Missouri, Austria and Netherlands Contrast Leave Rights, From 1-Week VESSA to 5-Week Annual Leave
Updated
Updated · Littler Mendelson PC · Jun 26
Missouri, Austria and Netherlands Contrast Leave Rights, From 1-Week VESSA to 5-Week Annual Leave
1 articles · Updated · Littler Mendelson PC · Jun 26
Summary
Missouri’s 2021 VESSA requires employers with more than 20 workers to provide domestic- or sexual-violence leave—up to 1 unpaid workweek at firms with 20-49 employees and 2 weeks at larger employers.
That Missouri framework also mandates reasonable safety accommodations and confidentiality, extending protected time off beyond traditional medical, family and parental leave.
Austria instead relies on a broad statutory system, including generally 5 weeks of paid annual leave, sick leave, parental leave and up to 1 week of paid time off for important personal circumstances.
The Netherlands uses the Work and Care Act to structure holiday, maternity, partner, parental, care and emergency leave, with employers expected to document requests carefully and avoid unnecessary intrusion into private life.
Taken together, the comparison shows three different models—targeted violence-related protections in Missouri, broad family-support leave in Austria and structured care-based rights in the Netherlands.