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In 2022, we explored how working weeks varied across the globe—from generous annual leave in Europe to minimal sick leave provisions elsewhere. Fast forward to 2025, and the employment landscape has shifted once again, with new data revealing how well countries are protecting and rewarding their workforce.
This updated study analyses the latest global labour data to uncover which countries offer the best benefits for workers. We look at key factors like average weekly working hours, paid annual leave, paid public holidays, minimum wage, maternity and paternity leave, average salary, and labour rights protections.
We’ve ranked countries based on workers’ rights, the strength of their Labour Rights Index scores, and statutory entitlements to determine where in the world employees are best supported.
As the global conversation around workplace wellbeing and fair treatment grows louder, our research shows that real progress goes beyond just time off.
Forward-thinking employers are also offering meaningful benefits like group life insurance—an increasingly essential tool for protecting international teams and attracting top talent.
So, how do countries compare when it comes to supporting their workforce? Below, we break down the key data points to reveal which nations are leading the way in 2025.
Workers’ Rights Score: 8.48/10
Denmark ranks at the top globally for workers’ rights, scoring highly for its labour conditions, average salaries, and employee benefits. Denmark consistently ranks among the world’s top nations for protecting workers’ rights. In 2024, it had a Labour Rights Index (LRI) score of 93.5. This reflects its strong commitment to labour protections, high standards of employee welfare, and emphasis on work-life balance.
Denmark provides full legal protection for the right to organise and collective bargaining. In the Centre for Labour Research (CLR) 2024 Report, Denmark also achieved a perfect score of 100/100 in the freedom of association category. This is due to the country’s high levels of unionisation, where approximately 67% of workers are union members, and the broad collective bargaining coverage that extends to nearly four-fifths of employees.
The country is also a global leader in balancing work and lifestyle. The average employee works 27 hours per week, significantly lower than the average across our dataset (44 hours). Workers receive at least five weeks of paid holidays each year, with many receiving more through collective agreements.
Denmark also stands out in terms of maternity leave. Mothers are entitled to up to 18 weeks of leave, and this generous policy allows families plenty of flexibility in childcare arrangements.
Workers’ Rights Score: 8.44/10
According to the Centre for Labour Rights, Norway ranks second among the best countries for workers’ rights, earning a Labour Index (LRI) score of 94 out of 100 in 2024. The country offers full legal protections for freedom of association and collective bargaining, scoring a perfect 100 in that category.
Over half (52%) of Norwegian workers are union members, and over two-thirds of the workforce is covered by collective agreements. These agreements are important in maintaining fair wages and working conditions across sectors, especially as Norway does not have a statutory minimum wage.
Norway is one of the best countries for work-life balance, with the average full-time employee working around 33 hours per week. This relatively short workweek is central to Norwegian work culture and supports wellbeing and family life. The average gross annual salary in Norway is estimated to be around US$71,972 (€62,962/£53,292), among some of Europe’s highest.
Employees are entitled to full salary during illness for up to 16 days, after which, if conditions are met, the National Insurance Scheme provides benefits. This ensures employees can access income during medical absences and protects them from financial hardship caused by illness.
Workers’ Rights Score: 8.20/10
Austria ranks third among the top countries globally for workers’ rights and earned an LRI score of 92 out of 100 in 2024. Austria’s strong labour laws, high collective bargaining coverage, and long-standing partnership agreements between employers, trade unions, and the government reflect this.
According to the CLR 2024 Report, Austria scored a perfect 100, as it offers full protection of freedom of association and collective bargaining. Over a quarter of workers in Austria are union members. Roughly 98% of Austrian employees are covered by these agreements, which ensure good wage standards, working conditions, and benefits and serve as a substitute for a statutory minimum wage.
Workers in Austria enjoy a relatively short working week, with the average full-time employee working around 28 hours a week. This aligns with the nation’s commitment to work-life balance and the well-being of its workforce.
In terms of income, Austria offers its workers solid compensation to reflect the cost of living, and the average salary is approximately US$71,167 annually (£52,708/€62,472). While the country does not enforce a statutory minimum wage, most sectors have minimum pay rates by job classification for each industry. These typically ensure workers earn at least US$1,382 (£1,023/€1,200) monthly, depending on the industry and job level.
Greece and Hungary both scored 96/100 in the 2024 Labour Rights Index. They score highly on the Labour Rights Index thanks to strong, modern legal frameworks that align with international standards on union rights, collective bargaining, anti-discrimination, and safe working conditions.
Luxembourg’s high average annual salary is driven by its finance-based economy, strong wage protections, automatic indexing, and high public-sector and educational compensation. However, this can vary by industry. For example, hospitality workers earn far less, and low-skilled employees see much lower incomes despite the overall high average.
The UK leads worldwide in total job-protected maternity leave, offering a full year. This includes two weeks mandatory for the mother, and up to 50 of the remainder can be transferred to the father as shared paternity leave. Paid leave, while limited to 39 weeks, still places it third globally. The nation boasts one of the most flexible systems, thanks to its widespread coverage and transferability through shared parental leave.
Germany’s short work-weeks stem from an approach prioritising work-life balance, supported by culture, policies, and practices. However, this model’s impact on long-term economic growth is debated, leading to discussions on increasing hours or redesigning labour.
New Zealand has the highest average minimum wage across the board, due to progressive policies, a high cost of living, and strong public support for fair pay. Since 2017, the government has steadily raised the minimum wage to reduce inequality and support low-income workers, making it one of the most generous in the world.
France provides an exceptionally generous amount of paid holidays. This includes 25 working days of statutory annual leave (5 weeks) for full-time employees. As well as 11 national public holidays (13 in Alsace-Moselle), many gain extra RTT (réduction du temps de travail) days when working over the 35-hour week, sometimes adding several more days annually.
Colombia offers 18 paid national holidays each year, 12 religious and 6 civic. Under the Emiliani Law, many of these holidays are shifted to Mondays, creating long weekends that boost tourism and leisure.
At William Russell, we have over 30 years’ experience providing international health, life and income protection insurance to employers like you.
Our international employee benefits package offers all three of these policies, with flexible terms and added extras to suit your needs and budget. As William Russell members, your employees can enjoy access to top quality healthcare around the world, plus life and income insurance for total peace of mind.
Speak to our award-winning team to find out how our international employee benefits can support your business today.
We wanted to find out which countries are the best locations for workplace conditions and benefits. To do this, we collected data from various sources covering a wide variety of factors that could impact the fair treatment of workers.
We restricted our study to 38 Organisation for Economic Cooperation (OECD) countries to compare workers’ rights in similarly developed economies.
OECD data revealed the average annual wages and annual working hours in each country in 2023.
We used data from the 2024 Labour Rights Index to assess the protections afforded to workers in each country, while data from the International Trade Union Confederation’s Global Rights Index revealed the countries where workers’ rights were most commonly violated in 2025. Iceland and Switzerland were removed from the ranking because they did not have this data.
These factors were then supplemented by data from Wikipedia covering the minimum wage in each country, maternity leave, minimum paid public holidays, and annual leave.
Not all of the countries in our study have a national minimum wage set by the government. Instead, they use trade bodies and union organisations to determine minimum pay, which can vary by industry. To reflect this, the countries without a minimum wage were given a score of 0 for this factor.
We then converted all minimum wage and average wage data from USD into both GBP and EUR using xe.com (converted on 10th June 2025), thereby giving readers the opportunity to view this data in the currency of their choice.
Using the PERCENTRANK formula in Google Sheets, each country was given an overall score out of 10. The scores were boosted by +1.
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