Dive Brief:
- Social workplace benefits for employees in Europe are typically perceived as more generous than in the U.S. Glassdoor pulled together social benefits data from 14 key European neighboring economies plus the U.S. to establish which countries offer what provisions for employees, and which are most generous.
- The new report, conducted in cooperation with Llewellyn Consulting, reveals that the countries offering the most generous workplace and welfare benefits overall are Denmark, France and Spain, with Denmark and Belgium in particular offering the best unemployment benefits (pay and eligibility period).
- There are some eye-opening differences. For example, the Glassdoor research found that Denmark is the ‘best’ place in Europe to be unemployed, with residents receiving 90 percent of previous earnings granted for up to 104 weeks. By comparison, the U.S.offers between 40% and 50% of earnings for up to 26 weeks, depending on the individual state.
Dive Insight:
How about paid sick leave? In the Netherlands workers can be absent for up to 104 weeks and receive 70% of their salary for the whole period.
Regarding non-paid maternity leave, the UK is easily the most generous at 52 weeks, with Ireland right behind at 42 weeks. But when it comes to paid maternity leave, in Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Spain new mothers get 100% of previous earnings for the entire period. In the UK, 39 of the 52 weeks are paid, the first six weeks at 90% of earnings, and the remainder at up to about £140 per week.
U.S. employers face different political and economic climes than their European counterparts, but there has been some movement toward increased benefits during the past year, particularly paid parental leave and paid sick leave. In a job seeker's market, such benefits are gathering more attention as ways to retain talent.
