What The Average Workday Looks Like Around The World

Just as the band lover boy foretold, virtually every person in the world is working for the weekend. The daily grind is mundane, and hard work isn't always appreciated or even noticed, but the rat race is quite a bit different depending on where you happen to live. Today, we're taking a look at what the average workday is like around the world.

正如男子乐队Lover Boy所预言的那样，几乎全世界的人都在为周末而工作。日复一日的苦差事乏味无趣，而辛勤劳动并不总是被欣赏或甚至注意到，但随处是不同的竞速场。今天，我们将来看看世界各地的平均工作日是什么样的。

But before we call a meeting that could have been an email, make sure you subscribe to the Weird History channel. After that, let us know in the comments what other workplace weirdness you want us to investigate.

在召开一场不必要的会议之前，请务必订阅奇怪历史频道。订阅完成后，可以在评论区告诉我们想要调查的其他工作场所的奇怪事情。

Okay, it's time to make that paper. In the land of logger and sausage, German workers can expect a pretty standard working week, and hopefully later, Hozen. Some workers work even less than the average. German workers on average will only clock in for about 35 hours each week, and that's the conservative estimate. The real number is probably somewhere around 25 to 30 hours depending on dust boss, and they spend an average of 42 minutes commuting to work.

好的，现在是写论文的时候了。在砍木头和香肠的国度——德国，工人可以期待一个相当普通的工作周，希望后来能够得到更好的工作。有些工人的工作时间甚至少于平均水平。德国工人每周平均只工作35个小时左右，这是一个保守的估计。实际数字可能在25到30小时之间，这取决于老板们如何安排，他们上下班平均需要花费42分钟。

As far as lunch goes, Germans are known to take full advantage of midday breaks. Called Mittach's pausa, the daily lunch break usually involves a sit-down at a restaurant to enjoy a nice full meal with fellow employees. In America, we call that skipping work. And when the workday is done in Germany, it is done. The German labor ministry banned managers from contacting staff after hours, except for emergencies, more time to kick back with a nice sign of heath of Eisen.

说到午餐，德国人以充分利用午间休息著称。被称为“米塔赫午休”的每日午餐休息通常涉及到与同事一起在餐馆坐下来享用一顿美餐。在美国，我们称之为旷工。而当工作日在德国结束时，就真的结束了。德国劳动部禁止经理在工作时间结束后与员工联系，除非出现紧急情况，这样员工就有更多的时间放松休息，享受健康和艾森之迹。

The most laid-back work week award is a tie between Canada and Finland, which each boasts a breezy six hours and 45 minutes of work per day. But all that time you're not spending in the office is usually spent sitting in mind numbing miserable traffic. More than an hour each way for most Canadians, Paytime often includes two weeks for most of the great white north, though Saskatchewan provides three weeks, because they think they're so much better than everyone else. A quick super sandwich is the preferred lunchtime treat since the only afternoon break lasts about 40 minutes, starting at noon. Ontario made some headlines in 2021 by passing a law prohibiting employers from contacting staff outside business hours. The rest of Canada has yet to follow suit. We're looking at use to Saskatchewan.

加拿大和芬兰并列荣获最悠闲工作周奖，每天只需工作六小时四十五分钟，但这也意味着你需要花费大量时间在糟糕的交通拥堵中。对于大多数加拿大人来说，每天上下班的时间超过一小时，大部分加拿大的支付时间是两周，但萨斯喀彻温省提供三周，因为他们认为自己比其他人更优秀。午餐时最受欢迎的是快速超级三明治，因为下午唯一的休息时间只有大约40分钟，从中午开始。安大略省在2021年通过一项法律，禁止雇主在营业小时外联系员工，引起了一些关注。但加拿大的其他地方尚未效仿。我们正在关注萨斯喀彻温省的使用情况。

Spanish employees can expect to be at work for a long, long time, until at least 8 pm. However, Spain is one of the few countries in Europe to offer scheduled nap time, known as Ciestas. This is a policy that needs to be adopted by every nation of the world immediately. Spanish workers spend about an hour sitting in traffic before they clock in for the day. Their lunch breaks are a two hour event known as Lakomida, the most important meal of the day. This decadent experience features soup, salad, paella, stews, meats, and fish. All followed up with some fine Spanish desserts. Hmm, well, let's explain what they need in the app. Spanish employees receive 22 working days off per year, which must be used by the end of December, or else they're forfeited. They're also required to have at least one and a half days off every week, and accumulate no more than 80 hours of overtime per year.

