Around the world, workers are given different rights. These range from the right to organize protests and participate in trade unions, to working in safe conditions and overtime pay. This article explores 5 countries that have the best employment laws from the perspective of the employee with top global rankings in terms of rights of workers, based on their labor traditions and violation of labor rights.
1. Austria
Even though Austria does not have any minimum wage law, some sectors such as domestic and education, provide a minimum wage to their workers. When it comes to the number of paid holidays, Austrian workers are lucky- they get an overall of 43 days off from work, and that’s not even counting parental leave! Moreover, the country is very inclusive of disabled workers, where their employment figures can count one disabled worker out of every 25 employees.
2. Belgium
Belgium is another country that helps protect its workers. There is no set minimum wage, so different sectors decide what the minimum wage should be per worker. However, as compared to other European countries, Belgium has the highest wages. Belgium can, however, do a better job with its parental leave statutes. Compared to other countries in the region who have been known to offer leave days numbering in the hundreds, Belgium only allows three months of maternity leave and ten days of paternity leave.
3. Denmark
Even though there is no cross-sector minimum wage, the wages and salaries of workers are decided via collective agreements. The law in Denmark does not allow any kind of discrimination in terms of hiring specific workers or terminating contracts because workers are a part of trade unions. In Denmark, each worker is allowed 25 days of paid holiday leave per year.
4. Finland
A country known for its employee-friendly employment laws, Finland is famous for the number of parental leave days offered to workers. Employees are entitled to 105 weekdays of paid maternity leave, and fathers are permitted 54 days of paid paternity leave. According to the new reform to parental leave law, parents will be able to enjoy 164 days of paid parental leave, effective 2021. Parents will have the right to transfer 69 days from their own quota to the other parent. Finland also allows freedom for workers to create and join trade unions and promotes a healthy environment at work. Even though there is no minimum wage system in Finland, workers are encouraged to come up with fair collective agreements with each of their sectors.
5. Germany
In Germany, worker’s rights are a necessity. That is why Germany is a country with some of the best employment laws in the world. Here, workers are allowed a minimum of 20 days off from work each year.
Germany is also among the top five countries for minimum wage, coming out at EUR 9.35 per hour. Mothers are entitled to 13 weeks of paid maternity leave, including six weeks off that they can take before delivery. Fathers are also allowed to share a three-year leave with their partners. This means that together, parents can figure out a balance in order to be with their child until the age of three.
To learn more about employment laws and compliance in a specific country, click here
