A public holiday, also called national holiday or legal holiday, is a special holiday established by each country’s (or autonomous region’s) law. Public holidays are usually non-working but paid, which means that they serve as additional paid holidays with dates fixed by law. Alternatively, workers usually receive a higher hourly wage if they work during a public holiday.
One notable exception is the United Kingdom, where observing public holidays is not obligatory for employers, and employees are not entitled to an enhanced pay rate. This is partially compensated by the fact that British workers are entitled to 28 days of annual leave, which is more than in any other European country, and when an employer observes a public holiday, it counts towards the minimum.
The following map shows the theoretical maximum number of non-working days as defined by law. However, the real number of non-working days changes from year to year depending on the number of holidays falling on a weekend (which, however, may be compensated by an additional non-working day during the workweek in some countries). When a range of numbers is given, the actual number depends on a municipality or religious affiliation.
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