Your vote
Five weeks off a year?
One tap. No email needed.
Why does it feel so different?
Because a legal floor changes the meaning of taking leave. When five weeks is the statutory minimum, using it is not a favour granted or a signal about your commitment — it is the arrangement. That single fact removes most of the anxiety Americans attach to being away.
Do they really take all of it?
Broadly, yes, and in large blocks — which is why so much of France closes in August. Leave taken in one-day increments to cover appointments is a different and more American pattern.
The tool
How Much Vacation Would You Have in France?
Enter your paid days off and see what you would have in France, where five weeks is the legal minimum.
Count my days
What surprised him about the American version?
That vacation days are a benefit rather than a right, that they can be traded and accumulated, and that people leave them unused. The last one genuinely bothered him. He views unused leave the way other people view an unpaid invoice.
Questions, answered
How many weeks of vacation do French workers get?
Five weeks of paid annual leave, set by law, equivalent to thirty working days. Public holidays are additional, and many employees also accrue RTT days on top of that.
Does the US have a legal minimum vacation?
No. There is no federal statutory requirement for paid vacation in the United States, so entitlement is determined by each employer.
Why does France take August off?
Because leave is generous, legally protected and commonly taken in long blocks, so a large share of the country is away in the same weeks — which is why so many independent businesses close.
Still wondering?
Ask my French husband.
A short ruling in a few seconds. Written by AI from our Journal, in his voice.
He judges America weekly on Instagram, and Le Bulletin collects the best of it.
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