U.S. Gets Fewer Paid Vacation Days Than Almost Anywhere: Zero

A lot of American companies move their labor offshore to save on costs. But there is one expense that is greater in almost every other country: paid vacation.

Of 62 countries studied by Mercer, a human resources research and consulting organization, the U.S. is the only country without any statutory paid leave. Western Europe, unsurprisingly, offers the highest amount of paid time off; the U.K. government mandates 28 days, and France, Greece, Denmark, and many others follow closely behind at 25. Portugal ranks near the bottom with 21 days paid vacation, but it supplements that with 13 public holidays, which are also paid. That's over a month a year.