Employment protection rankings
Countries ranked by every metric we track, EPLex composite, OECD strictness, B-READY quality, notice, and severance.
Top and bottom 5 countries across all ranking metrics. Data from ILO EPLex, World Bank B-READY (2025), and OECD EPL, covering billions of workers across 145 countries. See our methodology.
Top 5, Strictest Employment Protection (ILO EPLex Composite)
Higher scores indicate stronger statutory protection against unfair dismissal. Scale: 0–1.
EPLex Composite, Top 5
EPLex Composite
ILO termination protection score (0-1)
B-READY Labor
World Bank labor regulation quality (0-100)
OECD Overall
OECD employment protection legislation (0-6)
Notice Period (2yr tenure)
Mandated notice period in months at 2 years tenure
Severance Pay (4yr tenure)
Severance pay in salary-months at 4 years tenure
Max Probation Period
Maximum probation period in months
Weeks to Dismiss
Actual weeks needed to dismiss a worker
Sources: ILO EPLex (2020), World Bank B-READY (2025), OECD EPL (through 2019). Rankings use unique ranks (no ties, alphabetical tie-breaking).
PlainEmploy is rendered directly from the OECD Employment Protection Legislation indicators, the ILO EPLex database, and the World Bank B-READY labor pillar, no number is typed in by an editor. These rankings are computed directly from the underlying OECD/EPLex/B-READY tables, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026-07-06.