The current status of work-life balance for employees around the world

To find out, Access People gathered data on the current status of the work-life balance of employees in countries around the world. 

Considering factors included:

• the number of paid annual leave days
• the number of bank holidays
• the amount of fully paid maternity and paternity leave days
• four-day working week and flexible work policies

We then calculate an index score out of 100 for each country, to demonstrate which country has the best work-life balance.

Globally, the report has revealed that when looking at which country has the best work-life balance, Spain comes out on top, when compared to other countries on the list. It is followed by France, Kazakhstan, and Lithuania. See the full top 10 countries for work life balance below, along with their index scores out of 100.

The top 10 countries with best work-life balance:

1. Spain (57.92)
2. France (54.89)
3. Kazakhstan (52.63)
4. Lithuania (52.16)
5. Iceland (52.09)
6. Japan (50.43)
7. Norway (49.36)
8. Luxembourg (48.49)
9. New Zealand (48.30)
10. Austria (47.83)

The high index score that Spain achieved in the report is, in part, a result of their generous maternity and paternity leave offering. Each parent is entitled to 112 days of leave, receiving their full wage for the entire duration. The country also has 14 annual bank holidays, the third highest of all countries on the list. These entitlements to additional leave are prime examples of work life balance practices that support employees.

Despite ranking high on many counts, Spain has no official four-day working week policy in place for employees, which could be something the government looks to integrate in the future.

The highest-ranking country with a four-day working week policy issued by the government is France, which came second on the list. This is despite the fact that they do not offer workers their full wage during maternity or paternity leave.

Although France doesn’t legally enforce a four-day workweek, the 35-hour workweek law that originated in 2000 means that it is easy for businesses to adopt a four-day working week, with four 8-hour days equating to 32 hours of work per week. France’s Labor Ministry says that 10,000 workers in France already work a four-day week, as a result of this.

Iceland, Lithuania, Japan and Kazakhstan, also have legislation for four-day working weeks in place.

In sixth place, Norway was found to offer the highest number of fully paid maternity leave days (343). This maternity leave offering may be split between the mother and father, if they wish to do so, but the three weeks before the expected due date and six weeks after the birth are reserved for the mother.

Meanwhile, mothers in Luxembourg and New Zealand are also able to take a generous number of fully paid maternity leave days - 140 and 182 respectively.

While most countries within the top 10 countries with best work-life balance (and the index as a whole) don’t offer fully paid paternity leave, Spain and New Zealand are the most generous with up to 112 and 42 days available to new fathers, respectively.

The highest number of paid annual leave days per year within the top 10, and the index as a whole, can be found in Austria, where workers are entitled to take a minimum of 30 days of annual leave per year. Meanwhile, Luxembourg, Norway and France also offer a higher number of annual leave days than average, leading to their high scores within the top 10 of the index.

A country-specific deep dive

Access People’s research revealed that there are numerous different factors which influence the work-life balance of employees within a country.

Different countries have different HR policies, varying greatly in terms of minimum amount of paid annual leave days, the number of paid annual bank holidays, and the number of maternity and paternity leave days where workers receive a full wage.

Some countries also have four day working week policies in place, while all 40 countries on the list have some form of flexible work legislation, including government guidelines allowing workers to choose to work remotely if they wish to do so, as well as being able to work flexi-time in certain circumstances.

Annual leave days highest in Austria and Brazil

Austria and Brazil were the two countries which were found to offer the highest minimum number of days of annual leave, at 30 days per year. These were followed by Pakistan, which offers 28 days of annual leave, and Luxembourg, where residents are entitled to 26 days.

Meanwhile, the country which offers the lowest number of annual leave days that residents are entitled to take is China, with them receiving a minimum of 5 days of annual leave for their first year at a company. This increases to 10 in the subsequent year.

Mexico, Malaysia and Japan were also countries which ranked at the bottom of the list for annual leave, offering 6, 8 and 10 days respectively.

Annual leave is vital for a healthy, happy and performing workforce – and it’s important that staff are not only offered an adequate amount to prevent burnout, but that they are also encouraged to take every day on offer to them. The Access Group’s study found that, in the last year, annual leave days taken have dropped by 8%.

South Korea and Japan have the most national bank holidays

The majority of countries within the index have between 10 and 14 paid bank holidays per year, with those ranking at the top of the list, including Spain and Iceland, offering employees 14 bank holidays per year, alongside countries such as Malta and Lithuania which appear outside of the top 10.

Japan and South Korea were found to have the highest number of paid bank holidays - 16 - despite ranking in the lower half of the index. However, elsewhere in Asia, India was found to have the lowest number - 3 per year - slightly behind Switzerland, which has 4, and Canada, which has 5.

Six countries have widely adopted a four-day working week

Of the 40 countries analysed, six have implemented a four-day working week nationwide or put policies in place to give workers the right to choose to work four days if they wish to do so. These countries - Iceland, Lithuania, Kazakhstan, France, Japan and Belgium - found themselves ranked in the top half of the index of countries with the best work life balance as a result of this.

The policies around the four-day working week vary from country to country. In Belgium, all workers can legally complete the hours that would make up their standard, five-day workweek in four days, if they wish to do so. Meanwhile, in Lithuania a four-day work week rule began in 2022, only applying to new parents.

While Iceland doesn’t have any legislation imposed by the government, one of the longest and most robust four-day working week trials took place in the country, which led to significant change. Since then, nearly 90% of the working population have reduced their working hours, in line with the four-day working week, despite no official legislation.

In 2021, Japan recommended that companies should let staff work 4 day weeks in their annual economic policy, but this is ultimately the company’s decision whether they choose to offer this to their workers. Similarly, in Kazakhstan legislation allows employers to offer employees the option to work four-day weeks, alongside other flexible working arrangements, if they wish to do so.

There are many other countries, including the UK, who have trialled a four-day working week in some form. However, their governments are yet to put any official policy in place at this point in time, leaving it up to the company to decide whether they want to implement a four day working week based on the results of the trial. Most full-time roles still operate on a five-day week.

Norway has the most generous fully paid maternity leave

Looking at the countries which offer fully-paid maternity leave to their workers, Norway came out on top, with a generous 343 days for mothers. It was followed by Croatia, New Zealand and India, who all offer 182 days, and Poland and Luxembourg, who both offer 140 days.

The index specifically looked at fully-paid maternity leave days, but many countries in Scandinavia, such as Sweden and Finland, did not pay full wage for maternity leave. This explains why these countries ranked lower on this factor, despite widely being regarded as having generous maternity benefits, due to the high number of days that can be taken.

When taking maternity leave, these countries instead offer a percentage of their typical salary or a baseline amount, fixed by legislation within the country. For example, in the UK, 90% of someone’s salary is paid to them during their initial period of maternity leave, and in Australia, the weekly rate is based on the national minimum wage.

Spain offers the most generous fully paid paternity leave

Similarly to maternity leave, many countries on the list do not offer full pay during paternity leave periods. Some do not offer paternity leave at all, while many countries on the list do offer paternity leave to workers, but it is often unpaid, or with a partial wage for the duration of leave.

For example, countries such as the UK, the USA and Australia do not offer fully paid paternity leave, as well as some of the countries within the top 10, including Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Iceland and Norway.

In the UK, employees are entitled to one to two weeks of paid paternity leave, which can begin after the child’s birth, and must end within the 52 weeks since birth. This leave cannot be used before the child is born, and employees receive statutory paternity pay of £184.03, or 90.00% of their average weekly salary.

As the country with best work-life balance in our report, Spain was also at the top of the list for paternity leave offerings. As well as offering new mothers 112 days of fully-paid leave, it also offers the same to new fathers, a rare benefit when compared to other countries on the list.

Luxembourg has the highest quality of life

According to quality of life scores, Luxembourg has the highest quality of life of the countries within the index, followed by the Netherlands and Denmark. Meanwhile, Pakistan, Kazakhstan and Brazil received the lowest scores for quality of life, sitting at the bottom of the index for this factor.

Personal preferences influence the factors that play a role in the quality of life, but people often feel that financial security, job satisfaction, family life, social connections, health, and safety all contribute. If the country that you are living in has a high quality of life, employee well-being is promoted, and in turn, this can reduce stress and improve job satisfaction, leading to a better work-life balance for employees.

Pakistan and India offer the most affordable prices

Despite ranking lowly for quality of life, Pakistan came out as the most affordable country to live in, followed by India. Argentina, Malaysia and Kazakhstan also followed closely behind. Meanwhile, Nordic countries such as Switzerland, Iceland, Norway and Denmark were found to be the most expensive countries to live in, indicated by their high cost of living scores.

The cost of living crisis has affected employee satisfaction around the world, as people increasingly feel their salary isn’t able to cover their expenses in their day-to-day lives. However, in countries where the cost of living is low, people are likely to feel that they have a better work-life balance, with enough disposable income to afford to enjoy their time away from work.

