The ‘time off’ Bahrain

Which country gets the most time off?

If one of those advanced economies pops up in your mind, try giving it a second thought, as you might be terribly wrong here. Because, all those big names in Europe, and the US, simply lags behind Bahrain when it comes to ranking country’s workplace generosity, says a new statistics. In fact, the United States is the only advanced economy in the world that does not guarantee its workers paid vacation. The ranking is based on an analysis of time-off policies in 196 countries’ by Resume.io, a resume writing service, using data from the World Policy Analysis Center, the International Labour Organization and Globalization Partners.

What makes Bahrain outstanding is a combination of 30 annual paid vacation days and 19 paid public holidays allotted to employees per year. In total, Bahrain allows its more than 1.4 million residents 49 days off per year, which is also the largest amount of paid leave a person anywhere in the world is guaranteed. According to a report by Center for Economic and Policy Research, European countries establish legal rights to at least 20 days of paid vacation per year, with legal requirement of 25 and even 30 or more days in some countries.

Australia and New Zealand both require employers to grant at least 20 vacation days per year; Canada and Japan mandate at least 10 paid days off. The report also states that the gap between paid time off in the United States and the rest of the world is even larger if we include legally mandated paid holidays, where the United States offers none, but most of the rest of the world’s rich countries offer between five and 13 paid holidays per year. So, now it is clear why Bahrain shines and takes the crown in workplace generosity.

And according to a CNBC report, only Azerbaijan and Cambodia give the same or more days. Bahrain also has plenty of friends in this regard in its neighbourhood in the form of the United Arab Emirates, Oman, and Kuwait. Countries that grant workers zero paid leave include Sri Lanka, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Pakistan, the Philippines, and India, the CEPR report says. India, however, offers its employees 20 paid public holidays.

This simply means that for the majority of the nations, each individual company operating there will have to set its own guidelines, when it comes to offering a vacation-time for their employees.

Bahrain far ahead

Here in Bahrain, the Civil Service Bureau have issued clear cut instructions. It states, “The prescribed annual leave, with full pay, for all employees is 30 working days per annum which means 1.5 days per month.

Employees may carry forward leave days into the following year however total leave days must not exceed 75 days.” The bureau also states that weekends and official holidays are not included in the leave bank for employee annual leave. Upon the resignation of any employee, the outstanding leave days will be paid bearing in mind that the total annual leave balance does not exceed the permissible limit. The calculation will be based on the current salary, the bureau states. The bureau further clears that “Employees cannot be on the job for more than two consecutive years without going out on annual leave not be less than 22 working days in total.”

The leave balance also includes sick days and a total of 30 days holiday of no pay. According to Salahuddin Ajlan, the Director General of Policies and Wages at the Civil Service Bureau, “Vacations payable to employees vary by type and duration of employment. Where permanent staff are entitled to annual, sick and personal leave. While annual and sick leave and the death of a relative apply to temporary and contract employment.”

“In addition, part-time employees are entitled to a close death leave and sick leave based on an approved medical certificate, according to the rules and conditions approved by the Civil Service for such leave; and in accordance with the provisions of the executive regulations of the civil service law, as well as limits and periods specified in these instructions.”