How Sick Day Culture Differs Around the World

Just over 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 also displayed a high shares of people who said they had not taken sick leave in the previous 12 months, with Japan at 45 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 14 percent reporting an absence-free 12 months. It's a similar, if less pronounced, story in Germany, Sweden, Canada and the United States, where between 20 and 23 percent of respondents reported the same.