西班牙员工通常要工作的时间非常长，至少工作到晚上8点。然而，西班牙是欧洲少数提供预定午觉时间的国家之一，这被称为Ciestas政策。这是一项需要所有国家立即采用的政策。西班牙工人每天上班前要花费大约一个小时的时间在交通中。他们的午餐休息是一个为期两小时的盛宴，被称为Lakomida，是一天中最重要的一餐。这种奢侈的经历包括汤、沙拉、西班牙烩饭、炖菜、肉类和鱼类。最后再来点美味的西班牙甜点。嗯，好吧，让我们解释一下他们在应用程序中需要什么。西班牙员工每年可以获得22个工作日的假期，这些假期必须在12月底之前使用，否则就会被剥夺。他们还要求每周至少有一天半的休息时间，并且每年不得累积超过80小时的加班时间。

India is a big fan of designated work leave. Indian laws define several types of leave for employees including the standard sick leave and vacation leave, but also something called casual leave, which we assume you take when you just want to go cruising. So while a typical work day in India runs from about 9 am to 6 pm, with an average 27 minute commute, there is still plenty of downtime. Lunch is typically eaten in the office, which means a lot of ordering out. Somewhere in the neighborhood of 5,000 delivery people serve an average of 200,000 hot meals every single day. That's a lot of door dash. An intricate system helps these delivery people, known as Dapa Wallas, distribute the massive amount of grub. Employees are guaranteed up to six days of casual leave, but most receive more than that. On top of that, you can earn 12 days of sick leave right off the bat, and accrue 1.25 days of paid vacation per month.

印度非常喜欢制定工作假期。印度法律为员工规定了几种休假方式，包括标准的病假和年假，还有一种叫做轮休的假期，我们认为这种假期是在你想要去兜兜风的时候休的。因此，尽管印度的典型工作日从早上九点到晚上六点，平均通勤时间为27分钟，但还是有很多空闲时间。午餐通常在办公室吃，这意味着很多外卖。大约有5,000名送餐员每天为平均20万人提供热餐，这是相当多的外卖。一个复杂的系统帮助这些送餐员（被称为达帕沃拉）分发巨量的食物。员工可以享受最多六天的轮休假期，但大多数人领取的假期多于六天。此外，你可以从一开始就获得12天的病假，每个月还可以累积1.25天的带薪休假。

Chinese workers, coming off a 45 minute commute, start their work days by 8.30 am, and ended around 6 pm, which means they have just enough time to listen to two episodes of My American Life in the Car. The typical Chinese work day allows a solid two hours to enjoy lunch. Many use this time to go home and eat with families before returning to work with their hearts and their bellies filled. Although if your commute is 45 minutes, you'd end up spending most of your break driving. Statistically, one of the least relaxing activities.

中国的工人们每天上午8:30开始工作，下午6点结束，每天上下班需要花费45分钟的通勤时间，这意味着他们刚好有时间在车上听两集《我的美国生活》。中国的工作日通常允许员工享受两个小时的午饭时间。很多人会利用这个时间回家与家人共进午餐，然后再满心欢喜地回到工作岗位。但是，如果通勤时间需要45分钟，那么你就要花费大部分的休息时间在开车上了，这是近期统计显示为最不放松的活动之一。

Workers who have been with a company between one and 10 years earn just five days of paid time off each year. Only after they've worked from 10 to 20 years, does that number start going up? If you want overtime at China, you're only allowed at 36 extra hours per month, or up to a double-year regular pay. Considering you're not getting any vacation anytime soon, you might as well spend that time goosing your paychecks.

在一家公司工作1到10年的员工每年仅获得5天带薪休假。只有在工作了10年到20年后，这个数字才开始上升。如果你想在中国加班，每个月只允许超时工作36小时，或者获得双倍工资的报酬。考虑到你短期内没有任何假期，那么你最好将这段时间用来增加薪水。

We arrive in the only Adbalt country which starts their work day on Sunday, not Monday. The five-day work week still exists, and Saudi workers still clock in from around 8 am until 6 pm, but that effectively makes Saturday the new Sunday, and Thursday the new Friday, and we're not ready for that kind of change. Women in Saudi Arabia weren't allowed to drive themselves to work for 2018, so taxis and private drivers were used to make the 12 mile average commute to the workplace.

我们来到了唯一一个星期工作日从周日开始，而不是周一的阿卜杜勒特国家。虽然还存在五天工作制，但沙特工人仍然要在早上8点左右打卡，一直工作到晚上6点，这实际上使得周六成为了新的周日，周四成为了新的星期五，而我们还没有做好这种变化的准备。2018年，沙特阿拉伯的妇女还不被允许自己开车去上班，所以他们只能乘坐出租车或私人司机前往工作地点，平均行驶距离为12英里。

Saudi people who stayed with their company for 12 months earned 15 days of paid time off a year, and the number climbs the longer they remain on the job. Employers are given control over which days can be taken depending on how business will be affected, so sort of like a timeshare. Instead of a standard coffee break, people who draw a paycheck in Saudi Arabia get five prayer breaks sprinkled throughout the day, as well as a gargantuan three hour lunch break. Lunch is the largest meal of the day in Saudi Arabia, and often features kapsa, a traditional rice dish loaded with an array of spices.

