The best way to keep employees happy and motivated is to ensure they receive benefits. This helps keep company morale high while encouraging more people to join the team. After all, every business wants to minimize its turnover rate, doesn’t it?
Each country must, by law, follow a certain set of guidelines to ensure that employees get some benefits. We have made a list of some of the countries with the most generous employee benefits in the world.
Statutory Sick Pay (SSP)
An important factor when determining employee benefits is statutory sick pay or SSP, and is a payment that employees receive when they cannot work because of an illness. It is usually provided if an eligible employee needs to take four or more consecutive days off from work to stay home and recover from the sickness.
Even though there is a set rate by law that determines the amount each employer must pay their employee in times of sickness, some companies go above and beyond to pay their employees more, especially if the workplace has its own sick leave pay scheme.
The Best Country for Statuary Sick Pay for Employees
Not every country has made SSP a requirement by law. This means that companies are allowed to make their own rules. Here are some of the best countries that pay their workers for each week that they call in sick to work:
- Switzerland
- Liechtenstein
- Norway
- Australia
- Luxembourg
The countries listed above give their employees ample time to recover from an illness. Since otherwise, employees would rush back to work, even if they are still sick. This can cause other coworkers to fall ill, increasing stress and burnout and interrupting work productivity. If you want to ensure that your operations keep functioning and progressing, it is always a good idea to allow your workers to take time off from work when they fall sick.
Paid Annual Leave
Another employee benefit that is attractive to workers is the number of paid annual leave days they receive from their workplace. According to research, each employee must receive a set rest period. This helps improve wellness and mood while reducing stress and increasing productivity. After a vacation, most workers come back newly motivated and ready to dive back into the business.
Below are some countries that offer the highest number of paid annual leave days to their employees:
- UK and Lithuania- 28 days
- Sweden, Luxembourg, Finland, France, Denmark, Austria- 25 days
- Iceland- 24 days
- Spain and Portugal- 22 days
- Norway- 21 days
Parental Leave
Parental leave is essential for the mother and the father when they have a new baby. It gives them enough time to recover from childbirth, adjust to their new life, and bond with their child without having any work-related troubles or worries. Parental leave also allows parents to figure out childcare and daycare for when they go back to work.
Here are some of the countries that provide the highest number of paternal leave days:
- Estonia- 166 days
- Slovak Republic- 164 days
- Finland- 161 days
- Hungary- 160 days
- Czech Republic- 110 days
If you want to know more about employee laws around the world, click here.
