In recent years, work-life balance, women’s rights and employee satisfaction are now the priority for new and old jobseekers when looking for jobs. While some companies and businesses take the initiative to improve their labour practices, governments worldwide take one step further. They advocate good labour practices by making it a gold standard for all businesses and companies to follow.
While this is the case, some countries do it better than others, giving workers all the protections and benefits they deserve. If you plan to move to find better opportunities for your career, these are the countries you should consider:
Denmark
In Denmark, many labour laws guarantee that employees are protected and given better working conditions. Employees can work for 37 or 48 hours per week, with 37 hours being the national average. Should employees opt to work more than 37 hours, their employers must adequately compensate them. Employees also have five days of paid holiday leave they can take each year.
For parental rights, Denmark allows new parents to avail up to four weeks of leave to prepare for the birth; then, they will also be given 14 weeks of leave to help them adjust to their new life. An additional 32 weeks of leave after the first 14 weeks is permitted for post-birth parental leave. The country also enforced new rules recently to allow both parents to get equal parental leave.
Employees also enjoy equal rights regarding their income regardless of gender. Women are also well-represented in their respective companies’ government and leadership teams.
Netherlands
Those in the Netherlands enjoy reasonable working hours and high job satisfaction rates. The annual work rate per year is around 1420 hours per year, and overtime pay can be negotiated with the employer before signing on with them.
Parental leave is available to mothers six weeks before their expected due date, and it is paid leave. An additional 10 weeks of paid maternity week after the birth can also be requested, as well as an extended break that can last up to six months. Recently, the government also ordered that fathers should be allowed to help their wives after giving birth and spend time with their children.
The Dutch government is doing its best to improve its existing policies for women’s rights. There remains to be a significant gender pay gap still existing in the country, and representation remains at a low level.
Belgium
Employees in Belgium enjoy reasonable job satisfaction rates and favourable employment laws that put it on the list as one of the best countries in the world to work in. A work week is, on average, 40 hours, and each employee can get up to 120 overtime hours per year paid.
However, there could be improvements to Belgium’s parental leave policies and women’s rights. Regarding parental leave, mothers only get 3 months of maternity leave and 10 days of paternal leave for fathers. Gender inequality persists in the country, as seen in the pay inequality between female and male workers. The government does require corporations to have 30% female representation on their board of directors.
Norway
Norway has some of the best labour practices in Europe, and the evidence of its effectiveness is seen in the unemployment rate in the country, which is 3.2%. Employees in the country enjoy up to 37.5 hours per week at work, and they can seek flexible working hours if they have health, welfare or social concerns. They even have the right to seek up to 40% overtime pay.
The country offers parents generous parental leave coverage, such as paid leave wages and one to two years of post-birth leave for each birth.
On women’s rights, Norwegian law states that all publicly traded and limited companies must have 40% female representation in their leadership. Anyone who does not follow will have their companies delisted and penalized. Furthermore, equal pay and compensation are guaranteed to all genders in the country. Workers in the country are well-protected, thanks to these benefits and work-life balance.
Germany
Germany is known in Europe as one of its largest and most influential countries. As such, it is a pioneer in creating strong policies to support its employees, such as offering married couples enough maternity and paternity leave when they have a newborn child and 33-hour-per-week average working hours. But, there are some areas where it still needs improvement to maintain its worker satisfaction levels.
For instance, there is no existing regulation in Germany regarding overtime pay. There is also a gender pay gap that prevents women from getting equal pay.
As an employee, you deserve to be treated with the utmost respect by the company or business you are working for and given the privileges that will provide you with more reasons to keep working for them. However, before a company or business can provide that, the government where these firms are located should be the leader in ensuring the best labour practices are practised across the country.
These five countries in the list may not be completely perfect, but if you prepare right, you may enjoy a stress-free and fulfilling career when you work there.
Here are other countries you should think about: Top 10 countries in Asia to Relocate as an Expat 5 Surprising Things We Take For Granted In Singapore (I never knew until I live overseas) What is a Working Vacation and top 10 spots for Workations
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