在沙特阿拉伯，和公司工作满12个月的人每年可以获得15天带薪休假，而且工作时间越长，休假天数也会相应增加。雇主可以掌握哪些日子可以休假，以避免对业务造成影响，所以就像时间共享一样。与标准的咖啡时间不同的是，在沙特阿拉伯获得工资的员工可以享受一天中五次的祷告时间，以及三个小时长的午餐时间。午餐是沙特阿拉伯一天中最重要的一餐，经常有一道名为kapsa的传统米饭菜肴，其中加入了各种香料。

The whole work week ends up being around 48 hours of work time. If more work is needed, more pay is provided. Up to 11 hours per business day. That's a lot of extra work.

整个工作周的工作时间约为48小时。如果需要更多工作，将提供更多的薪资。每个工作日最多可工作11小时。这是很多的额外工作时间。

Mexico has one of the longest estimated work weeks based on a study by offices in 2017. 43.19 hours is about what one can expect to work, whether they are a part-time or self-employed. A grueling, two and a half hour round trip to work makes Mexico's commute one of the worst in the world, and with only a 30 minute lunch break each day, you'd be wise to bring a snack to eat on the way in. The law requires that if one works more than the typical eight hour day or seven hour night, they're owed double time for the first nine hours with triple pay beyond that.

墨西哥根据2017年办公室调查拥有估计工作周时长最长之一。不论是兼职还是自雇工作，人们预计工作时长为43.19小时。艰苦的往返通勤需要2.5小时，使得墨西哥的通勤成为世界上最糟糕之一，每天只有30分钟的午餐休息时间，最好带些小吃在路上吃。根据法律规定，如果一个人的工作时间超过八小时或者七小时的夜班，那么他们将会得到前9小时双倍工资以及之后的三倍工资。

Kenya's workforce enjoys a pretty typical grind. Workers in the cradle of humanity can be found punching their time card at around 8.30am, and punching out for the day at 5. And the average commute is less than an hour each way, not too shabby. However, during the eight hour work day, the lunch break is not recognized. Instead, workers are awarded one rest day for every six days of work. Meeting time is also not recognized during work hours, which means that if you're a worker in Kenya, you have to take any and all meetings during your own personal time.

肯尼亚的劳动力享受着相当典型的工作方式。人类起源之地的工人们会在上午8点半左右开始打卡，并在下午5点结束工作。平均来说，每天通勤不到一个小时，算是不错的。然而，在八小时工作日中，午餐时间不被认可。相反，工人们每连续工作六天就会得到一天的休息时间。在工作时间内也不承认会议时间，这意味着如果你是肯尼亚的工人，你就必须在个人时间内参加任何和所有的会议。

However, you're usually compensated to the tune of 150% of your actual pay. Time and a half, or an inconvenience zoom, that sounds pretty good. But unfortunately, the system still doesn't recognize that every zoom call is inconvenient. You can take time off of all those meetings once you hit a one-year milestone with your employer, at which point you receive 21 vacation days. The co-list workers can earn up to 45 days a PTA if they play their cards, right? If someone has been with a company less than a year, they are given pro-rated leave. So if you want to play hooky and veg out on Xbox, you have to borrow against a future day of playing cookie and veg out on Xbox.

然而，通常你会获得实际工资的150%作为补偿。加班费或者远程会议津贴，听起来不错。但不幸的是，系统仍然无法认识到每一个远程会议都是个不便。当你工作满一年后，你可以减少所有这些会议的时间，这时你可以获得21天的假期。如果共同的工人发挥自己的牌，他们可以在一次PTA中获得高达45天的假期。如果有人在该公司的时间不到一年，他们将获得按比例计算的休假。所以如果你想请假并痴迷于Xbox，你必须借用未来的一天来痴迷于Xbox。

The land of the rising sun is home to some of the hardest workers in the world. Clocking in at 8.30 a.m. after a long, crowded commute via public transit, Japanese workers will sometimes work all the way until 7 p.m. before clocking out. Workers in most other countries would only do that at gunpoint. During an hour long lunch break, ramen shops offer employees a quick, tasty, and interactive dining experience before getting back to the grind. Eating directly in front of the chef and chatting while snacking keeps solo diners from having to eat alone.

