Annual leave is a right sanctioned by the Constitution of the Italian Republic. t was something workers fought for and obtained in the twentieth century with the advent of the Welfare State.

1. WHEN THE STATE SENDS
YOU ON ANNUAL LEAVE…
PAID ANNUAL LEAVE
July 2016

2. ANNUAL LEAVE: WHAT AN ACCOMPLISHMENT!
Annual leave is a right sanctioned by the Constitution of the Italian
Republic: “Workers have the right to [...] paid annual holidays” (art. 36,
comma 3); the Italian Civil Code states that workers “have the right to
[...] an annual period of paid leave, if possible to be taken at one time”.
Even the European Union Fundamental Charter of Rights, art. 31,
comma 2, states: “Every worker has the right to limitation of maximum
working hours, to daily and weekly rest periods and to an annual period
of paid leave”.
Has this always been the case?
No. It was something workers fought for and obtained in the twentieth
century with the advent of the Welfare State, at first, just for a few
categories of workers – especially employees – and for limited periods.

3. The Italian noun ferie comes from
the Latin feriae and in the Roman
world indicated the day dedicated
to the cult of the Gods during which
all other activities were suspended.
This prohibition also stretched to the
judiciary and political meetings.
When Christianity spread throughout
the Roman Empire the meaning of the
word ferie changed to indicate non-
festive weekdays dedicated to the
celebrations held in honour of a
Saint – from Monday (feria seconda)
to Friday (feria sexta).
THE ORIGINS
Parenthesis
The difference between
the Italian ferie (noun) and
feriale (adjective): the former
indicates a holiday period, the
latter (from the Latin ferialis)
a working period.

4. THE UNITED KINGDOM:
FROM THE BANK HOLIDAY ACT…
In 1871, Parliament in the United Kingdom approved the Bank Holiday
Act, a law establishing a list of non-working days.
It was proposed by John Lubbock, archaeologist, banker and cricket
enthusiast, so much so that he was wont to say: bank employees should
have the right to play in cricket matches.
Employees in banks in England, Ireland and Wales were given four
days annual leave per years, more or less coinciding with major
cricket tournaments.

5. ... TO THE PRESENT DAY
Less than two hundred years
after the Bank Holiday Act,
four days have turned into
four weeks obligatory annual
leave; this leave is mandatory
and cannot be substituted
with a severance payment.
Protection & counter protection
The general notice period for taking
leave is at least twice as long as the
amount of leave a worker wants to
take (e.g., if they want to take two
days off they must ask for them at
least four days beforehand).
Employers can refuse a leave
request, but they must give as
much notice as the amount of leave
requested (e.g., if the two days are on
10/11 August, then refusal must be
communicated before 8 August).

6. FRANCE: HOLIDAYS MAKE PEOPLE “HAPPY”
France, 1925: the Assemblée nationale approved a draft law assigning
fifteen days paid annual leave to all workers. It’s a pity that the Senate
did not pass the law!
But in 1936, when the Front populaire was the governing party, the
law was re-examined and finally passed. At that time France was the
only country in Europe in which all workers had the right to annual
leave; in fact for the first time that summer the French discovered what
it meant to go on holiday!
Léo Lagrange, Undersecretary for Sports and Free Time, defined
1936 as “the first year of happiness” and negotiated a 40% discount
from the French Railways for workers travelling to the seaside or to
the mountains.

7. In France workers accrue the right to
annual leave from the first month of
their contract and up to 30 days per
annum (2.5 days every 4 weeks of
work).
They have to spend at least 24 days
on holiday per year, half of which
between May and October.
Long live solidarity
IfyouworkinFranceandwant
to take a leave of absence to
help others, rather than to go
on holiday or because you’re
sick, you can take an unpaid
international solidarity leave
for up to 6 months.
FRANCE: I’M GOING ON HOLIDAY,
BUT TO HELP OTHERS

8. GERMANY: FROM ANNUAL LEAVE
TO “I WORK WHEN I WANT TO”
A worker in Germany, more or less like his colleagues in Europe,
has an allowance of 24 paid annual leave − Anspruch auf bezahlten
Erholungsurlaub.
ButinGermanythereisapioneeringandpotentiallydisruptiveinitiative.
The Trumpf company, that produces laser machines, has fine-tuned a
novel organisation of labour based on flexitime: workers can choose
to work from 15 to 40 hours a week and decide when they want to work.
What’s more, they can take sabbatical leave for a year or work six
months at half salary.
Does it affect the company’s turnover? According to the owner Nicola
Leibinger-Kammüller, workers are more productive and motivated.
She herself is a big fan of flexitime and, unlike most of her colleagues
around the world, she’s unreachable when she is not in the office.

