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Through Mercer’s own extensive global presence, we collect and analyse data and insights that LGBT Benefits Vacation and Other Leave Severance Pay Policies help companies take the actions Around The World Policies Around The World Around The World necessary to support their human WORKFORCE & CAREERS capital strategies. You can order any of the publications below by clicking on the title links or by visiting www.imercer.com/global. Global Compensation Global Compensation Global Pay Summary International Geographic Planning Report Planning Report Salary Differentials FULL ACCESS TO ALL 20 Year Look Back GLOBAL PUBLICATIONS Subscribe to our Talent All Access® Portal for exclusive online access to our entire suite of publications and Short-Term Incentives Total Employment Costs Workforce Turnover tools. Around the World Around the World Around the World HANDBOOKS & GUIDES Compensation Global Mobility HR Management Terms Handbook Handbook HR Guide to Doing HR Atlas Asia Pacific Business SAMPLE PUBLICATIONS GLOBAL INTRODUCTION Paid vacation leave is far from a luxury. In the CREATING A WIN-WIN THAT modern employment landscape, this particular ACTUALLY WORKS benefit is an absolutely integral part of most companies’ workforce management strategy. As with other employee benefit areas, leave programs should Counter-intuitive as it may seem, offering be a win for both the employer and employees. A scenario in which employees are overworked is just as detrimental to an employees an opportunity to spend time away organization as the one in which managers are left shorthanded. from the office while maintaining compensation Though the solution may seem as simple as arriving at the right can actually improve an organization’s efficiency, number of days, today’s HR managers must create policies that production, and overall well-being. Indeed, work in practice. This means that instead of deciding to offer an employee sabbatical program, they must create policies employees that spend time away from the office that enable employees to actually take a sabbatical and return are often more engaged with their work, more to work effectively. At the end of the day, leave programs — collaborative, and more likely to contribute to a vacation, sick leave, sabbaticals, volunteer leave, and so on — positive workplace for all. should allow employees to refuel, deal with personal issues that encroach on everyday life, and remain engaged while at work. However, creating and instituting a successful annual leave program is about more than deciding on a number of days. For NONTRADITIONAL LEAVES instance, any corporation with a multinational footprint must consider how local regulations and statutes dictate the number One facet of a leave policy that complicates matters for HR of days for any given type of leave, and some organizations professionals is the sheer variety leaves. In addition to national are compelled to ask whether they might be better served by and corporate holidays, employees may be away on vacation offering employees an unlimited number of paid leave days. As leave, personal leave, sick leave, bereavement leave, marriage the push for top talent in the tech and start-up sectors spawns leave, study leave, sabbatical, or any number of other offerings revolutionary new approaches to vacation policies, HR managers that employers may grant their employees. How might employers around the world must determine how these new solutions fit discern between and parse out these types of leave to their into their own organization’s employee value proposition. employees, and how does an organization offer each distinct policy? For instance, if employers wish to offer a separate allocation of sick and personal leave days, what administrative © 2017 MERCER LLC. SAMPLEVACATION AND OTHER LEAVE POLICIES AROUND THE WORLD 5 INTRODUCTION support and tracking mechanisms do they need to implement these programs? Some companies, recognizing this headache, have elected to adopt an “unlimited” annual leave policy that grants employees as much time away from the office as they need. Sounds simple, but these policies bring their own headaches. Navigating these waters can be more difficult than one might expect, but doing so correctly can save hours of needless work. THINK IT OVER There are several considerations for every employer to consider when devising their annual leave policy: ► What types of leaves are required in the various countries in which my organization is active? ► How do my company’s annual leave policies compare to those of my competitors? ► Should my company create a global employee leave program, or should we allow each country or region to determine its own policy? ► Which types of leave are most important to my specific workforce? ► How might a generous or miserly annual leave policy impact my company’s ability to attract and retain top talent? © 2017 MERCER LLC. SAMPLEVACATION AND OTHER LEAVE POLICIES AROUND THE WORLD 6 INTRODUCTION REPORT STRUCTURE REGIONAL RESULTS The 2017 Vacation and Other Leave Policies Around the World Each regional section provides critical information for those publication provides human resources (HR) and business looking to learn more about specific countries or markets. managers hard-to-find and current information on the amount The regional sections contain country pages with an overview and types of leave that most organizations provide to their of statutory requirements for that market, as well as national employees. Drawing on a global survey of more than 2,000 survey results for each type of leave policy. submissions, the report offers a county-by-country analysis of trends in common and emerging types of leave, including Individual country pages include: prevalence data, number of leave days, and potential upcoming changes. Statutory Requirements The report also includes information on each country’s statutory ► Annual Leave Policies leave requirements as mandated by law, thereby ensuring that readers have a complete sense of the vacation and other leave ► Unlimited Leave Days landscape for all markets in the publication. The report includes the following sections: ► Vacation Days SUMMARY OF KEY FINDINGS ► Personal Days Sick Leave This section provides an overview of global survey results and ► trends. Offering an executive summary-type synopsis, the Holidays section is optimal for anyone looking for regional variations ► in policies, global vacation policy trends, and other notable Other Leave Policies takeaways from the data collected in Mercer’s global survey. ► © 2017 MERCER LLC. SAMPLEVACATION AND OTHER LEAVE POLICIES AROUND THE WORLD 7 INTRODUCTION ABOUT THIS REPORT This section delineates the methods of data-gathering and cleaning used for the report and lists key definitions. It is composed of the following subsections: ► Methodology includes data sources used to compile this report and other details on calculations and assumptions. ► Glossary provides definitions for many of the terms used throughout this report, including the career levels reported for some questions.