日出之国是全世界工作最刻苦的人之一的家园。在经历了漫长而拥挤的公共交通之后，日本的工人们会在上午8点30分打卡上班，并有时会一直工作到晚上7点才下班。在大多数其他国家，只有在被威胁下才会有这样的情况发生。在一小时的午餐休息期间，拉面店为员工提供了一个快捷、美味和互动的用餐体验，让他们能够快速回到工作中。直接在厨师面前用餐，边聊天边吃东西，让一个人用餐的员工不必感到孤独。

By law, Japanese workers are guaranteed 10 days of PTO each year. After 6 years, that number skyrockets up to 20 days. Workers often go out for drinks after work, but it is not a fun old-fashioned good time. Turning down such an invitation is greatly looked down on, regardless of whether you legitimately had a prior engagement or if you just can't stand to be around that weirdo from account. Employers expect their staff to get to the office early, work late, hang out after, and laugh at the boss's jokes, all for no extra pay. It has become such a problem that a new word was created for it, Kadoishi, which translates to Overwork Death.

根据法律规定，日本工人每年有10天带薪休假。经过6年后，该天数会飙升至20天。工人通常下班后会一起喝酒，但这并不是一件老派有乐趣的事情。无论你是否真的有之前的约定或是否只是因为无法忍受会计部门的那个怪人，拒绝这样的邀请都会被视为非常不好。雇主希望员工早日到达办公室，加班加点，下班后还留在办公室，听老板讲笑话，这一切都没有额外的报酬。这已经成为一个问题，以至于一个新的词被创造出来，叫做“过劳导致死亡”(Kadoishi)。

In the US of A, workers are generally expected to clock in at 8.30, after a 40 minute commute and head out at 5.30 pm. Americans are offered anywhere from 30 minutes to 1 hour for lunch, depending on the employer and the number of hours worth per day. It's the ultimate workers paradox. 30 minutes isn't quite enough time to get something to eat, while an hour is just enough time to be late clocking back in. Though the option of going out to eat is available, it is common for most Americans to sit at their desks to grow while they work, leading other countries to refer to this practice as said desk lunch. Yeah, we know, we're the ones eating it. Also, businesses frowned upon having a midday cocktail, but counterpoint, midday cocktail does make that Walmart shift fly by.

在美国，员工通常要花费40分钟的时间上班，8:30需要打卡，下班时间是5:30 pm。根据雇主和每天工作时长的不同，员工被提供30分钟到1小时的午休时间。这是最终的员工悖论。30分钟不足以让人吃饱，而一小时又恰好太晚上班打卡了。虽然外出吃饭的选择是可行的，但是大多数美国人在他们工作时仍然坐在他们的办公桌上，导致其他国家将这种做法称为桌上午餐。是的，我们知道，我们就是这样吃的。此外，商业场所不赞成在午餐时间饮酒，但是在一些情况下，中午小酌确实可以让沃尔玛的工作时间快速过去。

American businesses are not required to give their employees any pay time off, which is another way of saying that one and every four American workers do not receive any PTO at all. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, private sector employees average around 9.7 days of leave per year, and a 2020 BBC survey reported that about 21% of American workers received paid leave from their employers. And speaking of leave, in the US, you just may never really leave your job, as there is no law forbidding employers from contacting their employees outside of work hours.

美国企业没有被要求给员工任何带薪休假，这也就意味着每四个美国工人中就有一个人没有任何带薪休假。根据美国劳工统计局的数据，私营企业员工平均每年休假9.7天。2020年英国广播公司的一项调查显示，约21%的美国工人从雇主那里获得了带薪休假。而且，在美国，你也许永远不会真正离开你的工作，因为没有法律禁止雇主在工作时间外联系他们的员工。

An estimated 48% of remote workers commonly work past midnight to complete tasks they couldn't get done during the work day. And of all that land of opportunity isn't enough, according to the Pew Research Center, the US is the only country among 41 other first world nations, but no law requiring parental leave. But hey, at least we get presidents day off, sometimes. So what do you think? Are you ready to leave your current nation of employment and find a new land of opportunity? Let us know in the comments below. And while you're at it, check out some of these other videos from our Weird History.

估计有48%的远程员工常常要工作到午夜才能完成白天没完成的任务。此外，美国是41个发达国家中唯一一个没有法律规定父母假期的国家，根据皮尤研究中心的数据。但是至少我们有总统节假日，有时候可以休息一天。那么，你觉得呢？你是否准备离开现在的雇主国寻找新的机会之地？请在下方留言告诉我们。同时，顺便看看我们的其他一些怪异历史视频吧。