Annual leave entitlements (WoL, V2)
| Quick info | |
|---|---|
| Data type | Numeric |
| Scale | Metric |
| Value labels | not applicable |
| Technical name | labor_time_leave |
| Category | Labour and labour market |
| Label | Annual leave entitlements (WoL, V2) |
| Related indicators | |
"Annual leave entitlements" measures the normal length of annual paid leave guaranteed by statutory law.
Paid leave is crucial for employees to safeguard their well-being and engage in social and cultural activities. Public holidays and additional paid leave entitlements related to seniority (length of service with the company) are excluded.
This variable is derived and minimally modified from the CBR Labour Regulation Index Dataset (‘CBR-LRI’), which provides data on employment law across 117 countries spanning the years from (in most instances) 1970 to 2022, with the exception of post-socialist countries (refer to Adams et al. 2017, 2023). The current CBR-LRI data points were reviewed, and any discrepancies in values were adjusted in accordance with the WoL coding rules. Additionally, data points from before 1970 or equivalent timeframes for former Soviet bloc countries were included (cf. Fechner/Carlino 2025). In addition to the 115 countries with populations exceeding 500,000 as classified by CBR-LRI, 37 more countries have been included (cf. Fechner/Carlino 2025). Core differences concerning the original CBR-LRI data:
- The CBR Labour Regulation Index Dataset was developed by analysing legal provisions, collective agreements (if generally binding or containing national standards) and pertinent court rulings, sourced from secondary materials, national legal databases, and ILO NATLEX data (cf. Adams et al. 2017, 2023). WoL exclusively codes statutory law, resulting in modifications to outcomes that include collective agreements and court decisions that define paid leave entitlements.
- CBR-LRI did not distinguish between a 5-day working week (under 45 hours) and a 6-day working week. WoL modified the values to create a standard 5-day workweek, leading to the determination of a maximum of 6 weeks of paid leave in both scenarios.
Variable S.1 in the Worlds of Labour (WoL) SPE template - originally CBR-LRI variable 9.
Coding rules
The score is normalised on a 0-1 scale, with a leave entitlement of 30 days (6 weeks of paid leave in a 5-day-week) equivalent to a score of 1 (see Fechner/Carlino 2025). Statutory law is coded for the year in which it comes into force. Until there is an amendment or repeal of the law, the established values remain unchanged. A value of zero signifies that for the particular year, coding has been performed in accordance with the existing national legislation. If no value is entered, the country’s relevant legislation for that year has not been coded. A missing value (-999) indicates that, although there is knowledge of the existence of a relevant law, the corresponding text could not be retrieved (cf. Fechner/Carlino 2025 for further information).
For detailed coding rules, please consult Fechner/Carlino 2025.
- Adams, Zoe, Bhumika Billa, Louise Bishop, Simon Deakin and Tvisha Shroff (2023). CBR Labour Regulation Index (Dataset of 117 Countries, 1970-2022) - Codes and Sources. Centre for Business Research, University of Cambridge. at: https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.9130.2
- Carlino, Marina, Fechner, Heiner, and Schäfer, Andrea (2025, forthcoming). Using leximetrics for coding legal segmentation in employment law: The development and potential of the Worlds of Labour database. In I. Dingeldey, H. Fechner, & U. Mückenberger (Eds.), Constructing Worlds of Labour. Coverage and Generosity of Labour Law as Outcomes of Regulatory Social Policy. Palgrave Macmillan. p.53-83
- Deakin, Simon, Johna Armour and Mathias Siems (2023). CBR Leximetric Datasets [Updated 2023]. Apollo - University of Cambridge Repository. https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.9130.2
- Dingeldey, Irene, Heiner Fechner, Jean-Yves Gerlitz, Jenny Hahs and Ulrich Mückenberger (2022). Worlds of Labour: Introducing the Standard-Setting, Privileging and Equalising Typology as a Measure of Legal Segmentation in Labour Law, Industrial Law Journal, 51(3): 560–597, https://doi.org/10.1093/indlaw/dwab016
- Fechner, Heiner, and Marina Carlino (2025). Coding Legal Segmentation in Employment Law. The Worlds of Labour (WoL) Dataset. SFB 1342 Technical Paper Series, 22. Bremen: SFB 1342. https://doi.org/10.26092/elib/4191
- Version 0.001: Initial release December 2025
- Fechner, Heiner, and Marina Carlino (2025). Coding Legal Segmentation in Employment Law. The Worlds of Labour (WoL) Dataset. SFB 1342 Technical Paper Series, 22. Bremen: SFB 1342. https://doi.org/10.26092/elib/4191
- Deakin, Simon, Johna Armour and Mathias Siems (2023). CBR Leximetric Datasets [Updated 2023]. Apollo - University of Cambridge Repository. https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.9130.2
- The sources used for coding the WoL-values can be found in the column 'source' in the respective country templates, available at https://doi.org/10.7802/2884 (for more information on sources pls contact the person responsible for data coding – see the entry: Project manager(s)).
Bibliographic info
Citation: Fechner, Heiner and Marina Carlino (2025). Worlds of Labour (WoL) Leximetric Dataset. University of Bremen.
Misc
Project manager(s): Responsible for data coding: Heiner Fechner (2018-2025), Marina Carlino (2022-2025).
Responsible for data editing, description (WESIS) and entry: Heiner Fechner (2025), Andrea Schäfer (2021-2025), Jenny Hahs (2018-21), Jean-Yves Gerlitz (2018-20).
Principal Investigators: Irene Dingeldey, Ulrich Mückenberger.
Student assistants (in alphabetical order): Max Anders, Julia Bode, Jessica Bonn, Daniel Euler, Jan-Christopher Floren, Maxime Fischer, Jennifer Götte, Eliko Hagen, Désirée Hoppe, Irina Kyburz, Alexandra Kojnow, Tarek Mahmalat, Karolin Meyer, Oguz Mermut, Johanna Nold, Tanusha Pali, Gerrit Pantel, Johannes Ramsauer, Max Sudhoff, Kristina Walter, Caroline Zambiasi.
Revisions: No revisions yet.
This is the first version of the dataset of the thoroughly revised Version 2 WoL template; for the first time, all variables including those originally stemming from CBR-LRI have been coded/revised under WoL criteria. A preliminary version with compiled data (CBR-LRI and WoL) has been published in WeSIS marked by "CBR-LRI-based" and "WoL, V1".
Sources
Own coding, partially based on coding by CBR-LRI.
