28.08.09 Poles work more than most EU nations
Poles spend more time working than any other EU nation except Romanians, shows a report conducted by Eurofound.
The European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions has analyzed collective agreements in the EU members states and found out that the average working week in the EU was 40.4 hours in 2008, which is a little more than 8 hours a day. The average working month in the EU was 25.2 days.
However, some European countries, including Poland (41.7 hours), have longer working hours. The longest working weeks are found in Romania (41.8 hours), Poland, the Czech Republic and Latvia (41.7 hours). The shortest are in France (38.4 hours), Belgium (38.6 hours) and Ireland (38.9 hours).
There are substantial differences in working time between former EU member states and the majority of new EU member states. The average working week in the former EU countries was 39.9 hours in 2008 and in the new EU member states – 41 hours.
The amount of paid annual leave to which workers are entitled also varies considerably depending on a country. The average leave entitlement across the EU is 25.2 days. The average in the former EU member states and Norway stands at 26.5 days, the longest paid annual leave, 33 days, is in Sweden and the shortest, 20 days, in Poland, Estonia, Bulgaria and other new EU member states.
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04.06.10
