Vacation From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (Redirected from Vacations) For other uses, see Vacation (disambiguation). This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (August 2007) Vacation is a term used in English-speaking North America to describe a lengthy time away from work or school, a trip abroad, or simply a pleasure trip away from home, such as a trip to the beach that lasts several days or longer. In the rest of the English-speaking world the word holiday is used, whereas in North America, "holiday" normally applies to a specific national holiday or long weekend related to such a day. In some cases "vacation holiday" is used in North America, which signifies that a vacation trip is taken during a traditional national holiday period, extended on either end of the period by taking additional time off from work—creating a longer time unencumbered by work, an extended "long weekend", as it were. This practice is common in the United States where employers give far fewer annual vacation days (see below) than European employers—so stretching the related national holidays tends to conserve one's accumulated total of eligible days available for longer quality vacation excursions. In England the word "vacation" referred specifically to the long summer break taken by the law courts (and later universities)—a custom introduced by William the Conqueror from Normandy where it was intended to facilitate the grape harvest. The French term is similar to the American English: "Les Vacances." The term derives from the fact that, in the past, upper-class families would literally move to a summer home for part of the year, leaving their usual family home vacant. Most countries around the world have labor laws mandating a certain number of days of time off per year to be given to a worker. In Canada the legal minimum is two weeks, while in most of Europe the limit is significantly higher. Neither the U.S. nor China requires that employees receive any vacation time at all. There are movements fighting for laws requiring more vacation time for American workers such as timeday.org. In modern employment practice, vacation days are often coupled with Sick leave, official holidays, and sometimes personal days. Americans and Canadians, especially those of recent British or European descent, may also use the word "holiday." "Annual Leave" is another expression used in Commonwealth countries. Many Canadians use both "holiday" and "vacation"; "...I'm taking holidays..." is a common expression, something not often heard in the United States. [edit] Minimum vacation time around the world Country legally required Argentina 14 calendar days (from 0 to 5 years seniority), 21 calendar days (from 5 to 10), 28 calendar days (from 10 to 20) and 35 calendar days (from 20) Australia As of 27 March 2006, 20 work days (4 weeks). 2 weeks can be "sold" to employer. Additional Long service leave is also payable. 10 public holidays as well are payable to employees. Austria 5 weeks The Bahamas 14 days after 1 year employment, 21 days after 5 years employment Belgium 20 days, premium pay Brazil 30 consecutive days, of which 10 can be sold back to the employer Bulgaria minimum 20 working days Canada Determined by provincial law. 10-15 working days depending on province. In addition, 10-12 public holidays depending on province. Chile 15 working days Colombia 15 working days for every year, vacations can be accumulated for up to 4 years (up to 60 working days of vacations) Costa Rica 2 weeks after 1 year employment. China Not required - this is incorrect. while complicated by complex fluid laws there is a minumum of 20 days per year. Croatia 18 working days. Saturdays can be incuded even if company offices are not open on Saturdays. This is left for employers and employees to agree. Czech Republic 4 weeks Colombia 14 days Denmark 6 weeks, of which 5 days can be "sold" back to the employer - omsorgsdage (carer’s leave). Dominican Republic 14 work days after one year employment, 20 work days after 5 years employment. Estonia 28 calendar days European Union 4 weeks, more in some countries Ecuador 14 days Finland 35 days France 5 weeks[1] (+ 2 weeks of RTT (Reduction du Temps de Travail, in English : Reduction of Working Time) according to the contract) Germany 29 days on average, depending on collective labor agreements for the industry or individual contracts. By law only 4 working weeks are required though. In addition 9 to 13 public holidays; plus sick, pregnancy, mothership and personal leave Greece 20 working days or more depending of the years in the company Hong Kong 7 days Hungary 20 working days Ireland 4 working weeks (20 days if working full time), plus 9 public holidays India 60 Days Israel 14 days Italy 20-32 working days (exact amount depends on contract details) plus 12 public holidays Japan including sick leave: 18 days paid time off; officially, five weeks (in reaction to the karoshi problem) Korea, South 10 working days Latvia 4 weeks Malaysia Starts at 8 days for first 2 years employment with an employer. Increases to 12 days for between 2 and 5 years employment and 16 days for 5 or more years. Plus about 14 public holidays (depends on state). Mexico 7 days Netherlands 4 weeks New Zealand 4 weeks as of April 1, 2007 Norway 25 working days Pakistan 15 working days Paraguay 14 days Peru 14 days Poland 20 business days, 26 business days after 10 years of employment Portugal 22 working days, up to 25 without work absences in previous year. Puerto Rico 15 days Romania minimum 21 working days Russia 28 calendar days[2] Saudi Arabia 30 days Serbia 20 working days minimum + 1 day extra for every 2 years of service (this extra is optional, employer can choose not to do that) Singapore 14 days Slovakia 20 days, 25 days after 15 years of employment South Africa 21 consecutive days Spain 30 calendar days Sweden 25-32 working days, depending on age Switzerland 28 calendar days (= 20 work days) Taiwan 7 days Turkey 12 work days Tunisia 30 work days Ukraine 24 calendar days United Kingdom 4 working weeks, with no additional entitlement for bank holidays. Increases to 4.8 weeks from 1st October 2007, and to 5.6 weeks from 1st April 2009.[3] United States none[4] Uruguay 14 days Venezuela 15 paid days Vietnam 10 working days. [edit] See also Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Vacation Furlough Labour and employment law List of vacation resorts Long service leave Luxury resorts Sick leave Tourism Volunteer Vacation [edit] Sources ^ http://www.thinkandask.com/2005/10191vacations.html ^ See http://www.ilo.org/dyn/natlex/docs/WEBTEXT/60535/65252/E01RUS01.htm#chap19, chapters 114 and 155 or http://www.tk-rf.com/glava19.html (in Russian). ^ http://www.dti.gov.uk/employment/holidays/faq/index.html ^ US law does not require employers to grant any vacation or holidays and about 25% of all employees receive no vacation time or holidaysNo-Vacation Nation. For employees that do receive vacation, 10 working days with 8 national holidays is fairly standard. Members of the US Armed Services earn a total of 30 vacation days a year, not including national holidays.