Japanese employees are currently entitled to an average 18.5 days’ paid holiday a year – only two fewer than the global average – with a minimum of ten days, as well as 15 one-day national holidays. In reality, very few employees take these days. Most use only nine of their 18.5-day average entitlement. While many British workers see a two-week summer holiday as their right, workers in Japan think that a four-night vacation is complete self-indulgence. By the end of the decade, the government hopes that the law will push Japanese employees towards following the example set by British workers, who use an average of 20 days’ paid annual leave, and those in France, who take an average of 25.
What does the government hope will happen by 2020?
Japan will follow in the footsteps of other countries’ paid leave culture A new law will force Japanese workers to take 20 days of paid annual leave Japanese employees will be allowed an average of 18.5 days of paid annual leave Japanese employees will not work more than 8 hours a day on average