LATAM: Europe’s Vacation Benefits – Another Draw for Immigrants

By Tito Drago Reprint | | Print |

Tito Drago*

MADRID, Jan 2 2004 (IPS) - Immigrants from Latin America are drawn to the European Union not only because of the higher wages, but also due to more attractive vacation, maternity and other social benefits.

Even in a relatively better-off country like Argentina, for example, workers do not have the right to a full month of vacation until they have been in their job for 10 years.

And in Mexico workers may win the right to one month of vacation a year, but only after 25 years on the job, if a bill submitted in May by the left-leaning Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD) prospers.

In the EU, on the other hand, a 1993 provision stipulates that workers in all 15 member countries are entitled to a minimum of four weeks of vacation a year starting after one year of work in a private company or public entity.

But even that provision has been improved on in most European nations. In Denmark, the minimum is 40 days of vacation a year, in Finland 39, in Austria 38, and in Spain 36. The only country offering less than 30 days of vacation is Ireland, with 29 days, according to the International Labour Organisation (ILO).

Some Latin American countries, like Cuba, Brazil or Uruguay, offer similar benefits: a month off every year.

And in Chile and Venezuela, employees have the right to 15 working days off (around three weeks) from their first year on the job.

Vacation benefits for workers date back to an agreement between trade unions and companies in England in 1872.

But it took half a century for paid vacation to begin to be provided in Latin America. The first country in the region to make annual vacation obligatory was Brazil, under a law enacted in 1920.

The United States, the world’s sole superpower, actually lags behind in terms of vacation benefits. Employees have the right to just 10 working days a year, which gradually increases to four weeks by the time a worker has 15 years of seniority.

According to the ILO, all countries should provide at least 20 working days a year after one year on the job, 21 days after five years, and 22 days after eight years.

But the differences are even greater when it comes to vacation bonuses. In some countries, like Chile, Cuba and Argentina, there is no additional pay, while workers in private companies – but not public employees – in Uruguay are entitled to a special year-end holiday payment.

In Brazil workers have the right to a vacation payment that amounts to one-third of their salary.

Mandatory vacation payments exist throughout Europe, and in Spain all workers receive, after their first year on the job, 15 monthly salaries a year, which includes the vacation payment. If the period of work is less than one year, the vacation bonus is proportional to the time worked.

There are also differences in terms of maternity leave. In Argentina, Chile and Uruguay, women are entitled to three months of paid leave, and in Venezuela women take 18 weeks, including six weeks of prenatal leave and 12 weeks after the birth.

In Europe, the average is 16 weeks.

In some countries, like Spain, the father also has the right to share in the parental leave, but at least seven of the 16 weeks must be used by the mother. After the leave is up, the mother also has the right to reduce her work schedule by up to three hours a day over the following two years, for which she takes the corresponding cut in pay.

In Cuba, the year-long parental leave can be taken by the mother or the father. But the full salary is only paid for the first three months, after which the parent on leave will receive 60 percent of their salary.

The socialist island nation also provides special bonus vacations for workers named as outstanding by their trade unions. The selected employees are offered paid vacations in hotels that cater to foreign tourists and are generally off-limits to Cubans.

The EU also draws large immigration currents from the Arab world, eastern Europe, Asia and Africa, where workers tend to enjoy more limited vacation benefits than in Latin America.

* Dalia Acosta and Patricia Grogg in Cuba, Gustavo González in Chile, Humberto Márquez in Venezuela, Darío Montero in Uruguay and Marcela Valente in Argentina contributed to this report.