Trump says the U.S. has too many holidays. How it compares to other countries
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President Trump on Thursday said American employees have too many holidays off work in his latest criticism of U.S. commemorations.
Why it matters: The U.S. is among the least generous of its global counterparts for paid time off policies.
Driving the news: "Too many non-working holidays in America," Trump said in a Juneteenth post on Truth Social.
- Former President Biden signed a bill designating Juneteenth a federal holiday in 2021, after it unanimously passed in the Senate and passed 415-14 in the House.
- "The workers don't want it either!" Trump added. "Soon we'll end up having a holiday for every once working day of the year. It must change if we are going to, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!"
- He claimed that the days off cost the country billions of dollars.
Reality check: The U.S. has no statutory minimum requirement for what employers need to offer in terms of paid vacation days, according to Justworks, a human resources company.
- Ten public holidays are normally celebrated in the U.S., though employees are not guaranteed to have the days off depending on their employer and job sector.
- Most private firms offer paid vacation leave, per the Bureau of Labor Statistics. But the lowest paid workers in hourly jobs often are the ones who miss out.
State of play: European countries typically offer the most paid time off, thanks in part to labor movements.
- Austria ranks first with 25 days of mandatory paid vacation leave plus an additional 13 paid public holidays off.
- Employees in France and Spain each receive 36 days off. Germany requires 30 days, and the UK requires 28 days.
Zoom out: South Korea requires 31 vacation days off, and Japan mandates 26 days.
- In Canada, employees are entitled to two weeks of vacation annually after they've completed one year with an employer. That jumps up to three weeks for five consecutive years of employment and four weeks for 10 years.
- In Mexico, employees are entitled to at least 12 days of vacation after a year and a bonus of 25% of their salary for vacation time. They receive two days for every additional day of employment.
Zoom in: "Most countries around the world mandate that employees take a vacation each year and use all of their paid time off," the 2023 Justworks report said.
- "This helps create a better work-life balance, encourages employees to spend time with their family, and shows that employers are committed to seeing employees as individuals."
By the numbers: In the U.S., one in four workers don't receive any vacation time or holiday pay, per Justworks.
- Of those who do, about 46% take less time than they're offered, according to a 2023 Pew Research survey.
Go deeper: Trump uses another holiday message to attack political opponents
