The average working week in the EU is 39.7 hours and 39.5 hours in the euro zone, considering only the main job, not a second job or part-time work.
In Luxembourg, the average working week is 40.7 hours, in Germany – 40.6 hours, in Estonia and the United Kingdom – 40.5 hours, in Austria and Bulgaria – 40.3 hours, in the Czech Republic and Poland – 40.2 hours. Finland has the shortest working week, 37.8 hours, according to a report by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Eurofound).
The average collectively agreed normal workweek is 40 hours in Romania, the highest in the EU, and the same as in Hungary, Estonia, Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Greece, Luxembourg and Malta. France has the shortest average collectively agreed working week, of 35.6 hours.
Romania is next-to-last in the EU in terms of annual paid leave, 21 days. The last spot, with 20 days, is held by ten countries – Hungary, Estonia, Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Cyprus and Belgium. Employees in Germany, France and Denmark last year had the longest vacation, of 30 days.
Employees in Romania had the fewest free days on public holidays last year (excluding holidays falling on Sundays), only six, the same as in the Netherlands, which had five in 2010. Other countries where employees get paid leave of only 20 days had between seven and 12 free days on public holidays. Spain had 14 days, while Malta and Slovakia each had 12.