How Sick Day Culture Differs Around the World

Half of South Koreans do not take sick leave. At least, that's what the results of a survey of adults aged 18 to 64 carried out by Statista as part of its Consumer Insights show. Another Asian country to also display a high share of people who said they had not taken sick leave in the previous 12 months was Japan at 40 percent. In South Korea, employers are not obliged to grant their employees time off for non-work-related illnesses or injuries.

At the other end of the scale, Australian respondents mirrored a different sick day culture, with only 15 percent reporting an absence-free 12 months. It's a similar, if less pronounced, story in Germany, Sweden, Canada and the United Kingdom, where between 19 and 25 percent of respondents reported the same.