Malta tops the list for public holidays and leave entitlement, compared to other European Union countries. Malta has 14 public holidays and an annual leave entitlement of 24.

A recent ruling by the International Labour Organisation has reopened the debate on the issue of public holidays/annual leave entitlement, with the General Workers Union claiming victory and urging the government to reverse its decision, taken in early 2005, while the Malta Employers’ Association (MEA) is calling on the government to reduce the number of public holidays.

The union is claiming that the government violated conventions it had ratified when it amended the law regarding public holidays, effectively not offering additional vacation leave for public holidays falling on a weekend. However, the MEA said the government should take action to fulfil its stated objective of increasing productivity by reducing the number of public holidays.

A report by the British Trade Unions Congress shows that when one combines annual leave with public holidays, Malta jointly takes top spot with Austria at 38 days (13+25). This is followed by Finland at 37 (12+25), Sweden and France at 36 (11+25), Portugal 34-36 days (12-14+22) and Denmark at 34.5 (9.5+25).

The countries at the other end of the scale are Holland with 28 days (8+20), Ireland at 29 days (9+20) and Belgium at 30 (10+20). The UK is bottom of the list, with only 20 days in total as, due to a loophole in its legislation, the eight bank

holidays can be deducted from the annual leave entitlement of 20 days.

In between, are Germany with 29-32 days (9-12+20), Greece and Spain 32-34 days (10-12+22) and (12-14+20) respectively. The average for the EU-15 is 33 days, five days fewer than the number Malta currently enjoys.

Malta is sixth in a ranking of annual leave entitlement in the EU-25, according to the European Industrial Relations Observatory.

The majority of countries (19 out of 28) have a 20-day minimum entitlement, as laid down in the EU working time directive – this group includes all the new member states (except Malta) and candidate countries. Five countries have a 25-day minimum (Austria, Denmark, France, Sweden and Luxembourg), while the entitlement is 24 days in Malta, 22 in Portugal and Spain, and 21 in Norway (which is not in the EU).

Average collectively-agreed annual leave exceeds the statutory minimum of 20 by four or more days in the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Holland, Norway, Romania, Sweden and the UK – indicating that the law acts essentially as a safety net in these countries, says the European Industrial Relations Observatory. Average collectively-agreed annual leave and the statutory minimum are close or the same in Austria, France and Cyprus, indicating a more active role for the law.

Malta is also close to the “average of weekly working time in the Civil Service” at 40 hours per week, alongside 10 other EU-27 countries (Bulgaria and Romania included) and Norway, according to the same source. The lowest figure is Italy, at 32.9 hours, followed by France, Portugal and Spain at 35 hours.

In 2004 in the EU-15 and Norway, the longest weekly hours in the civil service (40) were found in Austria, Luxembourg and Sweden, and the shortest in Italy (32.9). The range, at over seven hours a day, is rather wider than for overall average weekly hours across the whole economy in these countries.

Working hours in the civil service were significantly lower than the national whole-economy average in Italy, Spain, Greece and Portugal, and to a lesser extent in Finland, Holland, Belgium and the UK.

However, hours in the civil service were higher than the national average in Austria, Luxembourg, Germany and Sweden. Overall, the average agreed working week in the civil service, at 37.1 hours, was 0.8 hours below the overall average of 37.9.

With regard to the new member states, the average weekly hours in the civil service stood at 39.4 hours in 2004 – 2.3 hours above the EU/Norway average. There were no changes from 2003 to 2004. Average weekly hours in the civil service in Cyprus and Slovakia were slightly above the average for the EU-15, while a 40-hour week is the norm elsewhere (ie 2.9 hours higher than in the EU-15), as it is in Bulgaria and Romania.

In Cyprus and Slovakia, weekly hours in the civil service are below the whole-economy average and in the Czech Republic they are above average, while in the other countries they are average

The average collectively-agreed working hours in Malta are also at the top with 40 hours alongside another 10 EU-27 countries and Norway. At the bottom of the list comes France at 35 hours followed by Germany, the UK, Holland, Finland and Norway at around 37 hours per week.