILL VALLEY, CA — (Marketwired) — 02/18/16 — A new report from reveals the United States is the least generous when it comes to providing workers with social workplace benefits and paid time off, compared to European countries. In a ranking of 14 European countries and the United States, the report takes into account six key measures: paid maternity leave, paid paternity leave, general parental leave, paid holiday allowances, paid sick leave and unemployment benefits.
The report, titled , conducted in cooperation with London-based , reveals a stark contrast between the workplace benefits offered in select European countries compared to those offered by the U.S. Many of the evaluated benefits have government regulatory mandates, which reveal discrepancies from country to country. When ranked in order, the report finds the European countries offering the most generous workplace and welfare benefits overall are Denmark, France and Spain. The U.K., Switzerland and Ireland are the least generous European countries, with the U.S. lagging further behind.
“This report shines a bright light on how various economies and social policies directly impact people. In the U.S., workplace benefits like unemployment, maternity/paternity leave and paid time off are part of the total compensation pie negotiated between employer and employee. In most cases, the responsibility to provide these necessary social benefits to workers falls to U.S. employers rather than the government,” said Dr. Andrew Chamberlain, Glassdoor Chief Economist. “Social policy across Europe generally results in far more generous benefits than what is typical in the U.S. Providing benefits and other workplace entitlements is a complex responsibility for governments and businesses. Striking the right balance is never easy.”
The report comes at a time when workplace benefits and perks are top of mind for job seekers. A recent found that nearly four in five (79 percent) U.S. employees report they would prefer new or additional benefits or perks over a pay increase. Underscoring the importance of benefits and perks that are often mandated by European countries, the benefits employees would prefer to a pay raise are: healthcare insurance (40 percent); vacation/paid time off (37 percent); performance bonus (35 percent); paid sick days (32 percent); 401(k) plan, retirement plan and/or pension (31 percent).
There is no mandated paid maternity or paternity leave in the U.S. New birth mothers may take advantage of short-term disability benefits offered at the state or federal level. As part of total compensation packages, many employers offer paid maternity or paternity leave to new parents. Conversely, maternity leave in all European Union (EU) countries is a mandated minimum of 14 weeks, or 3.5 months, though the time off and pay offered vary considerably. The U.K. offers the longest time off for new mothers at 52 weeks, 39 of which are paid at 90 percent of previous earnings for the first six weeks and the remainder at up to £ 140 a week. Like the U.S., paternity leave is unregulated in the EU and entitlements vary widely.
In the EU, general parental leave is different from maternity and paternity leave that new birth parents receive and is regulated. EU legislation states that parents have the right to take time off work to care for children up to eight years old for a minimum of four months (16 weeks). The amount of time workers can take parental leave and the pay offered during that time varies by country. France and Germany offer the most time off at three years (156 weeks). In the U.S., under the Family and Medical Leave Act, new parents are entitled to 12 weeks (unpaid) per parent, which includes new birth mothers and fathers as well as new adoptive parents.(1) By ranking, Switzerland (which is not a member of the EU) comes after the U.S. with the least generous parental leave — it offers no parental leave at all.
At the federal level, there is no statutory entitlement in the U.S. for paid time off or paid sick leave. Many employers offer paid time off as part of the total compensation package and use it as a recruiting and retention tool. According to a report by the , the average number of paid vacation days for U.S. workers is 10 days and average number of paid public holidays is six days.
In the EU, paid holiday entitlement is a minimum of 20 days, or four weeks per year, not including bank holidays. Many countries are more generous: Sweden, France and Denmark offer 25 days, or five weeks, of paid vacation for full-time workers. In terms of sick leave, the Netherlands is the most generous — workers can take up to two years of sick leave while receiving 70 percent of their salary.
With the U.S. at an eight-year low, fewer Americans are out of work than in recent years. Unemployment benefits are governed by U.S. states, and payments are generally between 40 and 50 percent of prior earnings for up to 26 weeks, depending on the individual state. The U.S. falls in the bottom three when it comes to unemployment benefits. The least generous countries for unemployment benefits are the U.K., Ireland and the U.S. Denmark has the most generous policy with 90 percent of previous earnings for up to two years.
See the full Glassdoor Economic Research report, , including analysis of unemployment benefits, paid leave, sick pay, and maternity and paternity leave.
For more information about the specific benefits offered by individual companies or to anonymously share and review the benefits offered by an employer, visit .
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(1) This study is based on the classifications of all parental leave policies. The U.S. parental leave policy is under the , which also allows unpaid leave for reasons other than child birth, such as caring for sick non-infant children, spouses or elderly parents, and therefore is classified as “general parental leave” rather than “maternity leave” or “paternity leave.”
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