If you’re feeling over-worked and in desperate need of a holiday you’re not alone - the English are the hardest working nation in Europe, taking the least number of paid and public holidays, according to new research.

The survey revealed workers in England get a minimum of just 28 days leave, compared to residents in Sweden and Portugal, who are given the most, with 39 days.

The average leave and public holiday entitlement is 34 days across Europe, according to research by Hotels.com. That means UK workers lose out on more than a week away from the office and work at least six days more than their typical continental counterpart.

Of the 12 nations surveyed, Ireland and Holland are in a similar position with just 29 days, but Denmark, parts of Germany, Portugal and Sweden do the least work, with between 38 and 39 days holiday.

Employees in Holland, England, Ireland and Italy have just 20 days statutory paid annual leave, with additional entitlement at the discretion of employers.

A plethora of annual Bank Holidays also exist across Europe. Portugal, Sweden, Spain and some parts of Germany top the list with 14 days each, including holidays such as 'Freedom Day' (Dia da Liberdade) on April 25 in Portugal and 'Midsummer's Day' on June 25 in Sweden.

In contrast, England has the least number of public holidays - only eight. Our patron saint's day, St George's Day on April 23, is not recognised as a public holiday, unlike Ireland's St. Patrick's Day, whose celebrations on March 17 are famous worldwide.

The Danes receive a generous 27 statutory days, despite having the lowest number of Bank Holidays on the calendar. Their holiday allowance puts them ahead of Finland, France, Norway, Portugal and Sweden, who all get 25 days.

As well as having fewer Bank Holidays, Britons also work the longest hours in Europe, with the latest figures suggesting employees have put in more than ￡23 billion of unpaid overtime this year.

Around five million people work an average of seven hours 24 minutes without pay every week, worth ￡4,500 a year in extra pay, according to the TUC. The union centre claims 1.5 million managers are working unpaid overtime worth ￡9,000 a year.

And as the amount of overtime Britons work has increased, so have our official working hours. A study by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), has found that Britain is the only industrialised nation in the world which has seen an increase in working hours compared to the 1980s.

(Read by Renee Haines. Renee Haines is a journalist at the China Daily Website.)

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(Agencies)