Head-to-head
United Kingdom vs South Africa — public holidays 2020
In 2020, South Africa has more national public holidays (12 vs 5); more of South Africa's land on a working day (10 vs 5); a day of leave stretches furthest in South Africa (≈4×).
| Metric | United Kingdom | South Africa |
|---|---|---|
| Public holidays | 5 | 12 (better) |
| Lands on a working day | 5 | 10 (better) |
| Lost to a weekend | 0 (better) | 2 |
| Substitutes (in-lieu days) | 0 | 0 |
| PTO leverage | 3.75× | 4× (better) |
| Days off unlocked | 15 | 16 (better) |
Leverage at a fixed 15-day budget, Mon–Fri — a yardstick, not a promise.
How we count
National public holidays only — regional, bank, optional and observance days are excluded so the count is comparable across countries. A holiday is lost to a weekend when it falls on a Saturday or Sunday under a Mon–Fri workweek; substitutes are the in-lieu days some countries grant to give it back, counted here as real days off. Leverage runs our optimizer at a fixed 15-day PTO budget, Mon–Fri, and reads the best plan's days off per leave day — a yardstick so countries compare like-for-like, not a promise; your own leverage depends on your real budget. Forward years may include estimated lunar or observed dates.