Dutch workers only have 28 free days a year, including public holidays and statutory breaks, the Telegraaf reports on Tuesday, quoting consultancy group Mercer.

This puts the Dutch at the bottom of a list of western European countries, the Telegraaf says. The Dutch do so badly because the country only has eight public holidays a year.

The Finns, by contrast, have 39 days off a year including 15 public holidays. Britain, the paper says, has the highest number of statory days off at 28.

Nevertheless, the Netherlands does have a high number of part-time workers and many people get extra days off to cut their official working week (atv days).

Two years ago, the OECD found Dutch people with a job work an average 1,379 hours a year, compared with the OECD average of 1,776 hours.