KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 9 — More than half of Malaysian workers have been forced to “burn’ their paid leave yearly, a recent survey of employees from 22 countries worldwide has found.

YouGov, a UK-based research group, found that only 44 per cent of Malaysian employees surveyed between September and October this year were able to use up their annual leave, which put the country at 20th place in the global ranking of workers and their leave, tying with Jordan and the US.

In comparison, neighbouring Singapore ranked 14 with 51 per cent of their employees surveyed saying they were able to use up their annual leave.

Thailand to the north was placed eighth out of 22 nations with 61 per cent reporting they were able to use up their annual leave, followed by Indonesia at 112 spot, with 54 per cent.

Britain (75 per cent), Denmark (71 per cent) and Germany (70 per cent) topped the survey of workers who used up their leave while Australia claimed the last spot.

The survey, announced last Friday, also analysed the median of a worker’s annual paid leave.

Workers in Malaysia, Singapore and China were found to record 11 paid leave days in a year, compared to Thailand which provides for only five paid annual leave days.

The countries with the most number of paid annual leave days, amounting to 30 days in a year, are: Denmark, Germany, Finland, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Algeria, according to YouGov’s survey.