Index scores: The top 40 countries for work-life balance

1. Spain (57.92)
2. France (54.89)
3. Kazakhstan (52.63)
4. Lithuania (52.16)
5. Iceland (52.09)
6. Japan (50.43)
7. Norway (49.36)
8. Luxembourg (48.49)
9. New Zealand (48.30)
10. Austria (47.83)
11. Portugal (47.80)
12. Croatia (47.18)
13. Belgium (46.44)
14. Brazil (45.06)
15. Poland (44.77)
16. Pakistan (44.49)
17. Denmark (43.50)
18. Finland (42.93)
19. Sweden (42.23)
20. Malta (41.24)
21. Netherlands (41.05)
22. Germany (39.71)
23. South Korea (39.65)
24. Cyprus (39.23)
25. South Africa (39.22)
26. Hungary (37.87)
27. Greece (37.37)
28. Argentina (37.03)
29. Italy (36.77)
30. Malaysia (36.64)
31. Romania (34.86)
32. Ireland (34.63)
33. Australia (34.43)
34. United Kingdom (34)
35. India (33.81)
36. United States of America (33.12)
37. China (30.75)
38. Mexico (30.55)
39. Switzerland (37.68)
40. Canada (35.53)

Why was the UK near the bottom of the index?

Since many people in the UK are exploring opportunities to work abroad, this could reflect the country’s position in the index.

Coming in at number 34 in our list, the UK was in the bottom 10 of the report, signifying that employee work-life-balance in the UK is poor when compared to other countries around the world.

In terms of minimum number of days of annual leave, and number of bank holidays, the UK scored in the middle of the list, with 20 days of annual leave and 8 bank holidays. In particular, the number of bank holidays is low in comparison to other countries on the list, many of which offer between 10 and 14 to their workers.

Despite trialing a four-day working week, it is still most common for full-time UK employees to be working 5 days a week, but flexible working can be seen across the workforce, with the majority of businesses offering employees the opportunity to follow a hybrid working pattern and work remotely for a portion of the week, following the pandemic.

The UK’s maternity and paternity leave offerings also caused it to fall short in the rankings, since it does not offer employees their full wage during this time. Mothers receive Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) for up to 39 weeks at the rate of 90% of their average weekly earnings and £184.03 or 90% of the employee’s average weekly earnings - whichever is lower - for the remaining 33 weeks, if they choose to take the full 52 weeks which are on offer. Fathers are entitled to two weeks of paternity leave, at this same rate of pay.

The UK scored averagely on both quality of life and cost of living when compared to the other countries on the list, causing it to fall in the middle section of the list on these factors. But ultimately, the fact that a full wage is not offered during maternity and paternity leave, as well as the lack of legislation on the four-day working week, are the reasons that the UK found itself in the bottom half of the index.

How can businesses improve employee work-life balance?

Everyone seeks a good work-life balance, but how can businesses identify the common causes of poor work-life balance and rectify them to improve employees’ health, happiness, and productivity?

A healthy work-life balance will look different to everyone, which is where HR software can help companies to identify what areas they can improve on, and what they are capable of offering logistically.

HR tools can also help businesses to spot recurring problems, helping determine whether they may need to revise current policies in place to improve work-life balance, employee engagement and retention.

These tools might not match your immediate needs and as your business grows and develops, it can be hard to keep up with how each individual employee is faring in terms of their wellbeing.

But the right software can help to: 

• Engage employees.
• Help to manage workload.
• Encourage staff to book holidays to reduce burnout.
• Send prompts for booking days off to personal devices.
• Identify unengaged employees and understand their reasons.
• Help with improving time management.
• Reduce administrative burden.
• Prevent burnout.

Methodology

Access People looked at the minimum amount of paid annual leave days, the number of paid annual bank holidays, the number of maternity and paternity leave days receiving a full wage, the number of sick leave days receiving a full wage, whether four day working week policies or flexible work policies are in place, and quality of life and cost of living scores.

The data was sourced from Vacation Tracker, Rivermate, PapayaGlobal, and Numbeo.

Data correct as of May 2024.

About The Access Group 

The Access Group is one of the largest UK-headquartered providers of business management software to small and mid-sized organisations in the UK, Ireland, USA and Asia Pacific. It helps more than 100,000 customers across commercial and non-profit sectors become more productive and efficient. Its innovative cloud solutions transform how business software is used, giving every employee the freedom to do more of what’s important to them. Founded in 1991, The Access Group employs approximately 6,800 people.

www.theaccessgroup.com