9. IN ITALY. DOWN WITH DEMAGOGY!
Giuseppe Bottai, Minister of
Corporations and National Education,
consideredholidays“practicalbenefits
that workers never succeeded in
obtaining under the demagogic
placards of democracy [...]”.
The Labour Charter was later inte-
grated into the Italian Civil Code in
1942 and became law.
Article XVI of the Labour
Charter approved by the
Grand Council of Fascism in
1927 states: “After one year
of uninterrupted service, an
employee, in enterprises with
a continuous work cycle, has
the right to take a period of
annual paid leave”.

10. YOU WANT TO UNDERPAY
MY HOLIDAYS? WELL, YOU CAN’T!
Legislative Decree 66/2003 establishes the right to a minimum of 4
weeks annual leave, i.e., 28 calendar days.
Itisaminimumperiod,thatcanbeincreasedbycollectiveorindividual
labour agreements.
Employers usually establish when annual leave can be taken: if the
company closes for a certain period of time, then these holidays are
called collective annual leave and in this case the worker cannot
object.
Annual leave is an inalienable right, so the employer is obliged
to assign it and pay the worker the same salary. Any individual or
collective pact envisaging reduced salary is unconstitutional.

11. A PATCHY RIGHT
Neither annual leave nor a
weekly rest day are a legal
right in the United States.
The same situation exists in
Australia, New Zealand, and
Sri Lanka – to name but a
few.
However national holidays
in the US are different; in
fact, they are sacrosanct!
But you are not entitled to be
paid, even if you fall ill.
The context
In the US employers and employees
freely negotiated annual leave. On
average 77% of US citizens are
entitled to paid annual leave: roughly
13 days per annum.
Nevertheless, since holidays are
not guaranteed by law, part-time
workers and lesser-paid workers feel
they are penalised, and since there is
no job security, they prefer not to ask
for rest days.

12. THE JAPANESE, STAKHANOV’S REAL HEIRS
We all know that the Japanese are workaholics... so much so that
they’re the only ones who have an ad hoc term to indicate death
caused by work-related stress: karoshi.
The phenomenon boomed in the nineties when many people lost
their jobs due to the economic crisis and many others worked even
harder for fear of suffering the same fate.
It is an unmanageable situation, so much so that the Japanese
GovernmentproposedStatutoryAnnualLeave,forcingallJapanese
workers to take at least 5 of the 10 days holiday envisaged by law.
It is also a pro-consumption provision: a Japanese employee who
works less can go out and purchase goods; this has a much-desired
dual effect of boosting consumption.

13. ANNUAL LEAVE? NO THANK YOU!
According to Expedia’s 2015 Vacation Deprivation Study it’s not
just a “service spirit” that prompts workers around the world to give up
their holidays, but a whole lot of other reasons:
19% are savers, i.e., they want to accumulate this year’s holidays so
thatcantakethemtogetherwithnextyear’sannualleaveentitlement;
23% are unable to coordinate their days off with their family’s;
17% prefer cash to their holidays;
7% are afraid that asking for days off is frowned upon by their
employer, above all in South Korea and India.

14. TOO MUCH WORK IS BAD FOR YOU
It increases the risk of cardiovascular disease and tires you out:
this is the result of a study highlighting the link between health and
too much work. Furthermore, tests have shown that every extra
hour spent in the office is less productive than the previous one.
Quite apart from the fact that even when we’re on holiday or simply
not at the office, smart-phones, tablets etc. can force us to think
about work.
On average, 25% of workers check their emails and text messages
once a day when they’re on holiday.
We never stop, even when taking a break involves our health!

15. IN SEARCH OF THE RIGHT BALANCE
According to another study, workers need holidays to become more
productive and motivated. However, not all employers appear to
be so enlightened:
40% of workers believe that their bosses are unhappy when they
have to give them holidays; they don’t want them to take time off
and wish they’d take care of business even after office hours;
the others, i.e., the ones who encourage their employees to take
their annual leave, are considered heroes!
To invest in the wellbeing of your employees can have a positive
impact on the productivity of your team, starting with the managers,
who should set a good example.
And when the employees get back, they’ll be much happier to work!

16. ANNUAL LEAVE: FOR HOW LONG?
Annual leave is becoming an outdated concept, a twentieth-century
conquest that doesn’t fit in with current working conditions.
Will annual leave soon disappear?
A new mentality is taking root: from annual leave on jointly-decided
days to flexitime, so that workers are not masters but rather co-
owners of their time.

17. LEIBINGER-KAMMUELLER
AND BRANSON. NEW HEROES!
Another example, besides the already mentioned Nicola Leibinger-
Kammüller’s.
Richard Branson (Virgin) has eliminated working hours; on his
blog he states that his employees have to manage their own free
time, it’s the results that matter:
“It is left to the employee alone to decide if and when he or she
feels like taking a few hours, a day, a week or a month off. The
assumption being that they are only going to do it when they feel
100% comfortable that (...) their absence will not in any way damage
the business - or, for that matter, their careers”
Is this the beginning of a new revolution in the world of work?

18. Telos Analisi & Strategie
Palazzo Doria Pamphilj
Via del Plebiscito 107
Roma 00186
T. +39 06 69940838
telos@telosaes.it
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