10 Countries with Most Holidays

Bangalore: India ranked 15th on the statutory holiday entitlements according to Mercer's Worldwide Benefit and Employment Guidelines, conducted for 62 countries. The survey was based on the number of statutory minimum holidays and number of Public holidays.

In India, the basis of statutory leave entitlement is as follows: any worker who has worked for at least 240 days in a calendar year becomes eligible for earned leave which he can enjoy in the subsequent year. In case of an adult, he/she becomes eligible for a day leave for every 20 days worked in previous year. In the Indian context the use of public holidays is not appropriate when dealing with private establishments as private establishments must observe national holidays (26 January, 15 August and 2 October) as well as holidays on major festivals. India, Malaysia and Thailand have the highest number of public holidays in the South Asian region.

The U.S. ranked the lowest on the list of holiday entitlement with no statutory holiday entitlement. Canada, Philippines, China and Thailand made their places on the bottom of the list too with entitlements of 19, 20, 21 and 22 days respectively.