The more Europeans take vacations, the more productive they are.

Europeans love to take long vacations, but surprisingly, the more they travel, the more productive they are.

Europeans have long been known for taking long summer vacations. In Norway, the term “fellesferie” refers to the two-to-three week period that workers take each July to go on vacation. This practice causes many companies and factories to shut down during that period.

In the Netherlands, the term “bouwva” refers to the few weeks of annual vacation that construction workers take. In France, bakers in Paris are required by law to take turns taking vacations to ensure that their bakeries remain open during the bakers’ annual vacation season.

What is happening in Europe is the complete opposite of the US. While surveys show that many Americans dread long vacations because of work pressures, for Europeans, the more vacations they take, the more productive they are.

Many Europeans often combine their vacation days to take a 2 to 3 week vacation at once in the summer.

The United States is also the only country in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) that does not have a law requiring companies to pay vacation pay to employees, unlike Europe. The European Union requires workers in member countries to have at least 20 days of paid vacation time each year. Some European countries that are members of the OECD even provide additional paid vacation days for workers. The United Kingdom, France, Austria, Denmark, Finland, Luxembourg, and Sweden all require companies to guarantee 25 or more days of paid vacation time for employees.

The data shows that Europeans’ long vacations do not affect productivity, and in fact, the opposite is true. Nine of the ten most productive OECD countries, measured by GDP per hour worked, are European. The remaining country in the top 10 is the United States, ranked sixth.

The idea that more vacations lead to higher productivity is also true in the United States, not just in Europe. A 2016 study by the Time Off Project, funded by the U.S. Travel Association, found that workers who took 11 or more vacation days a year received more raises and bonuses in the previous three years than those who took 10 or fewer vacation days.

However, the report also said that 42% of Americans are reluctant to take a long vacation because they fear the huge workload that will be left after the holiday. Along with that, 32% of respondents admitted that they cannot afford to pay for a long vacation.

“There have been quite significant negative effects from studies of people who haven't taken a holiday in years,” said Katie Denis, lead researcher of the Time Off project.

Experts also believe that in order for vacations to have a positive effect on productivity, workers must also know how to organize them properly. Usually, short and frequent vacations can negatively affect productivity. Instead, experts advise workers to focus their vacation days on taking long vacations twice a year to effectively restore their physical and mental health.

Another thing to note is that workers need to completely rest during the holidays. A survey by the Associated Press - NORC Center for Public Research (USA) said that up to a third of Americans still work while on vacation. According to experts, this significantly reduces the effectiveness of the vacation.

According to VNE