The indicator shows how many holiday days every employee has taken on an average in one calendar year. Leave includes both the number of holiday days, as well as additional free days approved by the employer and maternity leave.
The number of days actually taken is not the same as holiday entitlement.
Number of leave days actually taken
In the context of the pandemic, the number of leave days taken has increased. While employees took 30.9 days off in 2019, the number of leave days taken increased to 32.4 days in 2020. In 2021, the number of leave days taken was also above average at 32.1 days. The number of leave days taken regressed slightly on 31.8 days in 2022.
The increase in leave days actually taken was caused by days lost due to parental absences resulting from school and daycare closures, border closures, and employee quarantine orders.
While at the beginning of the pandemic, the use of vacation and flexitime credits may have played a major role, other leave arrangements were increasingly used as the pandemic progressed, which were expanded during the course of the pandemic.
Information on the Indicator
Description of definition
Average number of leave days actually taken per calendar year and employee.
Source
IAB (Institute for Employment and Research) – Labour Volume Accounting
Information for interpretation
The values refer to leave days available to each employee on average.
For methodological information on the IAB Labour Volume Accounting please refer to the website of the Institute for Employment Research (IAB).