In recent years, U.S. companies have had to fight for employee attention and affection, and many organizations have expanded their benefits offerings to appeal to the workforce. But has it been enough?
International insurance provider William Russell recently released its list of the best and worst countries for workers when it comes to guaranteed employee benefits. The United States was ranked as the second-worst country for work conditions and benefits with a work and employment score of just 2.37 out of 10.
William Russell ranked the participating countries based on several offerings including paid annual leave, minimum average salary and minimum wage as well as weekly working hours — which helps explain the U.S.'s low standing.
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Unlike Denmark, Finland and Norway, which took the top three spots for best employee benefit providers thanks largely to robust paid parental leave and a solid work-life balance, American workers receive no guaranteed maternity leave or paid public holidays and annual leave.
Though the U.S. may have one of the highest average salaries compared to all of the other countries on the list, it's not enough to compensate for the above-average amount of work hours employees are putting in in exchange for less-than-average benefits. Countries with the highest work and employment score have significantly lower salaries, which only further proves the importance of extensive PTO.
See what other countries made William Russell's list of worst countries for employee work and benefits:
